Fullerton Shirey is the Bicentennial Board of Visitors Faculty Fellow and serves as vice chair for graduate education. She is leading an NSF-funded effort that gives graduate students greater flexibility to shape their studies around academic, industry or entrepreneurial careers. She recently completed Drexel University's 2025–2026 Executive Leadership in Academic Technology, Engineering and Science (ELATES) fellowship, a yearlong program that included an institution-wide STEM education project.

“Susan's leadership experience in the department will provide valuable continuity while we search for its next chair,” said Michele V. Manuel, U. S. Steel Dean of Engineering.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to serve the department that has been my academic home since 2015,” Fullerton Shirey said. “My first priority is to listen to our faculty, staff and students and make sure they have what they need to continue their work while the search is underway.”

Fullerton Shirey earned bachelor's and doctoral degrees in chemical engineering from Penn State and began her faculty career as a research assistant professor of electrical engineering at the University of Notre Dame. She joined Pitt in 2015 and earned tenure in 2020.

As leader of the Nanoionics and Electronics Lab, Fullerton Shirey studies how ions can control charge in semiconductors for next-generation electronics. Her research has earned an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship in Chemistry and an NSF CAREER Award. She received the James Pommersheim Award for Excellence in Teaching in Chemical Engineering.

Fullerton Shirey succeeds Steven R. Little, who will conclude 14 years as chair at the end of summer. “I am grateful to Steve for 14 years of leadership and for working closely with Susan as she prepares to take on the interim role,” Manuel said. During his tenure, grant proposal submissions and expenditures more than doubled, and the department added 15 faculty members. Little will take a sabbatical before returning to Pitt's faculty as Distinguished Professor and George M. and Eva M. Bevier Endowed Chair.

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Romano was selected from 11 nominees representing nine institutions. Suitable is an engagement and success platform that helps colleges and universities encourage, track, and assess co-curricular activities, skill acquisition, and competency development outside the classroom. The Spirit Award is one of Suitable’s annual partner awards.

“I’m honored to receive the Spirit Award,” Romano said. “The most rewarding part of this work is helping engineering students prepare for their first resumes, interviews, job searches, and careers. I’m grateful to my ELPE colleagues and Swanson’s leadership for sharing that commitment to our students.”

Romano leads the Career and Industry Engagement office within the Swanson School’s Experiential Learning and Professional Engagement unit. Drawing on her experience in human resources and career management and her doctoral research, she led the development of career-preparation resources for Swanson School undergraduates.

Available online for students to access at any time, the written and video materials address resume writing, interviewing, job-search planning, LinkedIn, and communicating professional experience to employers. Romano and her colleagues revise the resources in response to student feedback. This summer, the office is expanding these materials for master’s and doctoral students. It also is developing digital badges that will help students document experiential learning and create co-curricular portfolios.

“Dana has made career preparation easier for engineering students to find and use,” said Mary Besterfield-Sacre, senior associate dean for academic affairs and a member of Romano’s doctoral committee. “Her work gives students practical support throughout their time at Swanson, from writing a first resume to preparing for a first job interview.”

Romano was among representatives of six Pitt units recognized during the conference.

Now in her 24th year at Pitt and her fourth with the Swanson School, Romano previously spent 20 years supporting MBA and specialized master’s students through career management and corporate engagement at Pitt Business. She worked in corporate human resources before beginning her career in higher education and earned her bachelor’s, master’s, and Ed.D. from Pitt.

In the overall rankings, the Swanson School moved up two points to #43 among all engineering programs, and remained even with 2024 at #24 among public universities, and #21 among members of the American Association of Universities. Rankings also increased for civil engineering (#50 overall / #39 publics) and materials engineering (#50 overall / #32 publics). The highest engineering rankings were in biomedical engineering at #28 (#11 publics) and industrial engineering at #24 (#17 publics).

“Our graduate programs are competitive among our peers and we're excited to remain a top 25 public program,” noted Michele V. Manuel, U. S. Steel Dean of Engineering. “The competition is incredibly intense but as we plan for new degree and certificate programs, as well as expanded partnerships with industry, I expect our reputation to continue to grow.”

Learn more about graduate and professional studies at Pitt.

Last fall, the Swanson School's undergraduate rankings improved as well: Undergraduate biomedical engineering and industrial/manufacturing engineering were ranked for the first time, at Nos. 28 and 17, respectively, while Pitt landed at No. 63 on the Most Innovative Schools list.

Business leaders look to Pitt as a highly selective source of talented graduates, according to a new list by Forbes that named the University a “New Ivy.”

Executives surveyed by Forbes say they’re less likely to hire Ivy League graduates — and more likely to hire those from public universities — than they were five years ago. The list, in its second year, notes highly selective universities whose students are “outpacing most Ivy Leaguers in the eyes of employers,” chosen by executives who subscribe to Forbes newsletters.  

Pitt is a new addition to this year’s list, making it the only Pennsylvania university to be named as a public “New Ivy.”

The distinction joins other recent accolades by the University, including as a best college for future leaders according to Time Magazine, among the top 50 universities powering global innovation per Clarivate, and the No. 8 U.S. public university according to the U.S. News and World Report.

The Minerals, Metals and Materials Society (TMS) has selected Mostafa Bedewy, assistant professor of industrial engineering at the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering, as a recipient of the 2022 Frontiers of Materials Award. 

Bedewy’s research on the fabrication of graphene and related carbon nanomaterials directly on polymers enables the realization of flexible and wearable electronic devices, such as implantable biomedical sensors and bendable batteries. His NanoProduct Lab focuses on advanced manufacturing of bio- and nano-materials that impact major societal challenges in energy, healthcare and the environment.

“I’m excited about the opportunity to bring more attention to this emerging area of research, and honored that TMS has selected me to lead the discussion,” said Bedewy, who also holds appointments in Chemical and Petroleum Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science. “I look forward to the innovations and collaborations that will emerge from this meeting with my colleagues in the field.”

“This award is a testament to the outstanding and innovative efforts Mostafa has put into developing his interdisciplinary research group since he joined our faculty in 2016,” said Bopaya Bidanda, the Ernest E. Roth Professor and chairman of the Department of Industrial Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering. “We are thrilled by this achievement and the visibility it brings to Mostafa’s work.” 

The Award recognizes top-performing early career professionals who are able to organize a Frontiers of Materials symposium on a hot or emerging technical topic at the TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition, which will be held in 2022 in Anaheim, Calif. As a recipient, Bedewy will also deliver a keynote lecture during the event and will be invited to organize a suite of thematic papers for an upcoming issue of JOM, the Member Journal of the Minerals, Metals & Materials Society. 

Dr. Bedewy’s previous awards include the Outstanding Young Investigator Award from the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers’ Manufacturing and Design (IISE M&D) Division in 2020, the Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award from the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) in 2018, the Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award from the Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) in 2017, the Robert A. Meyer Award from the American Carbon Society in 2016.