Faculty & Staff

Dr. Mishra is the Kenneth G. Merriam Distinguished Professor of Mechanical & Materials Engineering, the Program Director of the Department of Materials & Manufacturing Engineering and the Director of the Metal Processing Institute at Worcester Polytechnic Institute [WPI]. Dr. Mishra is also the Director of the National Science Foundation’s Industry/University Collaborative Research Center on Resource Recovery & Recycling – the first National Center of its kind. Brajendra received his Bachelor of Technology [1981] degree in Metallurgical Engineering from the Indian ...

Chris Brown has been on the WPI faculty since 1989. In 1983 he completed his doctoral work on machining at the University of Vermont, where he also worked in orthopedics and studied ski injuries. As an undergraduate, he was Vermont’s only walk-on All-American skier. He raced and coached there during the longest regular season undefeated streak in NCAA history and is a member of UVM’s athletic hall of fame. He spent four years in the Materials Department at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology studying machined surfaces and then two years as the senior research engineer working on product ...

  After graduating from UNH with a chemical engineering degree in 2005, Danielle Cote worked as a researcher at Saint-Gobain in the Northboro Research and Development Center in polymer science and data automation.  Cote continued working while she pursued a master’s degree at WPI, followed by a PhD fellowship, and joined the WPI faculty in 2016.  Today Professor Cote’s research focuses on the development of materials for high deposition rate metal additive manufacturing techniques, such as cold spray and wire arc additive manufacturing.   Professor Cote has been awarded more ...

As Director of the Morgan Teaching and Learning Center, I work with faculty colleagues, staff educators, and other units on campus to coordinate programs and build communities that foster excellence and innovation in teaching. The Center also coordinates mentoring and professional development programs and communities for new faculty and mid-career faculty.  Many of my professional contributions integrate leadership, program-building, and scholarship to broaden participation and advancement of women and girls in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). In 1997, I co-founded ...

Teaching is my way of sharing my enthusiasm for Science and Engineering. I believe that these are great professions because they give us the ability to effect real and positive change in this world. I particularly enjoy hearing the varied and interesting contributions of the students in class, and the collaborative environment of WPI as a whole.

Professor Liang’s research explores the physics of interfaces between the nanometer and micron scales.  Her team responds to the challenging interdisciplinary nature of their research endeavor through successful collaboration with colleagues with expertise in metrology, physics, bioscience, medical science, chemistry, and fire protection engineering.  Her educational effort includes novel approaches to project-based learning and global centers for science and engineering.  She has created three new courses with technical focuses on nanomaterials (ME4875/MTE575/MTE594), nanobiotechnology ...

Makhlouf M. Makhlouf is professor of Mechanical & Materials Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). He was Director of the Advanced Casting Research Center (ACRC) between 1992 and 2015. ACRC is a collaboration between the academic and industrial sectors focusing on issues that benefit the global foundry industry. It brings fundamental understanding to existing processes, develops new methods, and addresses management-technology interface matters. Under Makhlouf’s leadership, the ACRC evolved to be the leading foundry-related industry-university research consortium in the ...

Adam C. Powell, IV is an Associate Professor in the Mechanical & Materials Engineering department who joined the WPI faculty in August 2018. His field is materials processing, and research focuses on greenhouse gas emissions reduction, elimination, and drawdown. Current projects aim to reduce vehicle body weight, lower solar cell manufacturing energy use and cost with improved safety, reduce or eliminate aviation greenhouse gas impact, power ships and trains with zero emissions, and improve grid stability as we drive toward 100% renewables. The primary tool for achieving these goals ...

My research is aimed at discovering, understanding and developing advanced materials for a range of applications including solar energy conversion, catalysis, printed electronics, sensors, and functional coatings. Our lab specializes in the synthesis of nanostructured thin film materials using scalable processes. Students and researchers in my lab can expect to work on highly interdisciplinary projects at the intersection of materials science, mechanical engineering, solid state physics, and thermal sciences.

Richard D. Sisson, Jr. is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Director of the Center for Heat Treating Excellence at WPI. Professor Sisson has been with WPI for 40+ years. In addition, he has taught at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and has been a research metallurgist with DuPont Savannah Laboratory and a staff engineer with Exxon Chemical Company. Professor Sisson received his BS in metallurgical engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute in 1969, MS in 1971. In 1975 he earned a PhD in materials science and Engineering from Purdue University. Professor Sisson's main research ...

I am William Smith Foundation Dean's Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Since joining WPI, I have been very active in research. Currently, my lab focuses on the study of new electrodes and materials for energy storage, including lithium ion batteries, supercapacitors, flow batteries, battery manufacturing, battery safety and recycle, and fundamental electrochemistry. This research can lead to energy storage with high energy density, high power density, long life, low cost, and high safety. In addition to fundamental research, I have commercialized the ...

We are currently hiring!! Dr. Yu Zhong joined WPI as an Associate Professor. He received his Ph.D. from Penn State (2005). After a short-term working as Research Associate, he joined Saint-Gobain High Performance Research Center in Northborough, MA. He had spent his 8-year career there working as an internal technical consultant focusing on the application of thermodynamics and kinetics to various materials R&D projects. In 2013, He moved to Florida International University (FIU) as Assistant Professor. He received the James Nichols Heald Research Award in 2021, TMS FMD Young ...