Ali Shakouri, a professor of electrical and computer engineering, is the new associate dean for research and innovation in the College of Engineering. His appointment was effective Jan. 1, 2024.

Ali Shakouri, professor of electrical and computer engineering

Shakouri, a world-renowned expert in nanoscale heat transport and electrothermal energy conversion, has led several large sponsored centers. He led the $19.2 million, Lilly Endowment-supported Wabash Heartland Innovation Network at Purdue University and a $15 million Thermionic Energy Conversion Center at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

During Shakouri’s tenure as the director of the Birck Nanotechnology Center, 20 new resident faculty from six colleges joined the center and 13,000-square feet of lab space were renovated. Faculty research expenditures at Birck during the period increased by more than 65 percent and about $18 million was invested in shared new tools.

Shakouri replaced Weinong Chen, who had held the position since 2019 and saw college research expenditures increase by an average rate of 7 percent during his tenure.

“I am very excited to work with our outstanding colleagues and partners to help advance research and innovation laying the foundation for the most consequential engineering college in the nation,” Shakouri said.

Shakouri’s group has commercialized a novel lock-in imaging technique for thermal characterization of integrated electronic and optoelectronic circuits.

Prior to joining Purdue in 2011, Shakouri was a professor at UC Santa Cruz initiating a new curriculum in sustainability engineering and ecological design. He received his undergraduate degree from Telecom ParisTech and PhD from Caltech. He is a recipient of NSF CAREER Award, the Packard Fellowship and the THERMI Award.