Dennis Assanis
Professor Assanis received the B.Sc. degree in Marine Engineering from Newcastle University, England in 1980, and four graduate degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology: S.M. in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering (1982), S.M. in Mechanical Engineering (1982), Ph.D. in Power and Propulsion (1985) and S.M. in Management from MIT's Sloan School of Management (1986).
He has worked as Assistant and Associate Professor (with tenure) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 1985-1994. He joined The University of Michigan in fall 1994 as Professor of Mechanical Engineering. He has served as the Founding Director of the highly successful, interdisciplinary graduate program in Automotive Engineering between 1996 and 2002.and subsequently as Chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering from 2002-2007.
In parallel, he has revitalized the Mechanical Engineering Department’s teaching and research efforts in internal combustion engines and transformed the Walter E. Lay Automotive Laboratory into a beehive of research activity. He currently serves as the Director of the Automotive Research Center, the Director of the Walter E. Lay Automotive Laboratory, and the Director of the Multi-University Consortium on Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition Engine Research. He is also the Co-Director of the General Motors Collaborative Research Laboratory on Engine Systems.
Dr. Assanis is an international authority in the field of power and energy, and has published over 250 articles in journals and conference proceedings. He has directed the research of 50 Ph.D. and more than 100 MS and M.Eng. graduate students. His group’s research is driven by the imperative to gain new understanding of the basic energy conversion processes so as to develop systems with significantly improved fuel economy and dramatically reduced emissions. His expertise encompasses both modeling methodologies and experimental techniques for studies of the fundamental thermal, fluid and chemical phenomena that occur in internal combustion engines, fuel processor, after-treatment systems, and fuel cells; with applications to design integration and control of complex energy systems.
He is a Fellow of the Society of Automotive Engineers. He has been serving as an Associate Editor of ASME’s Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power since 1996, and as an editorial board member of various journals.
Dr. Assanis has received a number of teaching and research awards which include the Arthur F. Thurnau Professorship (1999-open), the ASEE Annual Distinguished Lecturer (2000), the CoE Teaching Excellence Award (2000), the MEAM Excellence in Teaching Award (1998), the ASME Meritorious Service Award (1997), the ASME Internal Combustion Engine Division Speaker Awards (1993 and 1994), the IBM Research Award (1991), the UIUC University Scholar Award (1991-1994), the SAE Award for Research (2002), the SAE Russell Springer Award (1991), the SAE Ralph Teetor -Award (1987), the NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award (1998-1993), and the ASME Pi/Tau Sigma Gold Medal Award (1990).
Dennis Assanis is a MMPEI Faculty Fellow.