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Chriss Swaney
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For immediate release:
September 13, 2006

Carnegie Mellon University Names Nadine Aubry To Head Department of Mechanical Engineering

Nadine Aubry

PITTSBURGH—Nadine Aubry has been named head of Carnegie Mellon University's Department of Mechanical Engineering. Aubry succeeds Adnan Akay, who has become director of Civil and Mechanical Systems at the National Science Foundation.

"I am looking forward to working with the outstanding faculty, motivated students, successful alumni and talented staff to continue the leadership and innovation so endemic to Carnegie Mellon's Mechanical Engineering Department," Aubry said. "The mechanical engineering profession is changing, and we will continue to carry on our leading-edge research in novel areas such as microtechnology and nanotechnology, as well as state-of-the-art education, interdisciplinary research and globalization."

Pradeep K. Khosla, dean of Carnegie Mellon's College of Engineering, said Aubry is an excellent researcher and will be a role model for women in engineering. "I see the Mechanical Engineering Department growing and achieving greater stature under the leadership of Professor Aubry," he said.

Aubry's interdisciplinary research and close partnerships with industry have landed her impressive accolades, including the National Science Foundation's Presidential Young Investigator Award and her recent election as a fellow of both the American Physical Society and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

She is also vice chair of the U.S. National Committee on Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, which represents 15 national societies and institutions with interests in mechanics and serves as the national forum for defining major issues in mechanics research, technology and education. On behalf of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Research Council, the committee is the official representative to the International Union of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics.

Prior to coming to Carnegie Mellon, Aubry was a professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, where she co-founded the W.M. Keck Laboratory for nanotechnology research and education. She was also the founding director of the New Jersey Center for Micro-Flow Control.

A global citizen, Aubry was born in France and spent much of her youth amid the stunning vistas of the famed Loire Valley's ornate chateaus and historic wine vineyards. She earned a B.S. degree in 1984 from the National Polytechnic Institute of Grenoble, France, and an M.S. degree from the Scientific and Medical University, also in Grenoble. In 1987, she received a Ph.D. from Cornell University. Her new appointment began July 1.