Since 2012, the Provost’s Office has recognized 214 University Faculty Scholars. This year, 23 early- and mid-career faculty received this honor in recognition of their outstanding academic achievements and teaching, scholarship and service contributions to NC State, industry and the community. Included in the latest group of scholars is Rohan Shirwaiker, ISE associate professor.
Shirwaiker has been with the ISE Department since 2011, and his research has been at the intersection of industrial and systems engineering and biomedical applications. “Rohan’s chosen research area has the power to change the world as we know it, where human tissues can be grown to treat injuries or diseases,” explained Julie Swann, ISE Department Head. “His research will enable the creation of organs personalized to patients using their own cells, thus alleviating the need for a donor or post-transplantation organ rejection issues.”
“His research productivity has been excellent in terms of both refereed publications in the leading journals in his field,” shared Reha Uzsoy, C.A. Anderson Distinguished Professor. “He has had sustained research funding and ongoing research collaborations with leading researchers in the field at UNC-Chapel Hill, NC State, the Institute for Regenerative Medicine and Virginia Tech. To date, Shirwaiker has more than 40 refereed journal publications, with an astounding 18 articles published in the last three years, multiple book chapters, and more than 100 articles and abstracts in conference proceedings. His work has been featured in several news media articles and the NSF website, and the work has been nationally recognized with awards at several conferences.
Shirwaiker is an exceptional mentor to students. His first three Ph.D. students joined academia as assistant professors. A recent graduate, Parth Chansoria, received the prestigious Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship to pursue research in tissue engineering and biofabrication at ETH Zurich. Karl Schuchard just finished his Ph.D. and began working at Mesoblast Inc., a regenerative medicine company. Students love his teaching, evidenced by comments like, “A gem of the ISE department. Knowing that we have faculty as outstanding as Dr. Shirwaiker makes me proud to attend this university.” and “Dr. Shirwaiker, you have been one of the most favorite professors during my undergrad here at State!” Shirwaiker is quick to point out that no one succeeds alone. “I’m thankful to my students and mentors and for the unwavering support and encouragement from ISE faculty, the College of Engineering and the university leadership over the last decade,” he said.
Shirwaiker joins fellow ISE faculty member Maria Mayorga as a recent recipient of this prestigious honor. They are two more in a long line of highly-decorated faculty members. “The ISE faculty is a treasure to the University and our discipline,” praised Swann. “We are so blessed that ISE faculty are being recognized for their long history of leadership, excellence in scholarship, and devotion to teaching and service. The recognition of professors Mayorga and Shirwaiker is a testament to their contributions, and it is just the tip of the iceberg on what ISE faculty have been, are, and will be doing!”