Join us in welcoming Jie Xiao, Juming Tang and Michelle Hickner as new faculty to the ME department this fall.

Jie Xiao, Boeing Martin Professor of Mechanical Engineering

Jie Xiao is the Boeing Martin Professor of Mechanical Engineering, with a joint appointment at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Xiao’s research in fundamentals and applications of energy storage materials and systems has helped accelerate the process of establishing domestic manufacturing capabilities for clean energy technologies. Xiao is the deputy director of the Innovation Center for Battery500 Consortium and has been named in the top 1 percent of Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researchers since 2017.

Juming Tang, ISE Chair, ME and ISE Professor

Juming Tang has a joint appointment as professor in ME and in industrial and systems engineering (ISE), where he has been appointed chair. Prior to joining the UW, Tang was a Washington State University Regents Professor and Distinguished Chair of Food Engineering. A pioneer in advancing thermal processing technologies for pathogen control in commercial production of ready-to-eat foods and ingredients, Tang was elected to the National Academy of Engineering for inventing and commercializing electromagnetic spectrum wave-based food processes.

Michelle Hickner, Assistant Teaching Professor

Michelle Hickner joins ME as an assistant teaching professor after receiving her Ph.D. from the department in 2023. As a research engineer with the College of Engineering AI Initiative for Education and Research, she explores data-driven mathematical methods for sensing, control and flight, with a focus on bio-inspired mathematical models. Hickner has served in several UW roles in the past, including supporting the ME composites shop and educational labs.