Meet Our Faculty

Mehdi Amiri is an Assistant Professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department at George Mason University. He joined Mason in Spring 2019 and since then he is enjoying training and mentoring the next generation of talented mechanical engineers. His research interests focus on the behavior of structural materials under operational conditions, in particular the effects of materials microstructure on performance under mechanical and environmental loadings.

Kenneth Ball was appointed Dean of the Volgenau School of Engineering in August 2012. He previously served as the L.S. Randolph Professor and Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Virginia Tech from 2004-12, overseeing rapid growth in the department with research expenditures increasing five-fold to approximately $20M, and with large increases in student enrollment.

Ali Beheshti is currently an assistant professor and director of Tribology and Surface Mechanics Lab. His research interests are inspired by the impending need for sustainable design and operation as well as prolonging the lifecycle of advanced components especially focusing on surface mechanics. The current objective and focus of his lab is on tribology (science of lubrication, wear and friction), and contact and interfacial mechanics at different scales.

Engineering solutions for deadly conditions.

Pei Dong is an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. She obtained her BS in Microelectronics from Nankai University and her PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Rice University. She then did her postdoctoral research in the Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering at Rice University before joining George Mason University. Pei was employed by New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc. when she was an undergraduate student.

Shri Dubey has more than 18 years of industrial experience with reputable industries such as Ford Motor Company, Lucent Technologies, and Bell Lab Innovation in the areas of automotive engineering and wireless technologies respectively. Dubey was involved in the design and development of powertrain components and assemblies. In addition, Shri worked on the development of remote radio heads and base stations for wireless technologies at Bell Lab. His extensive experience and expertise from various industries will assist students in senior design projects and their professional development.

George Hazelrigg obtained a bachelor's and master's degrees in mechanical engineering from Newark College of Engineering (now New Jersey Institute of Technology, NJIT), and his MA, MSE, and PhD degrees in aerospace engineering from Princeton University.  He worked for six years in the aerospace industry at Curtiss-Wright, General Dynamics, and the Jet Propulsion Lab, and taught engineering at NJIT, Princeton University, University of California at San Diego, Polytechnic University, Ajou University in Korea and École de Technologie Supérieure in Montreal. 

Prior to coming to Mason Pilgyu Kang was a postdoctoral research associate in Nam Research Group in the department of Mechanical Science and Engineering (MechSE) at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). His research focuses on the development of flexible optoelectronic sensors and devices based on two-dimensional materials such as graphene and transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), for example Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2).

Dr. Nathan M. Kathir, P.E.(CO), F.ASCE is a civil/structural engineer with over 35 years of experience in government and private industry.  He earned his PhD in civil/structural engineering and is a licensed professional engineer (PE) in the state of Colorado and a fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Erik Knudsen completed his graduate studies at the University of Florida in 2006 and taught as an adjunct professor for one semester prior to joining industry as a senior engineer at Northrop Grumman.