91ÉçÇø

Background

Atul Kelkar was appointed the dean of the Thomas J. Watson College of Engineering and Applied Science at 91ÉçÇø in July 2024. Prior to his appointment, Kelkar was the D.W. Reynolds Distinguished Professor and Department Chair of Mechanical Engineering at Clemson University, serving since August 2018. Before joining Clemson University, he was the program director of the Dynamics Control and System Diagnostics Program in CMMI Division at the National Science Foundation. Kelkar was an associate chair for research and technology transfer in mechanical engineering and professor-in-charge for industry research and entrepreneurship for the College of Engineering at Iowa State University, where he was a faculty member for 18 years. He received his PhD in mechanical engineering from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va., in 1993 while working as a research scientist at the NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va.

Kelkar is a fellow of ASME, associate fellow of AIAA and senior member of IEEE. He is a recipient of NSF’s prestigious CAREER Award in his early faculty career. He continues to lead various activities for the ASME and IEEE professional societies. He has been the associate editor for key ASME and IEEE journals, served on program committees for various IEEE and ASME conferences, and organized and chaired several technical sessions at these conferences.

His research has led to several patents and more than 160 archival publications, which include several conference and journal articles, handbook chapters and research monographs. He has mentored over 60 graduate students and several postdoctoral students. Even in his administrative position, he continues to serve as a mentor for graduate students and young faculty.

Kelkar’s research has been in dynamics and control with a focus on modeling and control of aerospace systems, control theory, active control of vibrations and noise, and energy technologies. He is also a co-founder of five different technology startups that are acquiring competitive projects from the NSF, NASA and the U.S. Department of Defense. Three of these companies have also won awards at the state level and have successfully commercialized technologies that Kelkar developed. His research and entrepreneurial success have led to several newspaper and magazine articles as well as interviews on national and local public radio stations and TV stations.

Research Interests

• Dynamics and control
• Modeling and control of aerospace systems
• Active control of vibrations and noise
• Energy technologies