Kaliat T. Ramesh, a professor of mechanical engineering in the Whiting School of Engineering, has been appointed program chair for Mechanical Engineering in the university's part-time Engineering Programs for Professionals.

Ramesh has been an instructor in EPP's Mechanical Engineering program and taught the first online course — Tribology — offered by EPP.

"Overall, mechanical engineering is the largest engineering discipline, and it is the one leading the rapid change in engineering, especially with respect to nanotechnology and health care," Ramesh said. "Most of our students in the program come from industry, and some from government agencies. I want to draw in those students who want professional advancement, exposure to the cutting edge in this field and a fresh way of thinking."

Ramesh completed undergraduate studies in his native India before enrolling at Brown University, where he earned master's degrees in solid mechanics and applied mechanics and a doctorate in solid mechanics. After a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of California, San Diego, he joined Johns Hopkins' Mechanical Engineering Department in 1988, became a full professor in 1997 and chaired the department from 1999 to 2002.

At the Homewood campus, Ramesh directs the Center for Advanced Metallic and Ceramic Systems, which investigates fundamental mechanics and materials issues associated with impact problems. His research focuses on nanomaterials; dynamic failure processes; impact problems in biology, such as traumatic brain injury; and planetary impact, or the mechanics of an asteroid colliding with another asteroid or a planet.

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