Dear Colleagues, 

The start of an academic year always brings a sense of renewed energy and perspective, and that is particularly true this year as I write to you following Provost Jensen’s message regarding my renewal. I am honored to serve another term as your Dean, appreciate the efforts of the review committee, and am grateful to our community of faculty, staff, students and alumni who shared feedback essential to this process and my reappointment. This is an exciting time for Drexel Engineering, and I look forward to accomplishing great things together in the weeks, months and years ahead. 

We’ll cover a lot at our fifth annual State of the College event in a few weeks, so I am saving most news and updates for then. Please mark your calendars and join me on Thursday, 10/12, at 2:30 p.m. in Mitchell Auditorium in Bossone to look back on where we’ve been and where we’re going. 

On that note about what remains to come, a leader is only as successful as their team, and I want to recognize the associate and assistant deans, department heads and directors who have helped to guide and inform the advancement of our college over the last five years. As we look to the future and critical areas of need for engineering, we must bolster our research efforts; provide support for our academic community; and continue to develop our strategic purpose. In support of these priorities, there are a few individuals whose areas of expertise make them uniquely qualified to lead these areas and I am pleased to announce a few updates:  

• We are at a critical juncture requiring focused leadership of our engineering research enterprise. Dr. Jin Wen has served admirably as Associate Dean for Faculty Advancement and interim Associate Dean for Research, and the workload has been significant. In her role as interim, she started the “From Seed to Harvest” College Research Seminar series, aimed at promoting a multidisciplinary culture of collaboration culture within Engineering. She also organized the Junior Faculty Research Mentor program, which includes monthly activities such as panel discussions with NSF and DOD program officers on how to write a white paper, as well as with prior awardees on NSF CAREER awards. Given her stellar performance serving in both roles, I am pleased to share she will transition fully to Associate Dean for Research and Innovation. It is abundantly clear she will bring an energy and direction that will benefit our research enterprise, and I look forward to her continuation on the leadership team in this capacity. Dr. Win notes, “Guided by the College of Engineering's strategic plan and the University's Areas of Excellence and Opportunity, I am excited to have this opportunity to work closely with my colleagues to promote Drexel Engineering research. I look forward to creating a multidisciplinary and collaborative culture that strives for excellence and innovation.” 
• Faculty affairs is another area key to ensuring our academic community is supported, that our practices and processes around workload and review are equitable and inclusive, and that we offer relevant and effective training opportunities. To fill the gap, Dr. Joe Hughes has accepted appointment as interim Associate Dean for Faculty Advancement. Dr. Hughes has a well-regarded history in our college, most notably having served as Dean from 2012 to 2017, and I am particularly appreciative of his willingness to step into this role given his devoted service and expertise with our tenure and promotion processes over recent years. On becoming interim ADFA, Dr. Hughes notes, “It is an honor to serve the college in this important role. We have a world-class faculty in the college today, and supporting their efforts will be very rewarding.” 
• I am also grateful to Dr. Chris Weyant, Associate Dean for Undergraduate Affairs, for taking on the responsibility of stewarding our relationship with KEEN. I encourage all of our faculty to engage further with this program and to reach out to him to learn more. 
• Finally, as we continue to operate in an ecosystem of continuous change, I am pleased to share that Dr. Katie Meier will transition to Vice Dean for Strategy. She has been an incredible asset leading from behind the scenes and as someone with a birds-eye view of our complex organization. Her guidance through crisis communications, as well as her advisement on issues of corporate engagement, management and policy have had a significantly positive impact across the college. As Vice Dean, her role will expand to include managing special projects and serving as a strategic resource to ensure our collective efforts are in alignment. On the broadening scope of her role, Dr. Meier notes, “Drexel Engineering has a strong sense of tradition and an even brighter future. I am excited to continue elevating our work by facilitating connections around strategic interdisciplinary initiatives, deepening our existing partnerships, and helping to drive the implementation of top priorities.” 



All appointments are effective immediately, and brief bios of these outstanding faculty and staff are below.  

Sincerely, 

Sharon Walker 

Dean and Distinguished Professor 

About Jin Wen, Ph.D. 

Jin Wen, Professor in the Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering at Drexel University, most recently held the roles of Associate Dean for Faculty Advancement and interim Associate Dean of Research. She currently serves as the Member of American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE)’s Research Administration Committee (RAC), which oversees and coordinates all ASHRAE research activities. She is the Task Leader for International Energy Agency (IEA)’s Energy in Buildings and Communities (EBC) Annex 81 (Data-Driven Smart Buildings) Task C (Applications). Dr. Wen was selected as a U.S. Fulbright Scholar for 2019-2020 (Sweden).  

Dr. Wen has more than twenty years of experience in the smart building field, firstly as an application engineer working for Johnson Controls Inc. and later as a researcher in the areas of automated fault detection and diagnosis, building-to-grid integration, model predictive control, regional energy modeling, and occupant behavior simulation. Her work has been funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Institute of Standard Technology, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Homeland Security, and ASHRAE. She has published 60+ journal papers and has 4000+ citation (Google Scholar). 

Dr. Wen holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Iowa. She also holds M.S. and B.S. degrees from the Department of Flying Vehicles Design and Applied Mechanics in Beihang University.  

About Joseph (Joe) Hughes, Ph.D., P.E., BCEE, F. AEESP

Joe Hughes, Distinguished University Professor of Engineering at Drexel Engineering, has held leadership positions in academia for more than two decades and is an internationally-recognized educator-scholar. Previously, he served from 2014 to 2019 at Director of the A.J. Drexel Institute for Energy and Environment, and as Dean of Drexel Engineering from 2012 to 2017, during which time he established the Peace Engineering Program from work that originated in 2003 conducting research for a decade in post-civil war Angola. Today, Dr. Hughes teaches in the multidisciplinary area of Peace, Conflict, Violence and Engineering and leads Peace Engineering research projects. He is a faculty affiliate of the Peace Engineering Program at the University of New Mexico and collaborates closely with the Georgia Tech Research Institute, the Hauge Peace Innovation Lab, and the Center for the Future of War at Arizona State University. 

Prior to his appointment at Drexel University, he served at Georgia Tech as the Karen and John Huff School Chair of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the Howard T. Tellepsen Chair of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Professor of Material Science and Engineering. He served at Rice University at all academic ranks, including the George R. Brown Chair of Engineering and Department Chair of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Dr. Hughes is a registered Professional Engineer, a Diplomat by Eminence of the American Academy of Environmental Engineering and Science, and Fellow of the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors. He has received awards for his teaching and research, including the Georgia Engineer of the Year in Education; the McKee Medal from the Water Environment Federation; and the Walter P. Huber Research Prize from the American Society of Civil Engineers. He served as the Chair of the Science Advisory Board of the DOD/DOE/EPA research program SERDP, has served in advisory roles to the EPA and the NRC, and co-founded the REMTEC National Conference. He has published extensively in journals, book chapters, edited books, peer reviewed conference proceedings. He holds a Ph.D. and M.S. degrees from the University of Iowa in Civil and Environmental Engineering and a B.A. from Cornell College in Chemistry. 

About Kathryn (Katie) Meier, Ph.D., MBA 

Katie Meier holds nearly 20 years of experience across higher education, the pharmaceutical and nonprofit sectors, plus consulting for small business. She joined Drexel Engineering in 2019 as the inaugural Assistant Dean for Strategy and Innovation, where she accelerated the creation and launch of the college’s strategic plan, redefined and expanded marketing and communications operations, and led the implementation of new college-wide initiatives, like the annual State of the College. Dr. Meier manages industry relationships, including planning and engagement for the Dean’s Executive Advisory Council, and Drexel Engineering Alumni Industry Board (AIB). She also managed the launch and foundational year of the AIB, as well as the Drexel Engineering Inclusion, Diversity and Equity Alumni Advisory Board. Dr. Meier is an invited member of the President’s Executive Council, serves as deputy to the Dean on the President’s Corporate Engagement Council, the Provost’s Deans and Academic Councils, and has been actively involved in Drexel 2030 committee work. She brings an interdisciplinary perspective to STEM education, having participated in the invitation-only Engineering One Planet 2022 Scaling for Impact; she is also guest lecturer for first-year engineering courses on technical communication and stakeholder engagement, as well as a professional lecturer on personal branding, having delivered a workshop most recently to ELATES at Drexel.  



Prior to her appointment overseeing strategy, Dr. Meier held various roles at the University of Delaware from 2006 to 2019, including inaugural chief of staff in the College of Arts and Sciences, as well as an adjunct Assistant Professor in Business Administration and in English. She recently completed the Institute for Management and Leadership in Education at Harvard University. She holds a Ph.D., MBA, and B.A. in English/Business and Technical Writing, all from University of Delaware.