Missouri University of Science and Technology begins its fall semester with 26 new faculty members.

Missouri S&T has seen significant enrollment growth in recent years, but faculty and staff numbers have not kept pace. As part of an initiative to hire 100 new faculty in all areas of the university by 2020, Missouri S&T has now filled 42 new faculty lines and has additional active searches underway. An additional faculty member has negotiated to join Missouri S&T in 2017.

New faculty joining Missouri S&T during the fall 2016 semester are:

Dr. Denise Baker, assistant professor in psychological science. Bakers’ expertise includes psychology and emerging technology, human factors, engineering ethics, perceptions and public understanding of science, and science learning and education. She holds a Ph.D. from Arizona State University, where she served as a teaching assistant.

Dr. Laura Bartlett, who earned a Ph.D. in metallurgical engineering from Missouri S&T in 2013. She returns to S&T this fall as the Robert V. Wolf Chair in Metal Casting in the materials science and engineering department. Her research focuses on the physical and mechanical metallurgy of irons and steels. Bartlett comes to S&T from Texas State University.

Dr. Devin Burns, assistant professor in psychological science. Burns studies the fundamental properties of perception and cognition, such as how different sources of information interact and are combined. He holds a Ph.D. in cognitive psychology and cognitive science from Indiana University, Bloomington. He was previously an assistant professor of psychology and philosophy at Framingham State University in Framingham, Massachusetts.

Dr. Langtao Chen, assistant professor of information science and technology. Chen studies data analytics, online communities and social media analytics, health information technology, and social network analysis. He holds a Ph.D. in computer information systems from Georgia State University, where he served as a graduate research assistant.

Dr. Lianyi Chen, assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering. His research interests include additive manufacturing, nanomanufacturing, smart manufacturing and laser materials processing. Chen holds a Ph.D. in materials science and engineering from Zhejiang University. Previously he served as a research scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Dr. Hanqing “Chevy” Fang, assistant professor in business administration. Fang will focus on strategy and entrepreneurship. He holds a Ph.D. in management from Mississippi State University and served as a research assistant in the Center of Family Enterprise Research in the Mississippi State’s management and information systems department.

Dr. Yanjie Fu, assistant professor of computer science. Fu studies data mining and big data analytics with a focus on learning with cross-domain data. He holds a Ph.D. in management science and information systems from Rutgers University, where he served as a research assistant.

Dr. William L. Gillis III, assistant teaching professor in civil, architectural and environmental engineering. Gillis has developed a method to ensure that project requirements are met during new-building construction. He also studies indoor environmental quality and indoor air quality. Gillis was a managing engineer in planning, design and construction at the University of Missouri-Columbia. He holds a Ph.D. in engineering management from Missouri S&T.

Dr. Zhishan Guo, assistant professor of computer science. Guo studies real-time systems, cyber-physical systems, neural dynamic systems and machine intelligence. He holds a Ph.D. in computer science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he taught computer science courses and served as a graduate research assistant.

Dr. Sarah E. Hercula, assistant professor of English and technical communication. Hercula holds a Ph.D. in English studies from Illinois State University, where her research focused on linguistics and the pedagogy of Teachers of  English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL).

Dr. Wenqing Hu, assistant professor of mathematics. Hu studies probability, random dynamics and probabilistic methods in partial differential equations. He holds a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Maryland, College Park and comes to Missouri S&T from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, where he served as a postdoctoral associate.

Dr. Chulsoon Hwang, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering. Hwang studies electromagnetic compatibility, radiofrequency interference, and signal and power integrity. He holds a Ph.D. from Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and previously worked as a senior engineer in the Global Technology Center at Samsung Electronics.

Dr. Nan Jiang, assistant professor of mathematics. Jiang studies turbulence modeling, computational fluid dynamics, numerical analysis, and efficient ensemble simulation methods. She holds a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Pittsburgh and recently served as a mathematics teaching assistant there.

Dr. Clair Reynolds Kueny, assistant professor in psychological science. Klueny’s expertise includes employee work behaviors, perspectives of behaviors in the workplace, social support and occupational health theory. She holds a Ph.D. in industrial-organizational psychology from Saint Louis University.

Dr. Marek Locmelis, assistant professor of geosciences, geological and petroleum engineering. Locmelis studies geochemical processes that occur in groundwater of terrestrial planets and other orbiting objects thought to be developing into planets. He also studies the role of fluids in the transport of metals between a planet’s mantle and crust, and is currently focusing on metal-sulfide systems in deep Earth and Mars. Locmelis was a NASA postdoctoral fellow at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center’s Solar System Exploration Division. He holds a Ph.D. in earth and planetary sciences from Macquari University in Sydney, Australia.

Dr. Braden Lusk, chair of mining and nuclear engineering. Lusk holds a Ph.D. in explosives engineering from Missouri S&T. A Mine Safety and Health Administration-certified trainer and licensed pyrotechnician, his expertise includes blast mitigation, industrial blasting and mining fields. Most recently, Lusk was a professor of mining engineering at the University of Kentucky.

Dr. Hamidreza Modares, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering. Modares’ expertise includes artificial intelligence, cyber-physical system security, autonomous systems and robotics. He holds a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington, where he served as an adjunct professor and a visiting research professor.

Dr. Jonathan Obrist-Farner, assistant professor of geosciences, geological and petroleum engineering. His expertise includes sedimentology, stratigraphy and paleoclimatology, as well as various applications for petroleum exploration. He joins Missouri S&T from Conoco-Phillips, where he was an exploration geologist. He holds a Ph.D. in geology and geophysics from Missouri S&T.

Dr. Kyle Perry, assistant professor of mining and nuclear engineering. Perry holds a Ph.D. in mining engineering from the University of Kentucky, where he was an instructor and researcher. He studies blasting and explosion effects, geotechnical engineering and rock mechanics.

Dr. Radu Puslenghea, assistant teaching professor of economics. Puslenghea studies macroeconomics, monetary economics and applied econometrics. Before joining Missouri S&T, he taught economics courses at the University of Virginia, where he earned a Ph.D. in economics.

Dr. Daniel Burton Shank, assistant professor in psychological science. Shank’s expertise includes human-computer interaction, emotion and social interaction. He holds a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Georgia and comes to Missouri S&T from the University of Melbourne, where he served as a research fellow in the Melbourne School of Psychological Science.

Dr. Yun Seong Song, assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering. Song studies the biomechanics of human movement, rehabilitation robotics, and system dynamics and control. He holds a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and joined Missouri S&T from the Emory School of Medicine at Georgia Institute of Technology.

Dr. Ning Sui, assistant teaching professor in biological sciences. Sui analyzes the structure and function of the enzyme o-fucosyltransferase, which was first identified in the 1990s. Sui holds a Ph.D. in biology from Duke University.

Dr. Chenglin (Bob) Wu, assistant professor of civil, architectural and environmental engineering. Wu’s expertise includes the mechanics of materials related to problems from structural scale to micro- or nano-scale interfacial mechanics. He holds a Ph.D. in engineering mechanics from the University of Texas at Austin.

Dr. Haoyi Xiong, assistant professor of computer science. Xiong’s expertise includes ubiquitous computing, mobile computing and crowdsources. He holds a Ph.D. in computer science from Institut Mines-Télécom/ Télécom SudParis, and Université Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris. Xiong most recently served as a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Virginia, where he studied mental health monitoring using mobile health and machine learning.

Dr. Xiong Zhang, associate professor of civil, architectural and environmental engineering. Zhang’s research interests include remote sensing for geo-engineering applications, geothermal and ground source heat pump systems, soil stabilization and ground improvement, and frozen ground engineering. He holds a Ph.D. in civil engineering with and emphasis in geotechnical engineering from Texas A&M University.