Rangel to Serve Second Term as Department Chair

June 17, 2020 - Roger Rangel will serve as the next chair of UC Irvine’s Samueli School Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering beginning July 1, 2020. This will be Rangel’s second time leading the department; he served as chair from 2005-09.

Rangel, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, conducts research in fluid mechanics and heat transfer of dispersed multiphase flows and interfacial flows, including fuel-spray heat transfer, vaporization and combustion. He has over 150 publications and conference papers in those fields. After earning his doctorate in mechanical engineering from UC Berkeley in 1985, he started his career at UCI as an assistant specialist. He was appointed assistant professor in 1989.  

Rangel has led, from its inception, the Balsells Fellowship Program, the most successful international graduate program in the Samueli School. He has held a number of significant administrative roles and has held service positions on the Council of Academic Personnel. Rangel is a strong supporter of undergraduate students, advising the Hyperloop Pod Design Team and developing innovative undergraduate experiential learning initiatives.  

He will succeed Derek Dunn Rankin, who also served as department chair twice (2009-20 and 2017-20). “The department and I are very thankful to Derek for taking the chair role a second time and advancing our inclusiveness and excellence during his leadership," said Rangel.

– Lori Brandt