Professor Amr Baz Named Director of Center for Small Smart Systems

Dr. Amr Baz, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, has been named Director of the Center for Small Smart Systems and will assume the position effective November 15, 2001. Dr. Baz was recommended unanimously by the search committee for this position.

Dr. Baz has an extraordinary record of scholarly accomplishments in the broad area of smart structures. He is a Fellow of the ASME and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Vibration and Control and Journal of American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He also serves on the editorial board of Adam Hilger International Book Series on Smart Materials and Structures. In the past four years at the University of Maryland, he has established a Vibration and Noise Control Laboratory and a Virtual Reality Laboratory. He is also the director of the Smart Materials and Structures Research Center.

Dr. Baz will be a strong leader in shaping the Center and moving it to national prominence. In the months to come, Dr. Baz will work with the Center faculty as well as other faculty whose research interests are close to those of the Center mission to develop a clear vision for the Center, develop a proper experimental infrastructure for the Center, and mobilize the faculty to develop joint research programs and compete for major externally funded grants.

Published November 13, 2001