Huang's plan to lead CEAT forward

Wednesday, October 30, 2024

Media Contact: Kristi Wheeler | Marketing and Communications Manager | 405-744-5831 | kristi.wheeler@okstate.edu

Dr. Hanchen Huang has a vision for the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology.

It’s all about growth.  

Aligning with the university’s strategic plan to become the premier land-grant university, the new CEAT dean plans to foster growth in six different areas: educational programs, enrollment, faculty, research, extension and reputation — creating a proposed 6G vision for discussions with stakeholders.

Path to Stillwater 

Huang’s journey to Oklahoma State University is marked by impressive academic and leadership roles, making him a perfect fit for the enormous task at hand.   

Huang earned a doctoral degree in nuclear engineering from the University of California-Los Angeles, a master’s degree in theoretical nuclear physics from China Institute of Atomic Energy (formerly the Institute of Atomic Energy/Chinese Academy of Sciences) in Beijing and a Bachelor of Science degree in physics from Hebei Normal University.

As a leader, he served as provost and vice chancellor for Academic Affairs at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth from July 2022 to June 2023. Other previous roles include dean of the College of Engineering at the University of North Texas from January 2019 to July 2022, department chair of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at Northeastern University from July 2013 to December 2018 and program director of mechanical engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute from August 2007 to July 2009.  

In terms of society recognition, Huang is an elected fellow of four professional societies: the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences, American Society for Materials International, American Society of Mechanical Engineers International and Society of Engineering Sciences as well as an elected Member of Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering. He also serves on the Board of Trustees of the American Society for Materials International.  

Provost and Senior Vice President Jeanette Mendez expressed her confidence in Huang’s appointment.

“President Shrum and I are confident we have identified the right individual to lead CEAT, and we are excited about Dr. Huang joining the OSU leadership team,” she said.  

When asked what drew him to OSU, Huang said the “excellent faculty, dedicated staff, outstanding students and loyal alumni.” He also praised the college’s strong alumni engagement and state-of-the-art facilities.  

The need for change drove Huang’s path to academic administration.   

“Early on, I planned to be a scholar for life,” Huang said. “However, dysfunction of an administration–faculty relation made me ask the question: What can I do to minimize the dysfunction to positively impact the university? Instead of sitting back and complaining, I decided to step forward and serve as an academic administrator to advance an institution with functional administration-faculty relations. Looking back, I have no regret.”

Goals for CEAT

Huang is ready and equipped with intentional goals for the college, including long-term and short-term.  
In the immediate future, he plans to focus on OSU’s Polytech initiative and innovating in OSU key focus areas of energy, aerospace and One Health.   

OSU Polytech is a statewide coordination of the OSU System’s workforce-driven technical academic programs geared toward the state’s most in-demand occupations in an accessible and flexible format. With an innovative STEM-based curriculum, industry-aligned academic programs, flexible learning opportunities and real-world learning experiences, Polytech will elevate and expand access to workforce development education for all Oklahomans. 

In the long term, he aims to elevate CEAT to be within the top 100 colleges nationally, featuring in-demand and forward-looking educational programs and impactful research. By focusing on growth, impacts will be made to Oklahoma’s society, the tech industry and beyond through research and Extension.  

Currently, OSU is ranked No. 111 overall for its engineering graduate programs in the U.S. With a ranking of No. 10 in online graduate programs, CEAT has remarkable success in several programs but still has room to grow in prestige.   

Huang’s leadership achievements include growing not only a large department by about 50% and elevating its national ranking by double digits but also having the same success at the college level.  

While serving as the department chair of mechanical and industrial engineering at Northeastern University, Huang helped increase graduate enrollment from 500 to 1,700 and grew full-time faculty from 60 to 90. He continued this impressive success at the college level as well. As the dean of engineering at North Texas, Huang led the college to increase graduate enrollment from 500 to 2,500, faculty from 100 to 150 and annual research awards from $10 million to $19 million.  

“I have led departments and colleges to significant growth in enrollment and reputation, and I am committed to doing the same at CEAT,” Huang said.  

After Dr. Paul Tikalsky stepped down following more than a decade at the helm of CEAT, Dr. John Veenstra served as interim dean since August 2023.   

“Hanchen brings a wealth of academic administrative experience to his new role at OSU to lead CEAT,” Veenstra said. “I am sure he will continue the momentum CEAT has across all its missions and strategically help to propel the college on its upward trajectory.”  

Being a first-generation college graduate — in fact, a first-generation elementary school graduate — in his family, Huang is committed to expanding access to quality education to students from all walks of life. 

Both undergraduate and graduate students have acknowledged this dedication. At Northeastern University, four undergraduate student groups presented Huang with the Award of Recognition “for many contributions, support and inspiration.” Graduate students at the University of Connecticut’s School of Engineering nominated and selected him for the Outstanding Faculty Advisor award. 

Beyond the focus on students, Huang was a competitive badminton player at a younger age and now walks more than 10,000 steps a day. He and his wife, Yanping, are the proud parents of two adult sons. Dan is a lawyer and Joe is a software engineer.   

Importance of Alumni, Faculty and Staff  

Huang views faculty as the soul of a college and believes that a college is only as great as its people.   
“At Northeastern University, my department maintained a record of zero attrition of tenure-track faculty while growing by about 50% in five years,” he said.  

With a goal of faculty recruitment and retention, Huang would like to promote a stronger sense of belonging through faculty and staff engagement. He also wants to promote proactive recruiting to form clusters of well-established faculties.   

Additionally, he recognizes the critical role of alumni in providing feedback, financial support and a network for students. Staff, he notes, are the enablers of quality education, research and Extension, keeping the institution running smoothly.  

With a solid foundation and ambitious plans, Huang is poised to lead CEAT into a new era of growth and excellence.  

“With about 3,000 job openings and 1,500 graduates in engineering and technology each year in Oklahoma, OSU, as a land-grant university, has an obligation, as well as an opportunity, to graduate more engineers and technologists. Being the M in OSU A&M, engineering (as well as architecture and technology) is in the DNA of OSU. 

“The education of students and professionals through CEAT at OSU, a top-tier (R1) university, is forward-looking and meets society’s needs now and in the future.” 

Message to the CEAT Community  

Huang advises current students, “Take full advantage of what a top-tier research (R1) university has to offer in research and innovation.” 

To prospective students, he highlights that “CEAT provides in-demand and forward-looking educational programs in a preeminent research environment.”

“In particular, CEAT is a leader in aerospace innovation and applications and has the technical expertise to lead energy research and education for a sustainable world,” Huang said. “Further, with expertise in bioengineering and engineering analytics, CEAT is in a great position to collaborate with health sciences to enhance human and animal health. Overall, our strategy is to raise the standing of engineering, architecture and technology to elevate OSU.”

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Photos by: Gary Lawson

Story by: Desa James | IMPACT Magazine