People

Dr. Alexander Leonessa - Chair

Alexander Leonessa profile

Alex Leonessa, the D. W. Reynolds Distinguished Professorship and Department Chair in Mechanical Engineering, joined Clemson from the National Science Foundation (NSF), where he served as program director. At NSF, he led the Mind, Machine, Motor Nexus (M3X) program, contributing to major initiatives in dynamic systems and control, robotics, computational neuroscience, and human-technology partnerships. Prior to his role at NSF, Leonessa held multiple leadership positions at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. These included associate department head for Strategic Initiatives and director of the Proposal Development Institute, where he played a crucial role in shaping the department’s research vision and growth.

Leonessa's research expertise spans control theory and robotics; autonomous ground, aerial, surface, and underwater vehicles; rehabilitation robotics, human-robot interaction; and assistive technologies.

Meet Our Faculty & Staff

The Department of Mechanical Engineering has nearly 70 faculty, researchers, and staff members, and our student population consists of more than 1000 undergraduate and graduate students. With research opportunities across the state, from Greenville to Charleston, we expect continued growth in faculty and students over the next few years.

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Faculty | Lecturers & Professors of Practice | Associated Faculty | Staff

Primary Faculty

Lecturer

Professor of Practice

Staff

Brittany Allen

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT SERVICES COORDINATOR
(864) 656-3110
bparris@clemson.edu

Austin Breazeale

TECHNICIAN LAB MANAGER
(864) 656-3495
breazea@clemson.edu

Adeeba Chowdhury

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT SERVICES COORDINATOR
(864) 656-1307
adeebac@clemson.edu

Timothy Conover

RESEARCH SPECIALIST I
(864) 656-5635
conover@clemson.edu

Ping Du

ADMINISTRATIVE COORDINATOR
(864) 656-2482
pingd@clemson.edu

Sarah Ellis

PROCUREMENT & PAYROLL SUPPORT
(864) 656-8949
seshirl@clemson.edu

Kay Faith

OPERATIONS MANAGER
(864) 656-2482
jkay@clemson.edu

Jackie Foster

GRANT AWARDS MANAGER
(864) 656-4260
jlfoste@clemson.edu

Irina Kharitonova

GRADUATE STUDENT ADVISOR
(864) 656-0999
ikharit@clemson.edu

Tyler Love

REGISRATION COORDINATOR
(864) 656-3473
dtlove@clemson.edu

Lisa McElveen

MACHINE SHOP FABRICATION/ELECTRICAL
(864) 656-4435
lmcelve@clemson.edu

Portia Mitchum

STUDENT SERVICES MANAGER
(864) 656-3470
portiam@clemson.edu

Nicholas Morgen

EFRC PROGRAM COORDINATOR
(864) 656-3294
nmorga@clemson.edu

Sri Harsha Olety

NSF NRT PROGRAM MANAGER
(864) 656-2482
solety@clemson.edu

Daune Raines

PROCUREMENT & PAYROLL SUPPORT
(864) 656-9805
draines@clemson.edu

Stone Tracy

FINANCIAL BUSINESS MANAGER
(864) 656-9806
stonet@clemson.edu

Dentaveous Walker

UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT ADVISOR
(864) 656-3295
dentavw@clemson.edu

Robbie Wilbanks

MACHINE SHOP FABRICATION
(864) 656-4435
robbiew@clemson.edu

Associated Faculty

Adjunct & Joint Faculty

Adjunct Faculty

ME Adjunct Faculty
Name	Affiliation	Email
Pilla, Srikanth	Professor and Director, Center for Composite Materials, University of Delaware	spilla@udel.edu
Weber, Julian	German Association of the Automotive Industry	julian.kt.weber@gmx.de

Joint Faculty

ME Joint Faculty
Name	Title	Email
Chen, Qiushi	Professor	qiushi@clemson.edu
Chowdhury, Mashrur	Professor	mac@clemson.edu
Hawkins, Adam	Assistant Professor	ahawki9@clemson.edu
McNeese, Nathan	Assoc VP for Tech & Innov	mcneese@clemson.edu
Redmond, Laura	Associate Professor	lmredmo@clemson.edu
Singh, Rajendra	Professor	srajend@clemson.edu
Wiecek, Margaret	Professor	wmalgor@clemson.edu

Research Professors

ME Researchers
Name	Title	Email
Bibo, Amin	Research Assistant Professor	abibo@clemson.edu
Figliola, Richard	Alumni Distinguished Professor Emeritus and Research Professor	fgliola@clemson.edu

Emeritus Faculty

ME Emeritus Faculty
Name	Service
Atul Kelkar	2018-2024
Lonny Thompson	1998-2024
Paul Joseph	1998-2022
Jay Ochterbeck	1998-2022
Georges Fadel	1992-2020
Donald E Beasley	1983-2017
Melur Ramasubramanian	2012-2017
Mica Grujicic	1988-2016
Sherrill Biggers	1989-2015
David Zumbrunnen	1988-2015
Imtiaz Haque	1982-2014
Thomas Kurfess	2005-2012
Chris Przirembel	1981-2010
John Maurice Kennedy	1983-2007
Cecil Huey	1975-2006
Joseph Leo Gaddis	1972-2006
E Harry Law	1971-2006
Frank Waters Paul	1979-2005
Charles Kenneth Roby	1979-2001
Warren Dixon	1971-2000
Eugene Harlan Bishop	1974-1995
James Gleason Goree	1966-1996
James Stephen Wolf	1969-1993
Tah-teh Yang	1962-1993
Walter E. Castro	1959-1993
Nelson Robert Bauld, Jr.	1964-1989
Alvon Creighton Elrod	1954-1988
Carl Sidney Rudisill	1966-1988
William Garraux Hudson	1949-1985
Edward Ford Byars	1948-1985
Douglas Wilson Bradbury	1940-1985
James Leon Edwards	1948-1984
Thurman Craig Hardin	1966-1983
Samuel McIver Watson, Jr.	1940-1978
Alexander Dodge Lewis	1947-1977
James Clinton Cook, Jr.	1947-1965
Karl William Rausch	1955-1963
Donald Dexter Curtis	1929-1961
James Hagood Sams	1926-1960
Bernhard Edward Fernow	1927-1958
Samuel Broadus Earle	1902-1958
Joseph Edward Shigley	1936-1957
James Fraklin Sutton	1945-1955
Donald H. Shenk	1929-1942

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