Leadership

Dean David Grewell, Ph.D. M.S., holds 17 patents, has authored numerous publications (including three books) and has received numerous honors and awards. His research projects have attracted over $32 million in grant funding - more than $8 million of that for projects on which he served as principal investigator. Grewell, who joined the college in July 2023, is passionate about providing the tools and resources for students to become "hands-on, problem-solving engineers." He previously held faculty and administrative positions at North Dakota State University and Iowa State University.

Mansour Tahernezhadi is the college's senior associate dean. He is also a professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering. Tahernezhadi's research expertise is in the wide area of digital communications and signal processing. In particular, his research focuses on applications of advanced time-frequency-multi-rate parameter estimation for channel estimation, interference cancellation, system identification and signal detection in communications and sensor-network systems. As a seasoned administrator with decades of teaching, research, strategic planning and sponsored project experience, Tahernezhadi has demonstrated skills and knowledge in curricular innovation for establishing new degree programs, accreditation, and advancing strategic partnerships both regionally and internationally with higher education, government agencies, and industry partners. Tahernezhadi has been active in securing grants from the National Science Foundation, Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA), the Illinois Board of Higher Education, the U.S. Economic Development Administration, the U.S. Department of Labor's Employment Training Administration and numerous private foundations and companies.

Reinaldo Moraga, associate dean for Undergraduate Academic Affairs, Outreach and Diversity (UAAOD), has been a faculty member at Northern Illinois University since 2005 and is an associate professor in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering. He received a Ph.D. in industrial engineering and a M.Sc. in manufacturing systems from the University of Central Florida. Moraga's research interests are in simulation modeling, operations research and supply chain management and he has authored more than 40 journal articles, book chapters and proceeding papers. He has experience working on a wide spectrum of projects for companies and has collaborated on several projects with Argonne National Laboratory.