The ODU Board of Visitors has approved endowed professorships for three faculty members in the Batten College of Engineering and Technology. The faculty and their new titles are:
- Colin Britcher - P. Stephen Barna Endowed Professor, Associate Chair
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering - Mageed Elmustafa - Mitsubishi Kasei Endowed Professor in Manufacturing Engineering, Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
- Mileta Tomovic - Mitsubishi Kasei Endowed Professor in Manufacturing Engineering Technology, Professor, Engineering Technology
Britcher has 32 years of service at ODU. He has nearly $16 million in funded research and affiliated commercial revenues and over 110 journal publications/published conference proceedings. Britcher has advised over 50 students and has taught 22 different courses during his tenure at ODU. External reviewers described Britcher as an international and world-wide expert in wind tunnel systems.
"It is a privilege to be named to the Barna Professorship, particularly since I have taken over stewardship of some of the experimental facilities Stephen Barna helped bring to ODU in the 1970s," Britcher said. "Our paths crossed briefly when he had partially retired but was still assisting NASA Langley during my post-doc. We shared interest and enthusiasm for experimental measurements, especially utilizing wind tunnels. I am sure he would have been fascinated by the tremendous advances in instrumentation and data systems since then."
Elmustafa, in his 16th year at ODU, is an active and engaged teacher and mentor. He has more than 20 awards as principal investigator, resulting in over $3 million in externally funded research and over 100 research papers/abstracts/presentations. External reviewers recognized his "national and international" reputation for his "pioneering" and "fundamental" contributions to his field.
"As a scientist and educator, the Mitsubishi Kasei Endowed Professorship is most fitting to my research. My research focuses on new challenges of nano manufacturing, including HEAs and RHEAs, for use in tool materials of friction stir welding (FSW), wear-resistance coatings, ballistics, and many more," Elmustafa said. "This research allowed me to work closely with NASA, DoD, and DOE National Labs to focus on nanomanufacturing and advanced manufacturing efforts to improve performance and energy efficiency in applications such as actuators, thermal shield and or senor windows for hypersonic vehicles."
Tomovic is in his 13th year at ODU; the first six spent in service as department chair. In his time at ODU, he has received nearly $5 million in research awards and has authored/co-authored 85 journal papers/conference proceedings and delivered over a dozen invited talks. External reviewers described him as having "immense stature" and a "global reach" in his field.
"I am honored to be recognized as the Mitsubishi Kasei Endowed Professor. I am humbled to join distinguished faculty members who have made significant contributions to their respective professional fields," Tomovic said. "It is a distinct honor to recognize numerous colleagues I have worked over the years and graduate students I have advised. This recognition has energized me to work even harder and inspire younger colleagues to reach their true potential. "