Joe Cecchi, dean of the School of Engineering, said the new chairman of the Mechanical Engineering Department was chosen for his exciting vision.
After a search began last fall, Juan Heinrich was chosen from five finalists as the new chairman of the department in early June.
"He has enthusiasm and vision that will move the department forward," Cecchi said.
Heinrich, a professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering at the University of Arizona, said he was chosen because of his 25 years of experience and because of what he can offer the department.
"I've seen how many other departments function and I have a strong record as a researcher, so I can help the younger professors with their research," Heinrich said.
He said he was attracted to the department's new technology.
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He added that ongoing research activities in the biomedical engineering area appealed to him as well as the department's high performance computing center.
"The center is very important in terms of research assets," Heinrich said.
Heinrich first heard about the position through a colleague employed at Sandia National Laboratories, and said he had always felt UNM and UA have a lot in common.
"I thought it was an excellent department I would like to work for," Heinrich said.
The current chairman of the department, Marc Ingber, has served as chairman since Aug. 1999. In 2003, Ingber served as director of the High Performance Computing Education and Research Center for a year.
Cecchi said Ingber decided to go back to teaching after his term as chairman ended, and he helped in the recruitment process for a new chairperson.
In pursuing the position, Heinrich wrote an extensive vision statement outlining his goals for the department.
He said his goals are to provide the best possible education in the department and to bring the department up to a national research standing.
The first thing he will be faced with when his term begins Aug.16 is getting the department accredited.
Cecchi said there were a large number of applicants and Heinrich was clearly the one they wanted.
One of the goals of the department is to attract and develop world-class faculty according to its Web site.
The Web site states that the diversity of the faculty provides students with stimulating exposure to a variety of ideas, philosophies and study opportunities.
According to a news release, Heinrich received his doctorate in mathematics from the University of Pittsburgh in 1975. Afterward, he served as senior research assistant in the Civil Engineering Department at the University of Wales in Great Britain. Heinrich was also a senior research associate in the Earth Science Department at Case Western Reserve University from 1970 to 1980. In 1980, he began as assistant professor at the University of Arizona, and in 1990 he became a full professor.
