Faculty Achievements

Faculty

Achievements

Diana Chen, PhD, an associate professor of integrated engineering, was promoted and awarded tenure in Fall 2022. She is serving as a visiting associate scholar at the University of Denver during her sabbatical. Dr. Chen won the Education Sciences 2020 Best Paper Award for her work with first author Dr. Laura Gelles and colleagues, she won the Outstanding Young Alumni Award from Clemson University and stepped in as the interim department chair during the 2021-22 academic year.

Daniel Codd, PhD, an associate professor of mechanical engineering, taught Alternative Energy Systems in Spring 2022. He and his colleagues' research was highlighted in the scientific journal Nature, spotlighting their solarpowered prototype that converts nearly two-thirds of incoming energy into usable outputs. Dr. Codd had several new patents issued, including solar conversion technologies and wearable drug delivery infusion pumps.

Garry Frocklage, electronics technician, joined USD in 1989 and was the fourth employee hired into the engineering program. He was a significant contributor to the evolution of engineering at the University of San Diego and retired in September 2022. We thank him for more than three decades of service and dedication to USD and the Shiley-Marcos School of Engineering.

Gordon Hoople, PhD, associate professor of integrated engineering, was promoted and awarded tenure in Fall 2022. He was named the 2021-22 Outstanding Undergraduate Research Mentor Award for junior faculty. Additionally, Dr. Hoople and his fellow ArtBuilds collective faculty members received a contract from the City of San Diego for Park Social for their large-format installation project named Reflexion. Zella Kahn-Jetter, PhD, PE, professor of practice, was promoted from adjunct full professor in Fall 2022. She was nominated for the 2021 Women of Impact award and is serving as the faculty advisor for the Society of Women Engineers. Dr. Kahn-Jetter has also taken on a leadership role with the Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN) and received the Kern Family Foundation KEEN Annual Support Award.

Frank Jacobitz, PhD, chair and professor of mechanical engineering, led the successful ABET reaccreditation of the ME program. He published a paper on acceleration properties of turbulent flows with relevance to the geophysical environment and engineering applications with Kai Schneider and submitted a paper on xylem filtration for point-of-use water filtration in developing countries in collaboration with engineering students and colleagues at USD, Israel and Uganda. Dr. Jacobitz taught the Water in California and Israel: Challenges and Solutions course with a summer trip to Israel, and welcomed our Israeli partners at USD in 2021 and 2022.

Eric Jianng, PhD, professor of computer science, received the USD