UVA Engineering Welcomes New Faculty for 2025

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Collage of new faculty photos

Meet the newest UVA Engineering faculty members. These outstanding researchers and educators, who come to UVA with expertise in fields ranging from artificial intelligence to catalysis to systems biology, will join the school’s current experts to deepen existing research strengths, make new discoveries and educate the next generation of engineering leaders. Adding to the school’s current momentum, the new ideas and energy these faculty will contribute will help UVA Engineering build a brighter future by addressing some of the most complex engineering challenges that confront society today.

New Faculty for 2025

Qizhe Cai

Assistant Professor, Computer Science
Qizhe Cai is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the University of Virginia. His research lies at the intersection of operating systems, networks, and hardware. Qizhe earned his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Cornell University, his M.S. from Princeton University, and his B.S. from the…
Google Scholar Personal Website
Email caiqizhe@virginia.edu

W. Streit Cunningham

Assistant Professor

Streit Cunningham joined the Department of Materials Science and Engineering as an assistant professor from UVA’s Rising Scholar Research Scientist program. His research focuses on applying automated and high-throughput methodologies to discover and develop novel materials for extreme environments.
Google Scholar
Email fqw3ss@virginia.edu

Jack Doerner

Assistant Professor, Computer Science
Research interests include theoretical and applied cryptography, multiparty computation, threshold signatures, and zero-knowledge proofs.
Personal website Google Scholar
Email jhd3pa@virginia.edu

Hongru Du

Assistant Professor, Systems and Information Engineering

Hongru Du's research integrates systems engineering, artificial intelligence, and public health to develop AI-driven and computational frameworks that support data-informed health decision-making. He focuses on modeling human–disease interactions and improving the resilience and efficiency of health systems.
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Email hongrudu@virginia.edu

Sarah Elder

Assistant Professor Academic General Faculty Teaching Track, Computer Science
Email see7z@virginia.edu

Bronislaw Gepner

Associate Professor, Academic General Faculty, Research Track, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Bronislaw Gepner's work at the Center for Applied Biomechanics focuses on finite element modeling, numerical support of experiments, and massively parallel computing. His areas of interest are occupant safety, human body modeling and vehicle crashworthiness.
Email bgepner@virginia.edu

Ayman Karim

Olsen Professor and Chair, Department of Chemical Engineering

Ayman Karim is a professor and the chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering as of August 2025. Karim’s research focuses on designing heterogeneous catalysts for energy and environmental applications using controlled synthesis, detailed kinetics, and advanced in-situ and in-operando characterization techniques.
Email pqg9zx@virginia.edu

Liqin Ke

Associate Professor, Materials Science and Engineering

Liqin Ke's research lies at the intersection of computational materials science and condensed matter physics, with a focus on developing and applying electronic structure methods to understand and predict the electrical, magnetic, and optical properties of materials.
Email liqin.ke@virginia.edu
Phone (434) 243-6688

Subigya Nepal

Assistant Professor, Computer Science
I'm an experimental computer scientist who studies mental health through the lens of everyday technology. I collect data from smartphones and wearables to understand how people actually behave in the wild, then build AI systems that can predict mental health challenges and deliver adaptive AI-driven…
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Email sknepal@virginia.edu

Daniel Otero-León

Assistant Professor

My research interests are generally in operations research and, more specifically, in stochastic models and stochastic dynamic programming applied to healthcare. My research is in data-driven models for improving decision-making in cardiovascular disease, cancer, mental health, and substance abuse.
Google Scholar Website
Email dfotero@virginia.edu

Noah Perry

Assistant Professor, Academic General Faculty, Teaching Track, Biomedical Engineering

Noah Perry focuses on leading clinically driven engineering projects that prepare graduate students to address complex healthcare challenges through innovative design and interdisciplinary collaboration. 
LinkedIn
Email rnp4zh@virginia.edu

Upsorn Praphamontripong

Associate Professor, Academic General Faculty, Teaching Track, Computer Science
Personal Website CS-Education Resources
Email upsorn@virginia.edu

Xinyao Yi

Assistant Professor Academic General Faculty Teaching Track, Computer Science
Xinyao Yi is an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science. Her research includes high-performance computing, with a particular interest in performance optimization and analysis. Her work also involves computer architecture and compilers.
Google Scholar
Email xinyaoyi9608@gmail.com

Zhe Zeng

Assistant Professor, Computer Science

Zhe Zeng is an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science. Her research interests lie broadly in artificial intelligence and machine learning with a focus on neurosymbolic AI and probabilistic ML. 
Google Scholar page Personal website
Email zhez@virginia.edu

Xun Zhao

Assistant Professor, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Assistant Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering (By Courtesy)

Dr. Zhao's research focuses on developing unconventional bioelectronics assisted by AI to advance precision health. His team designs intelligent sensors and robotics that revolutionize the way we diagnose, monitor, and treat various diseases.
AIME Lab LinkedIn Google Scholar
Email xunzhao@virginia.edu

Lin Zhou

Associate Professor, Materials Science and Engineering
Lin Zhou is an associate professor of materials science and engineering at the University of Virginia. She specializes in advanced electron microscopy and spectroscopy to probe the structure and dynamics of materials. Before joining UVA, she was an associate professor of materials science and…
Email linzhou@virginia.edu