UCLA Samueli New Faculty Hires
Mohamad Abedi
Assistant Professor
Bioengineering
Start Date: July 1, 2026
- Computational protein engineering to control cell signaling and advance cell therapies
- Previously a postdoc at University of Washington
- Ph.D. from Caltech
Sandra Batista
Assistant Teaching Professor
Start Date: July 1, 2024
Computer Science
- Statistical methods for computational genetics
- Previously a visiting professor at Loyola Marymount University
- Ph.D. from UCLA
Piush Behera
Assistant Professor
Materials Science and Engineering
Start Date: Nov. 1, 2026
- Atomically precise growth and characterization of functional dielectrics, semiconductors and metals
- Currently a postdoc at MIT
- Ph.D. from UC Berkeley
Alberto Casillas-Trasvina
Assistant Professor
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Start Date: Nov. 1, 2025
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Hydrogeology and hydrochemistry for groundwater modelling
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Previously a lecturer and researcher at Technical University Berlin
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Ph.D. from University of Ghent, Belgium
Jason Choi
Assistant Professor
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Start Date: Nov. 1, 2025
- Safer decisions in autonomous physical systems
- Previously a visiting scholar at Stanford
- Ph.D. from UC Berkeley
Yuchen Cui
Assistant Professor
Start Date: July 1, 2024
Computer Science
- Machine learning through human-robot interaction
- Previously a postdoc at Stanford University
- Ph.D. from University of Texas at Austin
Hooman Darabi
Assistant Teaching Professor
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Start Date: July 1, 2025
- Next-gen cellular and connectivity radios
- Previously taught circuit design classes at UCLA for more than 20 years as a lecturer and adjunct professor
- Broadcom Fellow
- Ph.D. from UCLA
Pedro de Souza
Assistant Professor
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Start Date: Mar. 1, 2026
- Mechanisms of colloid assembly
- Previously a postdoc at Princeton
- Ph.D. from MIT
Yangruibo (Robin) Ding
Assistant Professor
Computer Science
Start Date: July 1, 2026
- Large language models for generating, analyzing and refining software
- Previous experience with Google DeepMind, Amazon AI Labs, IBM Research
- Ph.D. from Columbia
Tobias Dürschmid
Assistant Teaching Professor
Computer Science
Start Date: July 1, 2025
- Complex software systems
- Previously designed two courses on application programing interface (required for M.S.) and large-scale software systems (an elective for B.S. and M.S. students)
- Ph.D. from Carnegie Mellon
Vatsa Gandhi
Assistant Professor
Start Date: Jan. 1, 2025
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
- Mechanics of high-durability materials under high-impact shocks
- Previously a postdoc at University of Cambridge
- Ph.D. from Caltech
Md Shafayat Hossain
Assistant Professor
Materials Science and Engineering
Start Date: July 1, 2025
- Nanoscale interactions at ultra-low temperatures and in high magnetic fields
- Previously a postdoc at Princeton
- Ph.D. from Princeton
Liz Izhikevich
Assistant Professor
Start Date: July 1, 2024
Electrical and Computer Engineering
- Improving internet performance and security
- Previously a research fellow at Netflix
- Ph.D. from Stanford University
Allen Jiang
Assistant Professor
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Start Date: July 1, 2027
- mRNA technologies and gene editing for treatment of disease
- Currently a postdoc at the Broad Institute of Harvard/MIT
- Ph.D. from MIT
Konstantinos Kallas
Assistant Professor
Start Date: Oct. 1, 2024
Computer Science
- Optimized systems, compilers and programming languages for faster software
- Previously designed two computer ecosystems which greatly sped command execution on multiple platforms
- Ph.D. from University of Pennsylvania
Youngseo Kim
Assistant Professor
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Start Date: July 1, 2025
- Network systems theory for multimodal, coordinated transportation systems
- Part of Federal Highway-funded Mobility Center
- Ph.D. from Cornell
Yue Liu
Assistant Professor
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Start Date: July 1, 2025
- Micromechanical devices that interface with the human body
- Previously a postdoc at MIT and a researcher at Michigan
- Ph.D. from Brown
Tara Peña
Assistant Professor
Materials Science and Engineering
Start Date: Nov. 1, 2026
- Strain engineering low-dimensional materials and nanoscale devices
- Currently a postdoc at Stanford
- Ph.D. from University of Rochester
Fang-Yi “Ida” Su
Assistant Professor
Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Start Date: Nov. 1, 2025
- In vivo engineering the immune system’s
T cells - Previously a postdoc at Georgia Tech
- Ph.D. from University of Washington
Nathan Szymanski
Assistant Professor
Materials Science and Engineering
Start Date: Nov. 1, 2025
- Theoretical simulations to develop next-generation energy storage materials
- Previously a postdoc at University of Minnesota
- Ph.D. from UC Berkeley
Shahriar Talebi
Assistant Professor
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Start Date: July 1, 2025
- Decision-making in dynamic, noisy and uncertain systems
- Previously a postdoc at Harvard
- Ph.D. from University of Washington
Chen Tang
Assistant Professor
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Start Date: Nov. 1, 2025
- Autonomous robotic systems for human-centered environments
- Previously a postdoc at UT Austin
- Part of the Federal Highway Administration-funded Mobility Center of Excellence
- Ph.D. from UC Berkeley
Yosuke Tanigawa
Assistant Professor
Bioengineering
Start Date: July 1, 2025
- Statistical methods to analyze the human genome
- Previously a research scientist at MIT
- Ph.D. from Stanford
Luca Vialetto
Assistant Professor
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Start Date: July 1, 2026
- Plasma modelling including, how they interact and chemically react with other surfaces and materials
- Previously a postdoc at Stanford
- Ph.D. from Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands
Hanrui Wang
Assistant Professor
Start Date: Nov. 1, 2027
Computer Science
- Quantum computing for faster, more efficient AI
- Previously a visiting scholar with the University of Chicago
- Ph.D. from MIT
Tiwei Wei
Assistant Professor
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Start Date: July 1, 2025
- Processing, materials and architecture development for future semiconductor interconnects and packaging technologies
- Associate director for UCLA’s Center for Heterogeneous Integration and Performance Scaling (CHIPS)
- Previously an assistant professor at Purdue University, and a postdoc at Stanford
- Ph.D. from KU Leuven, Belgium
Sean Yamada-Hunter
Assistant Professor
Bioengineering
Start Date: Nov. 1, 2025
- Engineering proteins for use in cellular immunotherapy
- Previously a postdoc at Stanford and a researcher with Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy
- Ph.D. from Stanford, B.S. from UCLA
Kyle Yoshida
Assistant Professor
Start Date: July 1, 2025
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
- Soft, wearable or haptic robotic technology
- Joint appointment in the UCLA American Indian Studies Center
- Previously a postdoc at Washington State University
- Ph.D. from Stanford University
J.D. Zamfirescu-Pereira
Assistant Professor
Computer Science
Start Date: Nov. 1, 2025
- Human-AI interactions for design
- 13-year industry experience before starting Ph.D., including at Google, and co-founding a startup that was acquired by Google
- Ph.D. from UC Berkeley
Jason Zhang
Assistant Professor
Bioengineering
Start Date: Nov. 1, 2025
- Cell signaling by engineering new molecular tools
- Previously a postdoc at University of Washington
- Ph.D. from UC Berkeley
Leo Zhou
Assistant Professor
Start Date: Nov. 1 2024
Electrical and Computer Engineering
- Quantum information theory with a mathematical and particle physics approach
- Previously a postdoc at Caltech
- Ph.D. from Harvard