Julie Hasenwinkel, interim dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science, announced that Professor Quinn Qiao has been named as chair of the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Professor Bing Dong has been named as associate dean for research.

Qiao has been ushering in a new era of battery power and energy storage technology at the college, where he and his students design solid-state batteries as cleaner, safer and more affordable alternatives to traditional lithium-ion batteries. He joined Syracuse’s faculty in 2020, coming from South Dakota State University where he held the Harold C. Hohbach Professorship. Qiao has published more than 270 papers in leading journals on topics ranging from battery storage and photovoltaics to sustainability and precision agriculture and has more than 18,700 citations on Google Scholar. He has received more than 50 research grants as PI, co-PI, or senior personnel with total funds of more than $30M. He has also served as site director for the National Science Foundation’s Industry-University Cooperative Research Center for Solid-State Electric Power Storage at Syracuse and most recently held the role of interim associate dean for research in the college.

“Quinn brings exceptional vision and a distinguished record of scholarship and service to this role, and I am confident in the continued excellence and momentum of the department under his leadership,” said Hasenwinkel.

Hasenwinkel thanked Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Professor Jensen Zhang for leading the department over the past year as interim chair. Zhang is also the executive director of the Syracuse Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems (CoE), a role he will continue to hold.

Dong currently holds the Traugott Professorship of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. He joined the university in 2019 and has served as principal investigator or co-principal investigator on more than 36 projects totaling more than $20 million in funding. Dong holds a dozen patents and has published more than 140 peer-reviewed papers with approximately 14,000 citations.

He earned his doctorate in building performance and diagnostics from Carnegie Mellon University and oversees the Built Environment Science and Technology Lab. Dong received a 2023 World Fellowship from the International Building Performance Simulation Association, becoming Syracuse University’s first such fellow and one of only two U.S. members in that biennial cohort, and also received a 2023 Distinguished Service Award from the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, as the only New York state honoree that year.

“Bing’s outstanding contributions to research and his deep commitment to advancing our scholarly enterprise make him ideally suited for this role,” said Hasenwinkel.

Dong has also accepted an appointment as associate director of Grid-Interactive Buildings at the CoE.

“I look forward to the impact he will have in supporting and expanding our research initiatives,” said Hasenwinkel.