Simo Mäkiharju

Principal

Professor Mäkiharju joined the Mechanical Engineering Department at Berkeley in January 2016. His undergraduate studies were in Energy Technology at the Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland. He earned his Mechanical Engineering M.Sc. from The Ohio State University in 2005 and his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 2012. His graduate research focused on reducing hydrodynamic drag via gas injection and developing time-resolved X-ray densitometry imaging systems for multiphase flows. At Berkeley, he leads experimental research on high–Reynolds-number single- and multiphase flows using hyperspectral imaging combined with advanced data analytics.

PETER HOSEMANN

Principal

Professor Peter Hosemann earned his Ph.D. in Materials Science from the Montanuniversität Leoben (Austria) in 2008, followed by a postdoctoral appointment at Los Alamos National Laboratory, before joining the University of California, Berkeley. He is a Professor of Nuclear Materials and former Chair of the Department of Nuclear Engineering at UC Berkeley, where he directs the Manufacturing 360 Center and the Materials Characterization Facility. He holds joint appointments in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science and Engineering. His research has produced more than 300 peer-reviewed publications and includes leadership roles in major national research programs.

basil cleveland

Principal

Basil is an expert in business process simulation, using both multi-agent modeling and system dynamics to describe complex organizational behavior. He is also a specialist in higher-education strategy, with particular expertise in designing enrollment and growth strategies for institutions operating in emerging and highly technical fields. Basil brings years of international education leadership to his role as Executive Vice President, Chief Innovation Officer, and Co-Founder at Shorelight. Basil holds a PhD in literature and philosophy from Boston University, where he also earned an MFA under the tutelage of three-time U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky.

MARK MUELLER

Principal

Mark currently serves as Associate Faculty Director of Aerospace Programs in the College of Engineering, UC Berkeley; and the Vice-Chair for Master of Engineering in the Department of Mechanical Engineering.  Mark joined the Mechanical Engineering Department at Berkeley in August 2016.  Professor Mueller received a B.Eng. in Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering at the University of Pretoria in South Africa in 2008. He continued to his M.Sc. and Dr. Sc. in Mechanical Engineering at the ETH Zurich, in 2011 and 2015, respectively. Professor Mueller conducts research in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, dynamics and control; motion planning and coordination; state estimation and localization.

THOMAS SCHUTZIUS

Principal

Thomas is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, part of the Energy Science & Technology group, and a Faculty Scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the Energy Technologies Area.  Prof. Schutzius joined the Mechanical Engineering Department at Berkeley in January 2023. Prior to that he was an Assistant Professor at ETH Zurich (2020-2022) where he received a prestigious ERC Starting Grant and “Golden Owl” award for excellence in teaching.  Professor Schutzius received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Illinois, Chicago. Professor Schutzius leads the Laboratory for Multiphase Thermofluidics and Surface Nanoengineering group.

KHALID M. MOSALAM

Principal

Mosalam joined the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering at UC Berkeley in 1997 where he is the Taisei Professor of Civil Engineering & Director of the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research (PEER) Center. His research focuses on the performance & health monitoring of structures, assessment & rehabilitation of essential facilities, and building energy efficiency & sustainability. His work spans large-scale computational modeling & experimental testing, including hybrid simulation. He is a Corresponding Member of the Mexican Academy of Engineering in Civil Engineering and a Fellow of ASCE. He was a visiting professor at Kyoto Univ. (Japan), Middle East Technical Univ. (Türkiye) & Nanyang Technological Univ. (Singapore).

VICTORIA COLEMAN

Principal

The University of California, Berkeley, has appointed Victoria Coleman, former chief scientist for the U.S. Air Force and former head of DARPA, to spearhead the university’s activities at a proposed new research and innovation hub in Silicon Valley — the Berkeley Space Center. Coleman, currently the head of aerospace manufacturer Airbus’s Silicon Valley innovation center, takes the reins this month as Associate Provost for the center. Since 2016, she has been a senior advisor to the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society and the Banatao Institute (CITRIS) and was an advisor to the engineering dean during the development of the college’s new aerospace engineering program.