Virginia Tech’s College of Engineering Hires Five Women to Its Faculty

The College of Engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in Blacksburg has announced that there are 27 new tenured or tenure-track faculty in its ranks this academic year. Five of the 27 new hires are women.

Xi Chen is an assistant professor of industrial and systems engineering. She was an assistant professor in the department of statistical sciences and operations research at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond. Dr. Chen is a graduate of Huazhong University of Science and Technology, in Wuhan, China, where she majored in automation. She holds a master’s degree from North Carolina State University and a Ph.D. in industrial engineering and management science from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

Donna Riley is a professor of engineering education. During the 2013-14 academic year, Professor Riley served as the National Science Foundation Program Director for Engineering Education. Previously, she was an associate professor in the Picker Engineering Program at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts. Professor Riley is a graduate of Princeton University, where she majored in chemical engineering. She earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in engineering and public policy at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

Bhuvana Srinivasan is an assistant professor in the department of aerospace and ocean engineering. Before joining the Virginia Tech faculty, she worked at the Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Theoretical Division for approximately four years, first as a postdoctoral researcher and then as a staff scientist. Dr. Srinivasan is a graduate of the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, where she double majored in aerospace and mechanical engineering. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in aeronautics and astronautics from the University of Washington.

Zhiting Tian is an assistant professor of mechanical engineering. Dr. Tian is a graduate of Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, where she majored in engineering physics. She holds a master’s degree from Binghamton University of the State University of New York and recently completed her Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Katerina Ziotopoulou is an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering. Dr. Ziotopoulou is a summa cum laude graduate of the National Technical University in Athens, Greece, where she majored in civil engineering. She holds a master’s degree and just completed her Ph.D. in geotechnical engineering at the University of California, Davis.