Tech Today by Marcia Goodrich, senior content specialist
Greg Odegard has been named the new associate chair and director of undergraduate studies for the Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics, William Predebon has announced.
“I am extremely pleased that Greg has agreed to serve in this position,” said Predebon, chair of the department. “He has been recognized by his students as an excellent teacher and graduate student mentor, as well as an internationally recognized research scholar in his field, all of which are very important as the associate chair and director of undergraduate studies.
“At the same time I want to express my sincere thanks to Professor Michele Miller, who decided to return to the faculty next year after returning from her sabbatical,” Predebon added. “I am extremely grateful for her leadership and service over the past three years, particularly in leading our ME curriculum revision process to implementation this year.”
Odegard, the Richard and Elizabeth Henes Professor in Computational Mechanics, came to Michigan Tech in 2004.
Among his many honors, he has received the 2011 Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award from the Society of Automotive Engineers, the 2008 Ferdinand P. Beer and E. Russell Johnston Jr. Outstanding New Mechanics Educator Award from the American Society of Engineering Education, and the 2008 Outstanding Graduate Mentor Award from Michigan Tech’s Graduate Student Council.
In addition, Odegard received a 2012 Fulbright Fellowship to conduct research at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and the 2005 Boeing/SDM Best Paper Award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
He has authored or coauthored 55 papers in refereed journals and over 40 full-length conference papers and serves on the editorial board of the Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Materials.