MSU engineering college names endowed professors
November 5, 2010
Two Mississippi State faculty members are being named to endowed professorships in the university’s James Worth Bagley College of Engineering.
Pedro Mago, an associate professor in mechanical engineering, has been awarded the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) Professorship in Energy Systems and the Environment. Sergio D. Felicelli, a professor in mechanical engineering, was named to the Coleman and Whiteside Professorship.
Mago earned this position by demonstrating excellence in teaching, research and service in thermodynamics, heat and mass transfer. He has provided leadership in the research areas of clean energy and biofuels earning more than $10 million funding from the U.S. Department of Energy and private industry.
Currently, he serves as the director of the MSU Micro-CHP and Bio-Fuel Center and co-director of the Department of Energy Southeast Clean Energy Application Center. He has authored more than 90 publications. The Bagley College of Engineering Hearing Faculty Excellent Award winner earned his doctorate degree from the University of Florida.
Established in 2000, the TVA Endowed Professorship was created by the Tennessee Valley Authority, a U.S. government owned corporation that provides electricity for 9 million people in seven southeastern states. The professorship will support Mago’s educational, research and outreach efforts as he provides leadership in the areas of energy utilization, energy efficiency and environmental impact.
“Drs. Felicelli and Mago are talented engineers who have established national and international reputations for their scholarly contributions,” Sarah Rajala, dean of the Bagley College of Engineering, said. “They are excellent role models for our students and their peers and very deserving of these honors.”
Outstanding teaching, research and service in the areas of solidification computational mechanics, finite elements, fluid mechanics, and stress analysis, led to Felicelli’s selection for the professorship. During his 25-year career he has authored pioneering works in computer modeling of macrosegregation and porosity defects, having published a total of 80 peer-reviewed papers.
In the past four years at MSU, he won two major National Science Foundation research grants and provided leadership for more than $12 million in funding. He received a best paper award from the American Foundry Society and several awards from MSU, including the 2006 Office of Research Faculty Research Award and the 2010 State Pride Faculty Award. He earned his doctorate degree from the University of Arizona.
The Coleman and Whiteside Professorship, was created in part by the generosity of Edward P. Coleman, a 1935 alumnus and an emeritus professor of mechanical engineering. Jim T. Whiteside, a 1941 alumnus of Mississippi State, established the endowed position in memory of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Whiteside. The professorship will give Felicelli the ability to create a significant impact on new and emerging technologies within design, manufacturing and professional services.
For more information about Dr. Mago or Dr. Felicelli’s research, visit the mechanical engineering department’s website, www.me.msstate.edu. Contact Bennett Evans at bevans@bagley.msstate.edu for more information about endowed positions within the Bagley College of Engineering.