New 2021-2022 Engineering Faculty Members
The William States Lee College of Engineering welcomes five new faculty members to the fall 2021 semester.
Ms. Michelle Demers
Lecturer, Engineering Technology and Construction Management
Master of Mechanical Engineering, North Carolina State University, 1992
Ms. Demers has more than 30 years of industry experience as a mechanical engineer including research, product design and development, project management, engineering consulting and manufacturing support. Areas of development include high-speed printers and mailing equipment, structured light human body scanners, consumer electronics and motion control systems.
Research interests:
- Electro-mechanical systems, high-speed mechanisms and motion control
- 3D image capture, structured light and phase measurement profilometry
Dr. Christopher Green
Assistant Professor of Teaching, Engineering Technology and Construction Management
Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, Texas Tech University, 2020
Dr. Green is a former associate professor of Engineering and Technology at Odessa College and has research experience in development and characterization of piezoresistive materials for use in force sensors. Dr. Green also has experience in developing multi-functional drug delivery systems which include cell specific targeting and imaging for detection.
Areas of interest:
- Characterization of piezoresistive polymers for microsensors
- Biomedical applications for piezoresistive force sensors
- Engineering education
Dr. Erina Baynojir Joyee
Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Science
Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, University of Illinois at Chicago, 2021
Dr. Joyee’s research is focused on the realm of multi-material multi-scale additive manufacturing. Her research involves developing new prototypes of 3D printing technology and designing programmable nature inspired smart structures for different engineering applications. She also works in soft robotic applications using advanced manufacturing tools and machine learning based optimization of process parameter control.
Research interests:
- Multi-material, multi-scale additive manufacturing
- Soft robotics
- Biomimetic functional structures
- Data-driven additive manufacturing and process parameter control
Dr. Sam Shue
Teaching Assistant Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2017
Dr. Shue has worked in industry as an embedded systems engineer and software engineer in various fields ranging from non-destructive testing applications to robotics. His research interests involve localization and mapping methods for robotics using wireless ranging.
Research interests:
- Embedded systems
- Robotics
- Machine learning
- Signal processing
Dr. Kamia Smith
Assistant Teaching Professor, Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Sciences
Ph.D. in Materials Science Engineering, University of Southern California, 2017
Dr. Smith’s dissertation primarily focused on material behavior in extreme conditions with an emphasis on creep deformation. She then worked four years in industry on research focused on chemical synthesis on boron nitride nanotubes, as well as carbon fiber composite casings, both with the application to high-temperature aerospace uses. Immediately preceding joining UNC Charlotte, Dr. Smith also experimentally researched the fatigue behavior of rubber compounds.
Research interests:
- Low and high temperature creep plasticity
- Harper-Dorn creep deformation
- Microstructural evolution of single and polycrystalline materials
- Stress strain behavior of crystalline materials
- Damage tolerance of carbon fiber composites