Carnegie Mellon University
September 13, 2013

Press Release: Carnegie Mellon's Gary Fedder Named Associate Dean for Research in Engineering

Contact: Chriss Swaney / 412-268-5776 / swaney@andrew.cmu.edu

Gary FedderPITTSBURGH—Carnegie Mellon University's College of Engineering has named Gary Fedder to the new position of associate dean for Research. Fedder also will continue as director of the Institute for Complex Engineered Systems (ICES) with support from Associate Director Burak Ozdoganlar, a professor of mechanical engineering at CMU.

"This is a wonderful opportunity to continue our ongoing goal of developing novel technologies for the future and for promoting the growth of knowledge workers as we seek to create enduring innovation for the region and the global marketplace," said Fedder, the Howard M. Wilkoff Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and a professor of robotics with courtesy appointments in the departments of Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering.

Fedder started his career at CMU in 1994 with a joint appointment in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Robotics Institute. His personal research interests are in the multidisciplinary area of microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) with a primary focus on design, fabrication and control aspects of sensor and actuator-based systems.

An innovative pioneer, Fedder was the key researcher involved in having CMU be part of the U.S. Department of Defense's new National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute (NAMII). Located in Youngstown, Ohio, the institute is being used to help develop additive manufacturing technology, better known as 3-D printing. The technology speeds up production time while decreasing the cost of products, including jet engine parts and medical implants.

"I am extremely pleased that Gary has agreed to be the first CIT Associate Dean for Research," said James H. Garrett Jr., dean of CMU's College of Engineering and the Thomas Lord Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering. "His stellar research reputation, his interdisciplinary perspective and his experience in leading many college-wide research proposals, such as NAMII, make Gary ideally suited for this new position."

A prolific author, Fedder has contributed to more than 240 research publications and holds several patents in the MEMS area. In 2007, Fedder was elevated to IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Fellow for contributions to integrated MEMS processes.

Fedder's many other accolades include the 1993 AIME Electronic Materials Society Ross Tucker Award, the 1996 Carnegie Institute of Technology George Tallman Ladd Research Award and a 1996 National Science Foundation Career Award. He currently serves as a senior editor for the IEEE/ASME Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems. Fedder also served as general co-chair of the IEEE MEMS Conference in 2005 and as general chair of the IEEE Sensors Conference in 2010.

He earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in electrical and computer engineering from MIT in 1982 and 1984, respectively, and he obtained his Ph.D. degree from the University of California, Berkeley in 1994.  
     
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Gary Fedder, pictured above, called the new post a wonderful opportunity to continue the ongoing goal of developing novel technologies for the future and for promoting the growth of knowledge workers to create enduring innovation for the region and the global marketplace.