Meet our team

Master of Engineering Program Director

Computational Modeling of Materials Track Lead and Advisor

Senior Instructional Professor

Terry D. Johnson is a Senior Instructional Professor at the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago. Also an Emeritus Teaching Professor of Bioengineering at UC Berkeley, where he co-founded and served as faculty co-director of the UC Berkeley/UCSF Masters of Translational Medicine.

He is an inventor on two licensed patents: one in the tissue engineering space, and another in synthetic biology. In 2010 he received Berkeley's Golden Apple Award for Outstanding Teaching, and was one of the recipients of Berkeley's 2013 Distinguished Teaching Awards.

Director of Experiential Learning

Bio- and Immunoengineering Track Lead and Advisor

Senior Instructional Professor

Mustafa O. Guler is a Senior Instructional Professor at the Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering at the University of Chicago. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC), UK. He has served as an editor or editorial board member for several journals including Scientific Reports, RSC Advances, Molecules, and BBA Advances.

Guler received his PhD from Northwestern University, Department of Chemistry, and worked as a postdoctoral research fellow at the School of Medicine, Institute for Bionanotechnology for Medicine at Northwestern University. Later, he worked as a professor of materials science and nanotechnology at Bilkent University. He is an author of several scientific journal articles, books, book chapters, patents, and communications in international conferences.

Materials for Sustainability and Health Track Lead and Advisor

Director of the Soft Matter Laboratory

Phil Griffin is the Director of the Soft Matter Laboratory. In this role, he oversees the administrative and technical aspects of the laboratory, provides instrument training and ongoing support to researchers, and facilitates the use of the laboratory by external non-profit and industry clients.

Phil instructs a graduate-level laboratory course focused on soft materials and regularly guest lectures in other Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering courses.

Director of Career Development

Briana works with PME graduate students and postdoctoral scholars to direct them to relevant campus resources, develop PME-specific programming, and connect them to career opportunities. She also engages faculty and administrative partners in coordinating employer development and career support across academic programs.

With the continued growth of PMEs academic programs and student population, Briana is an essential leader in long-term strategic planning for career development and recruitment pipelines.

Director of Academic Programs & EDI

Tracy provides oversight and guidance of the academic program support, ensuring that policies are clear, transparent, and reflective of faculty and academic leadership decisions. Reporting to the Vice Dean of Education and working closely with the Senior Advisor to the Dean for Equity, Diversity, & Inclusion, the Director supervises Assistant Academic Program Directors. He collaborates with key academic leaders to develop and implement courses and initiatives.

Tracy brings over twenty years of experience in higher education administration across many areas, including administrative support management, financial aid, student affairs, marketing, event administration, and technical editing.  She has held memberships in several professional organizations, including the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NAFSAA), National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA), National College Personnel Association (ACPA), National Association of Student Affairs Professionals (NASAP), and the National Association of Campus Activities (NACA).  She has also served as the ADA Section 504 Compliance Officer, Primary Designated School Official (PDSO), Responsible Officer (RO), and Title IX Designee.

Assistant Director of Academic Programs

Stella engages in course administration, records management, student engagement, student support, recruitment, and admissions for the MEng program.

Stella Wang is committed to fostering an inclusive higher education environment for students of all backgrounds. With extensive experience in international recruitment and admissions, she has also championed support for Asian American Pacific Islander students, faculty, and staff. She has actively contributed to the field through committee service and presentations at conferences hosted by NAFSA: Association of International Educators, International Educators of Illinois, and The American College Personnel Association (ACPA).

Visiting Lecturer

Kathleen Akers is a director at Epsilon Economics specializing in applying economics to intellectual property, international trade, and complex commercial disputes. Kathleen has assisted in preparing numerous expert reports submitted to U.S. Federal District Courts, the U.S. International Trade Commission, and the International Court of Arbitration, as well as provided consulting services for clients across a wide range of industries. Kathleen has performed economic analysis for international trade disputes regarding domestic industry, remedy, bond, commercial success, injury, and public interest in Section 337 intellectual property matters before the U.S. International Trade Commission.

Visiting Lecturer

Ray is president of Particles in Motion, LLC, a consulting company focusing on complex granular-fluid hydrodynamics in commercial applications. Before his current role, Ray Cocco was with PSRI for 16 years, where he was President and CEO. Before PSRI, Ray spent 17 years with The Dow Chemical Company, where he led research and development efforts in numerous particle technology platforms, including the production of WoodStalkTM (a particleboard made of straw) for Dow BioProducts, the production of vinyl chloride monomer, and RCl oxidation using fluidized beds, the production of hydrocarbon using circulating fluidized beds, the development of polyolefin catalyst for fluidized beds, and in the production of aluminum nitride and silicon carbide ceramic powders using moving bed reactors.

Visiting Lecturer

Atul R Khare, PhD, MBA, is VP, Scientific Affairs, Unicycive Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company that is developing two drugs for kidney disease. Dr. Khare has over three decades of experience in the management, commercialization, sales & marketing of drug and medical device R&D technologies. He has had a critical role in the development and implementation of strategies for the commercialization and launch of multiple nanotechnology-based products. In addition, he has several years of experience in food R&D technologies. He has held positions at Baxter Healthcare Corporation and other pharmaceutical companies in the Chicago area.