As the technology industry grows each year, so does the need for experts who create innovations that fuel this sector and educate the workforce that powers it.
With this demand in mind, UCF’s College of Engineering and Computer Science (CECS) has broken a hiring record with a total of 39 new faculty members joining the college’s seven departments in Fall 2025. This marks the third consecutive academic year that CECS has appointed more than 30 new faculty members, although it’s the first time this many have started in one semester.
The new professors, instructors and lecturers bring a wide range of expertise to the college, ranging from artificial intelligence (AI) and cybersecurity to hypersonics and semiconductors. Michael Georgiopoulos, dean of CECS, says the new faculty’s breadth of knowledge aligns with the university’s strategic plan and enhances its reputation.
“The College of Engineering and Computer Science has hired several faculty members in the areas of AI, energy, digital twins and hypersonics, among others,” Georgiopoulos says. “It has expanded the college’s research and educational expertise in areas that are of national importance and are in line with UCF’s vision of being Florida’s Premier Engineering and Technology University.”
A total of eight new faculty are UCF alums, with three who graduated this past summer. Ali Gordon, the dean of graduate affairs, attributes this to the quality of the college’s graduates.
“In recent hiring cycles, applications for faculty positions here in CECS have been very high,” Gordon says. “Landing a professor or lecturer role here is more challenging every year. The success that our alumni have exhibited in attaining positions here speaks to the excellence of our college and its programs.”
The college is expected to bring aboard five additional faculty members in the spring semester, bringing the total number of new hires for the academic year to 44. Learn more about the materials science and engineering hires below.
Mohiuddin Quadir
Associate Professor
Quadir joins UCF from North Dakota State University, where he developed a nationally recognized research program on stimuli-responsive biomaterials. His research has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. He earned his doctoral degree in organic polymer chemistry from Freie University in Berlin . At UCF, Quadir will be a member of the Biionix Faculty Research Cluster and plans to advance the development of living nano-biomaterials designed to register multiple genetic and epigenetic signals in a logic-gated pattern. These materials will serve as the foundation for next-generation cellular implants and drug delivery systems capable of controlling cell fate through epigenetic modulations.
Viktoryia Shautsova
Assistant Professor
Shautsova hails from Stanford University, where she has been developing nanoscale materials for neural engineering and advanced optical sensing as a Stanford Science Fellow. During her postdoctoral appointment at the University of Oxford, Shautsova investigated large-scale Van der Waals heterostructures for optoelectronic devices. She earned her doctoral degree in physics from Imperial College in London. At UCF, Shautsova aims to continue her investigation of emergent properties in nanoscale systems for electronic, photonic and biointerface applications.
- Written by Marisa Ramiccio