Two Former Members of MSAL Earn Tenure

Two former students of Herbert Rabin Distinguished Chair in Engineering and Fischell Institute Fellow Reza Ghodssi’s MEMS Sensors and Actuators Laboratory (MSAL) have earned tenured positions at their respective universities.  Nima Ghalichechian (ECE MS ’05, Ph.D. ’07) has been promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech), and Thomas Winkler (BIOE Ph.D. 2017) has been promoted to Associate Professor with tenure at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden. 

“The most rewarding aspect of our job as faculty in academia is seeing our former students and researchers advance in their respective professions and make a positive difference in people’s lives and communities,” Professor Ghodssi said.

Ghalichechian joined Georgia Tech as an Assistant Professor in August 2021. After receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Maryland (UMD)  in 2007, he was a Senior Principal Engineer in the research department of Formfactor, Inc., Livermore, CA. In 2012, he joined the Ohio State University (OSU) Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering as a Research Scientist. From there, he rose from Research Assistant Professor to tenure-track Assistant Professor in 2017.

Thomas Winkler also was advised at UMD by Professor Reza Ghodssi. His time in MSAL offered Winkler an opportunity to bridge his interests in microtechnology and mental health. This experience solidified his passion for researching how microsystems can help decode mental health disorders like schizophrenia, which he was able to pursue at KTH for his post-doctoral research. At KTH, Winkler intends to reintroduce a Ph.D.- and Master in Science-level course on organ-on-a-chip systems to educate the next generation of junior engineers on the potential of microsystems tools to solve life science challenges.

More information can be found on UMD ECE News. (6 - September / 2024)