Faculty Mentors
Julie Dickerson
Doug Jacobson
Phillip Jones
Mani Mina
Diane Rover
Kristin Yvonne Rozier
Akhilesh Tyagi
Joe Zambreno
Doug Jacobson
Phillip Jones
Mani Mina
Diane Rover
Kristin Yvonne Rozier
Akhilesh Tyagi
Joe Zambreno
Tom Daniels
Nicholas Fila
Simanta Mitra
Former Faculty Mentors
Chinmay Hegde
Srikanta Tirthapura
Srikanta Tirthapura
Gary Tuttle
Julie Dickerson
Research area: Computational biology
Website: www.eng.iastate.edu/~julied
Universities attended: University of Southern California, University of California San Diego
What got you interested in your research area?
Modeling and understanding biological systems is an exciting problem.
What is something you wish you would have done differently as a student?
I wish that I tried more different areas and created an interdisciplinary degree.
Website: www.eng.iastate.edu/~julied
Universities attended: University of Southern California, University of California San Diego
What got you interested in your research area?
Modeling and understanding biological systems is an exciting problem.
What is something you wish you would have done differently as a student?
I wish that I tried more different areas and created an interdisciplinary degree.
Doug Jacobson
Research area: Cyber security
Website: www.dougj.net
University attended: Iowa State University
What has been the most satisfying stage of your career so far?
Building the cyber security program.
What is one piece of advice you would give to our scholars?
Get involved.
Website: www.dougj.net
University attended: Iowa State University
What has been the most satisfying stage of your career so far?
Building the cyber security program.
What is one piece of advice you would give to our scholars?
Get involved.
Phillip Jones
Research area: Embedded systems, reconfigurable computing
Website: http://www.engineering.iastate.edu/directory/?user_page=phjones
Universities attended: University of Illinois (at Urbana / Champiagn), Washington University (at St. Louis, MO)
What is your favorite thing about being a professor?
That the definition of my job is to push the boundaries of knowledge, while teaching and mentoring others to grow their knowledge.
What is something you wish you would have done differently as a student?
I wish as an undergrad I would have made an effort to attend Professors’ office hours more often.
Website: http://www.engineering.iastate.edu/directory/?user_page=phjones
Universities attended: University of Illinois (at Urbana / Champiagn), Washington University (at St. Louis, MO)
What is your favorite thing about being a professor?
That the definition of my job is to push the boundaries of knowledge, while teaching and mentoring others to grow their knowledge.
What is something you wish you would have done differently as a student?
I wish as an undergrad I would have made an effort to attend Professors’ office hours more often.
Mani Mina
Research area: Applied EM, human side of engineering, engineering education
Website: http://class.ece.iastate.edu/mmina/
Universities attended: Iowa State University
What is your favorite thing about being a professor?
Connecting, facilitating, and learning from students, their journeys and their success.
What is one piece of advice you would give to our scholars?
Make meaningful communities of learners, make good teams, and never stop reaching for the stars.
Website: http://class.ece.iastate.edu/mmina/
Universities attended: Iowa State University
What is your favorite thing about being a professor?
Connecting, facilitating, and learning from students, their journeys and their success.
What is one piece of advice you would give to our scholars?
Make meaningful communities of learners, make good teams, and never stop reaching for the stars.
Diane Rover
Research area: Engineering education, embedded systems, system-level design, performance analysis
Website: http://www.engineering.iastate.edu/~drover/
Universities attended: Iowa State University, Michigan State University
What got you interested in your research area?
As an undergraduate student, I worked with a professor on undergraduate research. He was an inspirational teacher, and that sparked my interest in education. He was always creating new labs and lab activities with the latest computers, tools and technology. Our lab group would get to explore and analyze these systems. This same exploration continued during graduate and postdoctoral studies with supercomputers. Both embedded systems and high-performance systems are built on key principles and push the boundaries of design and analysis.
What is your favorite quote?
I have several favorite quotes (or variations on quotes). Here’s one, taken from a Robert Louis Stevenson quote: Be who you are, and become what you are capable of becoming.
(A few others are listed on this webpage: http://www.engineering.iastate.edu/~drover/dtr_teach.html.)
Website: http://www.engineering.iastate.edu/~drover/
Universities attended: Iowa State University, Michigan State University
What got you interested in your research area?
As an undergraduate student, I worked with a professor on undergraduate research. He was an inspirational teacher, and that sparked my interest in education. He was always creating new labs and lab activities with the latest computers, tools and technology. Our lab group would get to explore and analyze these systems. This same exploration continued during graduate and postdoctoral studies with supercomputers. Both embedded systems and high-performance systems are built on key principles and push the boundaries of design and analysis.
What is your favorite quote?
I have several favorite quotes (or variations on quotes). Here’s one, taken from a Robert Louis Stevenson quote: Be who you are, and become what you are capable of becoming.
(A few others are listed on this webpage: http://www.engineering.iastate.edu/~drover/dtr_teach.html.)
Kristin Yvonne Rozier
Research area: Formal methods
Website: laboratory.temporallogic.org
Universities attended: The College of William and Mary, University of Cambridge, Rice University
What got you interested in your research area?
I love logic puzzles! One of the most awesome aspects of formal methods is that we get to solve the world’s best logic puzzles and their solutions serve to make the world a safer place for our fellow humans. By creating tools and algorithms to automate rigorous mathematical proofs that safety-critical systems behave the way we expect them to, we contribute to the advancement of technologies that make life better, while ensuring we maintain or improve safe interaction with people. It is so rewarding to work on a complex puzzle, then get to really see it fly (e.g., on an actual airplane) and know that this work positively contributes to people’s everyday lives.
What is one piece of advice you would give to our scholars?
Stick with the hard stuff! Engineering is challenging… for everyone. It’s not just you. I found it easy to become intimidated by material that I didn’t understand, especially when I believed that others around me understood it better or learned it more quickly than I could. In retrospect, the course I initially found most challenging later became my greatest love and research area. The hardest corners of engineering are often the most exciting and rewarding after you have mastered them, so accept the challenge, know that the feeling of being overwhelmed will pass, and persevere because the reward at the end is well worth it!
Website: laboratory.temporallogic.org
Universities attended: The College of William and Mary, University of Cambridge, Rice University
What got you interested in your research area?
I love logic puzzles! One of the most awesome aspects of formal methods is that we get to solve the world’s best logic puzzles and their solutions serve to make the world a safer place for our fellow humans. By creating tools and algorithms to automate rigorous mathematical proofs that safety-critical systems behave the way we expect them to, we contribute to the advancement of technologies that make life better, while ensuring we maintain or improve safe interaction with people. It is so rewarding to work on a complex puzzle, then get to really see it fly (e.g., on an actual airplane) and know that this work positively contributes to people’s everyday lives.
What is one piece of advice you would give to our scholars?
Stick with the hard stuff! Engineering is challenging… for everyone. It’s not just you. I found it easy to become intimidated by material that I didn’t understand, especially when I believed that others around me understood it better or learned it more quickly than I could. In retrospect, the course I initially found most challenging later became my greatest love and research area. The hardest corners of engineering are often the most exciting and rewarding after you have mastered them, so accept the challenge, know that the feeling of being overwhelmed will pass, and persevere because the reward at the end is well worth it!
Gary Tuttle
Research area:
Website:
Universities attended:
Website:
Universities attended:
Akhilesh Tyagi
Research area: Hardware Security, Systems, Computer Architecture
Website: https://www.engineering.iastate.edu/people/profile/tyagi/
Universities attended: BITS, Pilani (India), IIT Delhi (India), Purdue University, University of Washington, Seattle
What is your favorite thing about being a professor?
Ability to pick your research areas and to keep learning new areas.
What is one piece of advice you would give to our scholars?
Learning how to learn independently (meta-learning) is the most useful skill you can leave a University with.
Website: https://www.engineering.iastate.edu/people/profile/tyagi/
Universities attended: BITS, Pilani (India), IIT Delhi (India), Purdue University, University of Washington, Seattle
What is your favorite thing about being a professor?
Ability to pick your research areas and to keep learning new areas.
What is one piece of advice you would give to our scholars?
Learning how to learn independently (meta-learning) is the most useful skill you can leave a University with.
Joe Zambreno
Research area: Computer architecture, compilers, embedded systems, hardware/software co-design, with a focus on run-time reconfigurable architectures and compiler techniques for software protection
Website: http://www.ece.iastate.edu/~zambreno/
University attended: Northwestern University
What got you interested in your research area?
I’ve always enjoyed computer architecture, and working with FPGAs allows me to prototype various architectural ideas that would otherwise be very challenging to evaluate using real software workloads and data.
What is one piece of advice you would give to our scholars?
It’s very easy to miss out on the inherent beauty (and fun!) of computing when you’re struggling to meet homework deadlines, study for exams, etc. Try to carve out the time to find at least one meaningful extracurricular design experience each semester.
Website: http://www.ece.iastate.edu/~zambreno/
University attended: Northwestern University
What got you interested in your research area?
I’ve always enjoyed computer architecture, and working with FPGAs allows me to prototype various architectural ideas that would otherwise be very challenging to evaluate using real software workloads and data.
What is one piece of advice you would give to our scholars?
It’s very easy to miss out on the inherent beauty (and fun!) of computing when you’re struggling to meet homework deadlines, study for exams, etc. Try to carve out the time to find at least one meaningful extracurricular design experience each semester.
