Gallogly College of Engineering

Mewbourne College Of Earth And Energy

College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences

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World-Class Faculty
OU Online’s Engineering and Technology programs span across The Gallogly College of Engineering, The College of Atmospheric and Geographic Sciences, and The Mewbourne College of Earth and Energy. The program faculty consists of world-renowned industry experts carefully selected for their range of expertise. Students will acquire in-depth knowledge of engineering and technology, gaining hands-on practical knowledge and skills, uniquely positioning them for success in their respective fields.
The OU Online Faculty Difference
Passion for Innovation

Our faculty never stops pushing the boundaries of their fields. The Gallogly College of Engineering received $44 million in research grants in the fiscal year 2021. Of this amount, $34 million were grant dollars to engineering faculty.

Mentorship Philosophy

Our supportive faculty are here to mentor as much as they are here to teach and offer many opportunities to engage with our online students.

Collaborative Leaders in Engineering and Technology

One of our truest strengths is the synergy of multiple disciplines amongst our faculty and programs.

Our Team

Among our leaders, six engineering faculty members are recent recipients of the National Science Foundation CAREER Award, one of the NSF’s most prestigious awards. Additionally, The College of Atmospheric and Geographic Science’s faculty and staff are internationally recognized for their contributions to the knowledge of the environmental systems that manifest in weather and climate, the interdependencies between societies and their natural environments, and the transition to a sustainable civilization.
— Ashley Farnsworth

Dr. Amy Cerato is a geotechnical engineer and a Rapp Foundation Presidential Professor at the Gallogly College of Engineering. Her research interests include foundation design for alternative energy and predicting expansive soil behavior using microscale properties. Among her many accomplishments, Dr. Cerato is the recipient of the Gallogly College of Engineering Felgar Society Pursuit of Excellence Award and the Shamsher Prakash Prize for Excellence in Teaching of Geotechnical Engineering. Dr. Cerato has authored more than 60 technical papers and was featured on the “Yes! Science!” series, a show dedicated to profiling women and minority individuals in STEM fields.

— Ashley Farnsworth

Dr. Amy Cerato is a geotechnical engineer and a Rapp Foundation Presidential Professor at the Gallogly College of Engineering. Her research interests include foundation design for alternative energy and predicting expansive soil behavior using microscale properties. Among her many accomplishments, Dr. Cerato is the recipient of the Gallogly College of Engineering Felgar Society Pursuit of Excellence Award and the Shamsher Prakash Prize for Excellence in Teaching of Geotechnical Engineering. Dr.

— Ashley Farnsworth

Dr. Amy Cerato is a geotechnical engineer and a Rapp Foundation Presidential Professor at the Gallogly College of Engineering. Her research interests include foundation design for alternative energy and predicting expansive soil behavior using microscale properties. Among her many accomplishments, Dr. Cerato is the recipient of the Gallogly College of Engineering Felgar Society Pursuit of Excellence Award and the Shamsher Prakash Prize for Excellence in Teaching of Geotechnical Engineering. Dr. Cerato has authored more than 60 technical papers and was featured on the

Amy Cerato, Ph.D.

Dr. Amy Cerato is a geotechnical engineer and a Rapp Foundation Presidential Professor at the Gallogly College of Engineering. Her research interests include foundation design for alternative energy and predicting expansive soil behavior using microscale properties. Among her many accomplishments, Dr. Cerato is the recipient of the Gallogly College of Engineering Felgar Society Pursuit of Excellence Award and the Shamsher Prakash Prize for Excellence in Teaching of Geotechnical Engineering. Dr. Cerato has authored more than 60 technical papers and was featured on the “Yes! Science!” series, a show dedicated to profiling women and minority individuals in STEM fields.

Kianoosh Hatami, Ph.D.

Dr. Kianoosh Hatami’s many distinguished honors include the Presidential Professorship, The Ed Cline Faculty Development Award, and the Regents’ Award for Superior Research and Creative Scholarly Activity from the University of Oklahoma. He was also honored as an American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Fellow. Dr. Hitami has authored over 130 peer-reviewed technical publications and is a holder of five patents. His research interests include geosynthetics, reinforced soil structures and earthquake engineering. Dr. Hatami received his Ph.D. in Structural Engineering from McMaster University.

K.K. “Muralee” Muraleetharan, Ph.D.

Dr. K.K. “Muralee” Muraleetharan is the Kimmell-Bernard Chair in Engineering, a David Ross Boyd Professor, and a Presidential Professor of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science at the University of Oklahoma. He is the recipient of the 2022 Medal for Excellence in Teaching at a Research University from the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence. Prior to OU, Dr. Muraleetharan worked as a geotechnical engineer on several major projects including the earthquake design of Port Los Angeles’s Pier 400. Dr. Muraleetharan is currently the Team Lead of the OK NSF EPSCoR project to advance the understanding of how Oklahoma’s interdependent water and energy infrastructures interact with severe weather.

David A. Sabatini, Ph.D.

Dr. David Sabatini is the Founding Director of the WaTER Center, Associate Director of the Institute for Applied Surfactant Research, David Ross Boyd Professor, and Sun Oil Company Chair. Dr. Sabatini has served as the Editor in Chief of the Journal of Contaminant Hydrology and as the Associate Editor for the Journal of Surfactants and Detergents. During his illustrious career, Dr. Sabatini has co-authored/co-edited several books, book chapters, and journal articles. Dr. Sabatini’s research interests include water technologies for emerging regions, groundwater quality management, and water and wastewater treatment.

Yang Hong, Ph.D.

Dr. Yang Hong serves as the Co-Director of Research at the Gallogly College of Engineering WaTER Center and as the Director of the Hydrometeorology and Remote Sensing Laboratory at the National Weather Center in Norman, OK. In the past, he worked as a research scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and as a post-doctoral researcher at the University of California, Irvine. Dr. Hong is a sought-after expert serving on national and international committees, review panels, and journal editorial boards. He co-authored the book, Hydrologic Remote Sensing: Capacity Building Sustainability and Resilience.

Robert Knox, Ph.D.

Dr. Robert Knox is the Ted A. Kritikos Chair, Presidential Professor and Director of the School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science, and the Associate Director of the Gallogly College of Engineering WaTER Center. An accomplished researcher and author, Dr. Knox has co-authored seven books and published dozens of peer-reviewed journal and technical articles. His research interests include subsurface transport and fate processes, impacts of petroleum hydrocarbons and oilfield brines, ground water remediation technologies, and impacts of climate change on water resources.

Nishan Bhattarai, Ph.D.

Before joining the faculty at the University of Oklahoma, Dr. Nishan Bhattarai was a Research Physical Scientist at the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) developing advanced remote sensing tools to monitor crop water status. As an accomplished researcher, he has published articles in the Journal of Hydrology, Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, the International Journal of Remote Sensing, and the International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation. Dr. Bhattarai received his M.S. from Auburn University and his Ph.D. from the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry.

Timothy Filley, Ph.D.

Dr. Timothy Filley is an internationally recognized biogeochemist who studies how the Earth responds to environmental factors. An accomplished researcher and educator, Dr. Filley has been published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, the Journal of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology, and Frontiers in Water. A subject matter expert, Dr. Filley was named the inaugural Director of the University of Oklahoma Institute for Resilient Environmental and Energy Systems (IREE). Additionally, Dr. Filley serves as the US Director and lead Principal Investigator of the Arequipa Nexus Institute for Sustainable Food, Energy, Water and Environment.

Michael Wimberly, Ph.D.

As the head of the EcoGRPAH research group, Dr. Michael Wimberly’s research investigates the impacts of climate change and landscapes on ecosystems and human health. In the past, Dr. Wimberly has led NASA and NIH-funded research projects on infectious disease forecasting and building a satellite-based monitoring system to track environmental degradation. His work has been published in several publications including the International Journal of Health Geographics, BMC Public Health, Environmental Modelling, and Software and Ecological Economics. Dr. Wimberly received his M.S. from the University of Washington and his Ph.D. from Oregon State University.

Ramadan Ahmed, Ph.D.

Dr. Ramadan Ahmed received both his MSc and Ph.D. from the Norwegian University of Science & Technology. An expert in his field, Dr. Ahmed has authored more than 50 research and technical articles, and regularly presents at national and international conferences. Dr. Ahmed’s work has appeared in numerous journal publications including the Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering, the Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, and the Journal of Energy Resources Technology.

Ahmad Ghassemi, Ph.D.

Dr. Ahmad Ghassemi received his Ph.D. in Geological Engineering from the University of Oklahoma. He specializes in geomechanics for the development of unconventional petroleum and geothermal reservoirs. An authority in his field, Dr. Ghassemi leads one of the largest academic reservoir rock mechanics groups in the U.S. He has published over 200 technical articles and conference papers and has served on national and international panels. Dr. Ghassemi currently serves on the Scientific Advisory Committee for the LabEx Geothermal Project, a research program on deep geothermal energy.

Catalin Teodoriu

Prior to joining the faculty of the University of Oklahoma, Dr. Catalin Teodoriu was the head of the Sub-department for Drilling Technology, Completion and Workover at Clausthal University of Technology. He also served as the drilling focal point and coordinator for the largest geothermal project in Germany from 2009-2014. In addition to Dr. Teodoriu’s many professional accomplishments, his work has appeared in over 150 publications. Dr. Teodoriu is an expert on drilling problems and failure analysis and specializes in developing new threaded connections for OCTG.

Janet Allen, Ph.D.

Dr. Janet Allen received her S.B. in Life Sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and her Ph.D. in Biophysics from the University of California. As a subject matter expert, she has co-authored a textbook, four monographs, and more than 350 technical papers. Dedicating her career to research and education, Dr. Allen received the Inaugural Award for Excellence in Applied Research and Engineering from OU for her contributions to the field of engineering. A career-long educator, Dr. Allen is also the recipient of ASME’s Ruth and Joel Spira Outstanding Design Educator Award.

Ziho Kang, Ph.D.

Dr. Ziho Kang received his M.S. and Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University. With a background in human factors, human-integrated systems engineering, and human-computer interaction, Dr. Kang specializes in developing algorithms that can develop patterns from eye movements. As a subject matter expert, Dr. Kang regularly participates as a peer reviewer for HFES and IEEE international conferences, the Journal of Operations Research Society, the Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, and in IEEE transactions on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics.

Talayeh Razzaghi, Ph.D.

After receiving her Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Central Florida, Dr. Talayeh Razzaghi worked as a post-doctoral research associate developing predictive models and related algorithms for classification problems. Prior to joining the faculty at OU’s School of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Dr. Razzaghi worked as an assistant professor at New Mexico State University’s Industrial Engineering department where she co-authored various articles on machine learning, predictive analytics, artificial intelligence, and healthcare analytics. Currently, her research focuses on the development and use of data-driven analytical models to guide decision-making for real-world problems.

Alberto Striolo, Ph.D.

Dr. Alberto Striolo began his independent academic career as Assistant Professor at OU in 2005. In the past, Dr. Striolo was a Professor of Molecular Thermodynamics at University College London, where he served as the Deputy Head for Enterprise. While in Europe, he coordinated two EU-wide research efforts to quantify and reduce the environmental risks related to geo-energy production via various technologies, ranging from unconventional hydrocarbons to geothermal energy. He has published 200 peer-reviewed journal articles, including some on developing new approaches to complete the Life Cycle Assessment of new technologies and products.

Michele Galizia, Ph.D.

Dr. Michele Galizia, an accomplished researcher and educator, joined the OU Chemical Engineering Faculty in 2017. He is also the recipient of numerous awards, including the NSF CAREER Award (2021), the 2021 Class of Influential Researchers by I&EC Research, the ACS-PRF New Doctoral Investigator, and the OU Chemical Engineering Outstanding Professor Award, among others. His research program with The Galizia Research Group exploits fundamental principles of physical chemistry and thermodynamics to design, synthesize, characterize, and model polymer membranes for organic solvent reverse osmosis/nanofiltration and gas separation exhibiting pre-assigned selectivity and stability.

Reza Foudazi, Ph.D.

Before joining OU as an Associate Professor, Dr. Reza Foudazi had an illustrious career as an award-winning researcher, educator, and co-founder of Filtravate, a medical equipment manufacturing company. Dr. Foudazi’s research interests include the self-assembly of amphiphilic molecules, the templating approach for synthesizing porous polymers, and the rheology of soft matter, with the long-term goal of producing responsive multifunctional materials for sustainability and environmental applications. An example of a project Dr. Foudazi’s research group is working on is the removal of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), known as forever chemicals, as they do not break down in the environment from water sources.

Ngoc Bui, Ph.D.

Dr. Ngoc Bui is an Assistant Professor in Chemical, Biological, and Materials Engineering and in Civil Engineering and Environmental Science at OU. Before joining OU in August 2020, she was a postdoc fellow at the Molecular Foundry at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), where she developed advanced materials for water remediation. Dr. Bui’s research interests lie at the interface of advanced functional materials, molecular transport, and energy-efficient integrated separation processes for sustainable water, energy, and the environment. She also routinely publishes her research in journals such as Advanced Materials, Nature Communications, Science, and Joule, among others.

Cicely Striolo

Cicely Striolo, MSc, Global Lead, Copperleaf Technologies, is an internationally experienced industry expert in Chemicals and Oil and Gas industries. Her experience has qualified her to become a Chartered Chemical Engineer. She has also consistently pioneered in introducing sustainable operations planning and reporting in both the industrial and academic curriculum contexts. By joining Copperleaf Technologies, she has focused her career on helping companies make asset management and business cycle planning based on powerful decision analytic analysis aligned to the six capitals in heavily regulated industries.

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