New leadership in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

By Marcene Robinson

Jun Zhuang, Morton C. Frank Professor in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, has been named associate dean for research, beginning July 1. Luke Ziarek, associate professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, was appointed associate dean for academic affairs, effective January 1, 2025.

The school has also named three new department chairs: Robert Dell in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, David Doermann in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, and Jeffrey Errington in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. Dell and Doermann’s appointments begin July 1, while Errington will assume the role of chair on January 1, 2025.

“These strategic leadership appointments across our school and departments underscore our commitment to excellence in both education and research. They will each play pivotal roles in shaping the future of our school and in positioning us for continued growth, success and impact,” says Kemper Lewis, dean and professor of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

Zhuang will lead the school’s Office of Research Advancement, which supports scholars in their pursuit of external grant and research funding. He succeeds Moises Sudit, who has served in the role since 2022.

During his tenure in the role, Sudit created the research advancement team and guided the school toward a record-high $102 million in research expenditures during the 2023 fiscal year, the first time that expenditures eclipsed $100 million in school history. Sudit, also chief scientist of UB’s Collaborative Institute for Multisource Information Fusion (CIMIF), returns to his role as a faculty member in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering where he explores operations research, information fusion, and mathematical programming and optimization.

Zhuang, director of graduate studies for the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, is a prolific researcher whose work focuses on integrating operations research, big data analytics, game theory, and decision analysis to potentially save lives and mitigate losses from disasters and hazards. He has been funded as the principal investigator on over 40 grants, published more than 150 journal articles, and served as a reviewer for over 200 academic journals and conferences. He joined UB in 2008.

Ziarek will head the school’s Office of Academic Affairs, which provides services and programs that shape and enhance the educational experience for students, as well as recruits prospective students. His appointment follows the leadership of Errington.

During his 10-year tenure in the role, Errington led the formation of the school’s Office of Academic Affairs and several new academic programs, helped build the Department of Engineering Education, established a school-wide undergraduate faculty advisement process and a robust IT infrastructure to enhance student support, developed personalized flowsheets for all students and outreach initiatives for at-risk students, revised admission and advisement policies for intended majors, and guided the school through a period of growth toward record enrollment.

Since joining UB in 2012, Ziarek has demonstrated a passion for educational innovation, mentoring and engaging students in research. He is the Department of Computer Science and Engineering’s co-director of undergraduate studies; a member of various UB, school, and department committees dedicated to admissions, curriculum, and assessment; and he has helped organize both the department’s open house and Kid’s Day in celebration of Computer Science Education Week. Ziarek is also the coordinator of CSExplore Camp, a three-day immersive experience for high school students.

Dell will lead the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, succeeding Victor Paquet, who has served as chair since 2018.

Under Paquet’s leadership, the department completed its 2020-23 strategic plan, celebrated its 75th anniversary, welcomed 17 new faculty members and seven new staff, completed a successful ABET accreditation of its undergraduate program and a comprehensive review of its graduate programs, renovated labs and spaces, and grew its top-20-ranked master's in Engineering Management program. He returns to his role as a faculty member, where his research focuses on universal design, human performance in disability and occupational ergonomics.

Dell, also an alum of the department, joined UB in 2022 after more than 30 years of service as a faculty member of the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS). He brings extensive leadership experience to the role, having previously served as NPS acting provost and academic dean, dean of the NPS Graduate School of Operational and Information Sciences, chair of the NPS Operations Research Department, and executive director of the NPS Data Science and Analytics Group. In March, he was named CIMIF managing director. 

Doermann, interim chair of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, will continue to lead the department as chair.

As interim chair, he was among several school faculty members who played a pivotal leadership role on the SUNY STRIVE Task Force on Artificial Intelligence, which was instrumental in UB’s selection as the home for Empire AI and in positioning New York at the forefront of research and education on artificial intelligence and its intersection with society. Doermann also engages with alumni to advance education in the department. 

Doermann joined UB in 2018 as a SUNY Empire Innovation Professor. He was the inaugural director of the Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Data Science, and serves on the New York State Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, and Automation Commission and the UB Task Force on Generative AI in Teaching and Learning. His research focuses on advanced AI techniques for computer vision, medical image analysis, federated learning, neural architectural search, binary neural networks, and detecting false and misinformation in multimedia content.

Errington has been named the next chair of the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering. He follows the leadership of Mark Swihart, who has served as chair since 2018.

During his tenure as chair, Swihart guided the department toward extraordinary growth in faculty members, research funding and global impact. The department is on pace to reach 30 faculty members by fall, recorded a record-high $14 million in research funding during the latest fiscal year, and has successfully supported its students’ pursuit of several national awards. Swihart will return to his role as a faculty member, where his research interests include the synthesis, processing and applications of nanoparticles and nanomaterials.

Errington, also an alum of the department, is regarded as one of the premier practitioners of molecular simulation. He has made significant contributions to molecular modeling methods and simulations that have resulted in important advances in the understanding of numerous physical phenomena, including wetting, protein absorption, the phase behavior of ionic liquids and properties of asphaltenes. He joined UB in 2001, and prior to his role leading academic affairs, he served for eight years as the department’s director of undergraduate studies.