“Rizwan assumes NPRE’s leadership during a very exciting and opportune time for the department – its faculty has flourished with exceptional colleagues, whose expertise and research interest strengthened the department’s disciplinary depth and interdisciplinary breadth,” said Andreas Cangellaris, Dean of Engineering at Illinois.
“Rizwan is committed to their success and to NPRE’s distinction as a top-ranked program,” Cangellaris continued, “I look forward to working closely with him and the NPRE faculty to secure the necessary resources and facilities for them to succeed in leadership and global impact through curriculum innovation and groundbreaking research.”
An NPRE alumnus, Uddin has distinguished himself as an educator and a scholar of international stature. He has made seminal research contributions in modeling and simulation of reactor engineering problems. His many and multidisciplinary contributions also include pioneering work in the use of 3D immersive, virtual reality systems and computer games for education and training in the nuclear field. He directs the Virtual Education and Research Laboratory in NPRE.
For over a year, Uddin has directed the Master of Engineering in Energy Systems Program and the Energy and Sustainability Engineering (EaSE) Council. He has served as NPRE’s Associate Head of Academic Programs since 2013.
A Fellow of the American Nuclear Society, Uddin has been recognized with the 2016 ANS Arthur Holly Compton Award and the 2015 American Society of Engineering Education’s Glenn Murphy Award for his teaching and research accomplishments. He was honored this spring with the Campus Award for Excellence in Guiding Undergraduate Research.
Uddin has been included in the university’s List of Teachers Ranked Excellent by Their Students every year since he began as an assistant professor at Illinois in 1996. The ANS at Illinois student chapter chose him 11 times for NPRE’s annual Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award.
Uddin earned his master’s degree and PhD in NPRE in 1983 and 1987, respectively. He earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 1980 from the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, Turkey.