New Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering Chair, Arvind Agarwal, Ph.D., joins VCU College of Engineering
From education to research and administration, Agarwal brings more than 20 years of experience and joins VCU Engineering from FIU
Arvind Agarwal, Ph.D., will join Virginia Commonwealth University’s (VCU) College of Engineering as the new chair of the Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering. A renowned academic and pioneering researcher in advanced materials and manufacturing, Agarwal comes to VCU from Florida International University (FIU), where he held the position of Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering (MME).
“Dr. Agarwal’s extensive experience as an educator, researcher, and administrator will be a tremendous benefit to the College of Engineering faculty and students,” said Azim Eskandarian, D.Sc., the Alice T. and William H. Goodwin Jr. Dean of the VCU College of Engineering. “We’re honored to have him join us at VCU.”
During Agarwal’s seven-year tenure as MME chair at FIU, he spearheaded numerous initiatives resulting in significant departmental growth. This includes an increase in the undergraduate graduation rate. Research awards also grew from $1.8 million in 2017 to $24 million in 2024 and Ph.D. enrollment doubled during his tenure as chair.
Agarwal was also the Director of FIU’s School of Biomedical, Materials and Mechanical Engineering and served as the Associate Dean for Research in the College of Engineering and Computing, managing an annual research expenditure of $25 million and mentoring junior faculty. He also directed the Advanced Materials Engineering Research Institute and Motorola Nanofabrication Lab, growing its annual revenue five-fold.
“My goal as chair of the Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering department at VCU is to support faculty in their educational and research endeavors,” said Agarwal. “I also want to extend that support to students at all levels of the academic journey, whether at the undergraduate or graduate level. It’s an honor to join the VCU College of Engineering, and am excited for the good we can do together for the community.”
Focused on additive manufacturing of metals and ceramics, Agarwal’s research includes the development of cold spray, plasma spray, wire arc additive manufacturing, and ultrahigh temperature ceramics. His work also explores boron nitride nanotube and graphene-reinforced composites and coatings, as well as the nanoindentation and mechanical properties of biological materials.
With a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Agarwal joined FIU in 2002. His publications include more than 450 technical articles, including 359 peer-reviewed journal articles and three books. Over 20,000 citations put Agarwal at an H-index of 72, an author-level metric measuring the productivity and citation impact of publications.
Agarwal is a prolific inventor, holding 32 U.S. patents with eight additional patents pending. His groundbreaking research has attracted substantial funding, with over $35 million as a principal investigator and an additional $47 million as a co-principal investigator from various agencies including the National Science Foundation, U.S. Office of Naval Research, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Army Research Office, Army Research Laboratory, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Department of Energy and various industrial partners.
Among Agarwal’s many honors and awards is being an elected Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors, the American Association for Advancement of Science, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the American Ceramic Society, and many others. He was recognized as a “World Class Faculty Award” winner by the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance in 2023, and has been listed among the World’s Top 2% Most Cited Scientists by Stanford University since 2020.
The Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering provides undergraduate and graduate students with the opportunity to perform real-world research as soon as they enroll. From applying material science to additive manufacturing techniques to optimizing coolant systems for nuclear reactors and more, students gain understanding of many important engineering topics. Browse videos and recent news from the Department of Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering to discover how the College of Engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University prepares the next generation of scientists and engineers for the challenges of the future.
Categories Mechanical & Nuclear Engineering