Welcome New Faculty
CSUN’s College of Engineering and Computer Science has recently hired several outstanding faculty who bring a wide variety of talents and expertise to the university.
Xudong Jia
Associate Dean
In July 2020, Xudong Jia joined the College of Engineering and Computer Science as the new associate dean. Jia was most recently a professor and chair of the Department of Civil Engineering at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. For more than 25 years, Jia has worked in the areas of civil engineering and transportation engineering education, applied research and consulting, including on some of California’s most important and exciting projects. These have included California’s earthquake pre-warning system, transportation and traffic safety planning, and identifying potential passageways for mountain lions to safely cross freeways.
Ricardo Medina
Civil Engineering and Construction
Management Assistant Professor
Ricardo Medina’s primary research areas are groundwater and fracture flow, with a focus on understanding the effect of fracture surface roughness on fluid, suspension and chemical flow processes inside real and synthetic rock fractures. He earned his Ph.D. in civil engineering (water resources) at UC Irvine.
Maryam Jalali
Computer Science Assistant Professor
Maryam Jalali’s research primarily spans the areas of network function virtualization. Her research explores virtualization technologies to offer network-as-a-service. She earned her Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in computer science from Georgia State University and a B.S. in computer engineering hardware from Khajeh Nasir Toosi University of Technology in Tehran.
Xunfei Jiang
Computer Science Assistant Professor
Xunfei Jiang’s research interests include parallel and distributed systems, energy-efficient storage systems, thermal modeling and hybrid data storage systems. After receiving a master’s degree in computer science from China’s Huazhong University of Science and Technology, she joined Digital Video Networks Co., Ltd. and Cisco Systems (Shanghai) Video Technology Co., Ltd. She earned her Ph.D. in data storage from Auburn University
Mahdi Ebrahimi
Computer Science Assistant Professor
Mahdi Ebrahimi’s primary research interests include big data management in cloud computing, with a focus on large-scale scientific workflows. He has developed several metaheuristic optimization algorithms for cloud data placement and workflow scheduling. He earned his doctoral degree in the field of data management in the Big Data Research Laboratory at Wayne State University.
Jamie Booth
Mechanical Engineering Assistant Professor
Jamie Booth is principal investigator of the Bioinspired Mechanics Lab, exploring the design of tough multifunctional materials inspired by nature. His expertise is in the modeling and experimental investigation of fracture in discrete stochastic multiscale systems. He is also interested in the exploration of novel teaching strategies that bring researchrelated projects into the curriculum. He earned his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from UC Santa Barbara.
Subhradeep Roy
Mechanical Engineering Assistant Professor
Subhradeep Roy received his Ph.D. in Engineering Mechanics from Virginia Tech. Upon arrival at CSUN, he established the Complex Dynamical Systems Laboratory. His research is in the emerging areas of dynamical systems and focuses on theoretical and experimental studies of interactions in complex systems.
Vinicius Maron Sauer
Mechanical Engineering Assistant Professor
Vinicius Sauer conducts research in mechanical engineering and aerospace engineering, with an emphasis in chemically reacting flows, fluid dynamics and heat transfer. He earned his Ph.D. in mechanical and aerospace engineering from UC Irvine.
