The Provost Solutions Fellows initiative launched in the fall of 2020 with an interdisciplinary team of faculty experts with research and teaching experience across many diverse areas of expertise. We are grateful to the following Solutions Fellows alumni for their contributions to their colleges and schools and to the Drexel Solutions Institute.

Nick Alvarez, PhD

Associate Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering

College of Engineering

Nick’s research focuses on transport, processing and fluid mechanics in and of polymeric materials, complex fluids and polymer composites. His research focuses on real-world industrial and biomedical problems. Recent projects include research in extensional rheology and its importance in characterizing processing flows, such as gel spinning and spray drying, as well as the development of spray/foam delivery systems for drug delivery.

Faculty Profile

Ann Gerondelis, IDSA, AIA

Professor of Design

Westphal College of Media Arts & Design

Ann’s work explores the value of design in fueling interdisciplinary innovations. An architect with 12 years of practical experience, she leads the Drexel design department’s broad range of disciplines including fashion, graphic, product and retail design. Ann’s funded research projects have included the development of a high school bio-inspired, design-learning community, design-integrated middle school STEM courses, and bio-inspired design learning tools. Her work in design inquiry and representation fueled curricular innovations in industrial design, architecture and building construction. She is a recipient of the National Science Foundation’s ADVANCE Woman of Excellence Faculty Award.

Faculty Profile

Rajashi Ghosh, PhD

Associate Professor of Human Resource Development 

School of Education

Rajashi aims to explore how mentoring, coaching, leadership development and workplace incivility impact workplace learning and development. Her research on employee developmental relationships is interdisciplinary, and has resulted in scholarly awards from the Academy of Human Resource Development, the Academy of Management and the American Educational Research Association. Her work has also been featured in several popular media outlets including Financial Times, Bloomberg Business Week Magazine and American Banker Magazine. Rajashi previously worked in the corporate sector on employee development and performance management.

Faculty Profile

Goran Karapetrov, PhD

Professor of Physics

College of Arts and Sciences

Goran’s work is aimed at the discovery and characterization of new materials that could change how we store and process information, transform and harvest energy, and sense physical properties. The focus of his research has been superconductors — unique materials that could store and transfer electrical energy without any losses, and that constitute the building blocks of the new processors used in quantum computing. Another area of interest is charge density wave materials exhibiting unique electronic properties that cannot be found in conventional semiconductors or metals. Goran’s laboratory uses some of the highest spatial and temporal resolution instruments to study these unique materials. Goran has authored more than 120 publications in peer-reviewed journals, written several book chapters, and secured patents. 

Faculty Profile

Edward Kim, PhD

Associate Professor of Computer Science

College of Computing & Informatics 

Ed is a computer science researcher at the intersection of artificial intelligence and neuroscience. He has investigated topics related to computer vision, medical image processing, computer graphics, game development, sparse coding and neuromorphic computing. His work in machine learning is inspired by breakthroughs in theoretical neuroscience that incorporate ideas not currently explored by feed-forward deep learning architectures. His collaborative work with the Intel Corporation explored energy efficient algorithms on neuromorphic hardware. In 2019, Ed received the National Science Foundation’s CAREER award for his work in neuro-inspired machine learning.

Faculty Profile

Michael R. Lowe, PhD

Professor of Psychology

College of Arts and Sciences

Michael’s research examines the causes and treatments of the interrelated problems of eating disorders and obesity, which cause great suffering and account for a large and expanding portion of health care spending. His provocative theories are challenging existing paradigms in eating disorders and obesity. He developed a comprehensive model accounting for the impact of body weight on eating disorders, as well as an obesity intervention to systematically modify the home food environment. He also created a measure of “hedonic hunger” licensed by Pfizer and Weight Watchers, and has been a long-term research consultant to both Weight Watchers and the Renfrew Center for eating disorders. Michael has been awarded over $15 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health, including a recent $5 million multi-site grant.

Faculty Profile

Ioannis Savidis, PhD

Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering

College of Engineering 

Ioannis is a researcher of integrated circuits and electronics design and analysis. His current research focuses on translational work in methodologies for high performance, integrated circuits; power management for SoC and microprocessor circuits; hardware security; and electrical and thermal modeling and characterization, signal and power integrity, and power and clock delivery for heterogeneous 2-D and 3-D circuits. He has pursued collaborative research with industrial partners including Lockheed Martin, KBR and Honeywell. Ioannis holds over 15 patents in the areas of integrated circuit security, on-chip power management, and low-power circuit design — including several that protect circuit intellectual property from reverse engineering and theft. In 2018, Ioannis received the National Science Foundation’s CAREER award.

Faculty Profile

Wan Shih, PHD

Professor 

School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems

Wan’s work focuses on translational biomedical research and creating revolutionary biomedical devices to fulfill unmet needs in medicine. She has created groundbreaking biomedical technologies such as the piezoelectric finger (PEF) breast cancer detector, which detects breast cancers undetectable by mammography, and the revolutionary PEPS molecular tests. In partnership with GE Global Health, one of her technologies, Intelligent Breast Exam, has now been used to screen women in 12 countries. She is a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering.

Faculty Profile

ENGAGE WITH US

The Drexel Solutions Institute is a gateway for industry leaders to connect with research-active faculty and our University community. To learn how to get involved, faculty, students and prospective industry partners are encouraged to visit the Drexel Solutions Institute online and contact DSI@drexel.edu.