Eric Lukosi, a professor and Charles P. Postelle Professor in the Department of Nuclear Engineering, has been named the interim department head of the new Department of Applied Engineering and Technology (AET). Lukosi will begin his role immediately and is expected to serve until the new department launches in the fall of 2025 and the inaugural department head is in place.

Over the next year, Lukosi will lead efforts in strategic planning, set departmental bylaws and undergraduate policies, and form standing and ad-hoc committees.

Lukosi joined the Tickle College of Engineering faculty in 2012 and has served as the director of the Micro-Processing Research Facility for a decade. His current academic research goals are aimed at the development and characterization of advanced semiconductor and scintillation radiation detectors/spectrometers for applications ranging from nuclear security to high energy physics.

“I am excited to be given this opportunity to serve the college and help the new AET program get the best start possible,” Lukosi said. “The timing of this new program is right to help our region fill current and emerging gaps in the workforce, where both academic and technical training is necessary to support positions requiring more hands on and applied experience.”

In March, the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees voted to allow UT to move forward with the new AET department, which will offer accredited four-year engineering degree programs in areas of high demand for the state and region.

TCE plans to offer degrees with different focus areas that include applied manufacturing engineering, applied aerospace engineering, energy storage and conversion, and applied computer science and technology, pending approval by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission.

“I am excited that Dr. Lukosi will be helping establish this new department,” said Dean Matthew Mench, the Wayne T. Davis Dean’s Chair of the college. “It is a rare opportunity to start an academic program from scratch and I think his many talents and enthusiasm will serve the college extremely well during this start-up period and I look forward to working with him on this.”

A national search for the inaugural AET department head is underway.

Contact

Rhiannon Potkey (865-974-0683, rpotkey@utk.edu)