Tufts welcomes new engineering faculty

Megumi Ando, Assistant Professor, Computer Science

Megumi Ando has an interest in the mathematical foundations of computer science and plans to focus on the theoretical foundations of anonymous communications. She received her PhD in computer science from Brown University.

Sunil Kumar, Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Sunil Kumar, the new President of Tufts University, specializes in performance evaluation and control of manufacturing systems, service operations, and communications networks. He earned his PhD in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Angela Lai, Assistant Teaching Professor, Biomedical Engineering

Angela Lai’s research background specializes in blood-contacting medical devices and optimizing the interactions between biomaterials and blood to reduce thrombosis. She received her PhD in bioengineering and biomedical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.

Yingjie Lao, Associate Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Yingjie Lao researches trusted AI, hardware security, VLSI architectures for machine learning and emerging cryptographic systems, cybersecurity, and robotics. He completed his PhD in electrical and computer engineering at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.

Graham Leverick, Assistant Professor, Chemical and Biological Engineering

Graham Leverick’s research focuses on leveraging electrolyte design to enable next-generation batteries and electrochemical devices, as well as carbon capture and utilization. He earned his PhD in mechanical engineering from MIT.

Vladimir Podolskii, Associate Professor, Computer Science

Vladimir Podolskii is a theoretical computer scientist with research interests in computational complexity, logical foundations of computer science, and min-plus geometry. He received his PhD from Moscow State University.

Paul Simmonds, Associate Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Paul Simmonds focuses on the synthesis of novel semiconductor nanostructures, spintronics, high mobility electron transport, and the integration of dissimilar materials. He completed his PhD in semiconductor physics at the University of Cambridge.

Farshid Vahedifard, Professor and Berger Chair, Civil and Environmental Engineering

Farshid Vahedifard’s work centers on studying the resilience and adaptation of critical infrastructure in the face of extreme events including droughts, floods, and wildfires. He earned his PhD in civil engineering from the University of Delaware.