To help facilitate the interaction between MSOE faculty and students with external partners, MSOE has created the Faculty Liaison Fellows (FLF) program. The 2025–2026 academic year introduced the first cohort of fellows with the goal of translating disciplinary expertise into collaborative opportunities, strengthening research and industry partnerships, and supporting innovation across campus.

The inaugural group of fellows includes:

• John Bukowy, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Dwight and Dian Diercks School of Advanced Computing
• Steve Holland, Ph.D., Vice-Chair, Professor, Program Director, Electrical, Computer and Biomedical Engineering
• Chibuzo Ukegbu, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Dwight and Dian Diercks School of Advanced Computing

The fellows serve as a point of contact for external partners to help navigate projects to the department of best fit on campus.

“There is already a lot of good work happening across MSOE, including existing partnerships that faculty have built over time,” said Chibuzo Ukegbu. “The FLF program is not there to stop or replace those efforts, rather to strengthen the overall network, make expertise more visible and create opportunities for even more meaningful partnerships in the future.”

Such partnerships also include the opportunity for external partners to collaborate with students for their senior design projects.

“It has been a great experience being part of the inaugural Faculty Liaison Fellow cohort,” said Steve Holland. “Helping craft and define this role and then implementing infrastructure needed to support the fellows and then engaging external partners has been very rewarding, and I hope to see the Faculty Liaison Fellow role continue to develop and grow collaboration between all the wonderful faculty, staff and students on campus with our external partners.”

External partners that are interested in collaborating with MSOE can contact the fellows at facultyfellows@msoe.edu to start the project process. This includes an initial meeting with the fellows to find the members of the MSOE community best suited to assist with their project. All levels and types of projects, even in the earliest stages, are encouraged for submission. 

“Whether you are looking to solve a problem, explore a new idea, or move a product forward, there is real value in working with faculty who understand both theory and application,” said Ukegbu.