Sabet Family Dean's Faculty Fellows in Engineering
Professor of Engineering Siddhartan Govindasamy and Assistant Professor of Engineering Avneet Hira have been named the inaugural Sabet Family Dean’s Faculty Fellows in Engineering, Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences Dean Gregory Kalscheur, S.J., has announced.
The appointments were made possible by a gift from Boston College Trustee Bijan Sabet ’91, P’21 and his wife, Lauren '91, P’21. The appointments are for five years and are accompanied by $20,000-per-year in discretionary funding to support research, said Fr. Kalscheur.
“I am deeply grateful to Bijan and Lauren Sabet for their generosity in naming and endowing two Sabet Family Dean’s Faculty Fellowships in Engineering,” he said. “Their support for faculty excellence in our Human-Centered Engineering Program is having tremendous impact as we continue to advance this distinctive new program.”
The University launched the first engineering program in its history three years ago. The first engineering majors started in the fall of 2021.
Siddhartan Govindasamy and Avneet Hira (Photos by Caitlin Cunningham)
“It is most fitting that we are able to recognize Siddhartan Govindasamy and Avneet Hira as the inaugural Sabet Family Dean’s Faculty Fellows," said Fr. Kalscheur. "Siddhartan and Avneet were among the earliest faculty colleagues hired by our new Engineering Department, and their tireless work and significant contributions to curriculum design, program development, and innovative engineering pedagogy have been instrumental to the successful start that the HCE Program has enjoyed.”
Hira’s work focuses on engineering education and educational technologies, not only in higher education but for K-12 schools. While she does devote research to topics in human-centered engineering and design thinking, Hira looks for educational methods that will invite students’ lifelong fluency in engineering and technology irrespective of their professional pursuits.
“I would like to thank the Sabet family for their support of this fellowship and I’m grateful that they recognize we are building a new department and see the potential of what we are doing,” Hira said. “An endowed fellowship position in any department, much less a new one, is a really good sign of the support we have from the trustees, the dean, the provost, and our department.”
Hira said the financial support can assist in her community-centered research with domestic and international partners. Already, Hira’s research is supported by the National Science Foundation’s Engineering and STEM Education Directorates. She teaches courses including Introduction to Human Centered Engineering, a required course for majors, and Innovation Through Design Thinking, which has drawn both engineering majors and non-majors.
“I am deeply grateful to Bijan and Lauren Sabet for their generosity in naming and endowing two Sabet Family Dean’s Faculty Fellowships in Engineering.Their support for faculty excellence in our Human-Centered Engineering Program is having tremendous impact as we continue to advance this distinctive new program.”
Govindasamy’s research is in the areas of signal processing and wireless communications. He is currently examining how machine-learning techniques can improve the energy efficiency of future generation wireless communications systems, improve privacy in systems involving wireless communications, and be used for sensing physiological signals and for positioning.
“I am honored to be named as one of the inaugural Sabet Family Dean’s Faculty Fellows and am excited to pursue opportunities that this fellowship will provide,” he said. “I would like to thank the Sabet family for their support.”
Among the courses Govindasamy teaches are Physical Modeling and Analysis Laboratory, Engineering Foundations Studio II, and Engineering Computation and Programming. He said he plans to use the additional financial support to explore new areas of research, attend conferences in new fields, and bolster his research projects.
John W. Kozarich Chair of Engineering and Professor Glenn Gaudette congratulated both faculty members.
“The support provided by the Sabet family is essential in recruiting and retaining outstanding faculty, like Avneet and Siddhartan,” Gaudette said. “As founding members of the department, both Avneet and Siddhartan have made significant contributions to help students become engineers for others, staying true to BC’s mission. Being named Sabet Family Dean’s Faculty Fellows in Engineering provides Avneet and Siddhartan with financial support to continue their impactful research and teaching, while letting them know their contributions are valued by BC and the BC community.”