Six engineering faculty join UC

New faculty members join the College of Engineering and Applied Science in spring 2023

The University of Cincinnati’s College of Engineering and Applied Science welcomed six new faculty members starting in January 2023 at the start of the spring semester. Seventeen additional faculty members joined CEAS at the start of the 2022-2023 academic year in August.

Meet the new faculty:

Orlando Hoilett headshot

Orlando S. Hoilett

Assistant Professor Department of Biomedical Engineering

Research/Teaching Interests: Wearable devices; point-of-care diagnostics; biosensors; adaptive sports; neurodevelopmental disorders; sports biomechanics; human-factors engineering; public health; active-learning; problem-based learning


Mohammad Hosseinian headshot

S. Mohammad Hosseinian 

Assistant Professor Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering

Research/Teaching Interests: Operations research; data analytics; mathematical programming; combinatorial optimization; networks


Xi-Zhi Niu headshot

Xi-Zhi Niu 

Assistant Professor Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering 

Research/Teaching Interests: Emerging organic contaminants; environmental analytical chemistry; fate and transport; environmental photochemistry; environmental organic chemistry; environmentally benign semiconductor manufacturing


Jonathan Pham headshot

Jonathan Pham 

Associate Professor Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering

Research/Teaching Interests: Soft matter and polymers; interfacial science; mechanics; adhesion and wetting; tribology; gels/elastomers 


Ben Yavitt headshot

Ben Yavitt 

Assistant Professor Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering

Research/Teaching Interests: Rheology; polymer processing; advanced materials; X-ray scattering; polymer physics 


Kuanshi Zhong

Kuanshi Zhong 

Assistant Professor Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering and Construction Management 

Research/Teaching Interests: Fracture simulation; reinforced concrete structure; surrogate modeling; machine learning methods and applications; data assimilation; performance-based design; regional seismic risk analysis; infrastructural digitalization; community resilience and sustainability

Featured image at top of Mantei Center on UC's campus: UC Marketing + Brand

Related Stories

1

Sugar overload killing hearts

November 10, 2025

Two in five people will be told they have diabetes during their lifetime. And people who have diabetes are twice as likely to develop heart disease. One of the deadliest dangers? Diabetic cardiomyopathy. But groundbreaking University of Cincinnati research hopes to stop and even reverse the damage before it’s too late.

2

Is going nuclear the solution to Ohio’s energy costs?

November 10, 2025

The Ohio Capital Journal recently reported that as energy prices continue to climb, economists are weighing the benefits of going nuclear to curb costs. The publication dove into a Scioto Analysis survey of 18 economists to weigh the pros and cons of nuclear energy. One economist featured was Iryna Topolyan, PhD, professor of economics at the Carl H. Lindner College of Business.

3

App turns smartwatch into detector of structural heart disease

November 10, 2025

An app that uses an AI model to read a single-lead ECG from a smartwatch can detect structural heart disease, researchers reported at the 2025 Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association. Although the technology requires further validation, researchers said it could help improve the identification of patients with heart failure, valvular conditions and left ventricular hypertrophy before they become symptomatic, which could improve the prognosis for people with these conditions.