Dean of the College of Engineering Dr. Scott Grasman has named Dr. Chang ‘CS’ Nam the Department Head of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering (IME), effective July 31.

“Dr. Nam is an internationally respected scholar that has demonstrated leadership in teaching, research and service,” Grasman said. “His leadership will create an expanded vision for the IME department.”

Nam comes to Kettering from North Carolina State University (NCSU), where he was a Professor of Industrial and Systems Engineering and associated faculty in both the UNC/NCSU Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering and the Department of Psychology. He also is a fellow of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES).

“It is an honor and a great pleasure to be selected as the Department Head of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering at Kettering,” Nam said. “It gives me hope that I can contribute to Kettering IME’s overall mission to support innovative and merit-evaluated activities in fundamental research and education that contribute to the nation’s technological strength, security and welfare.”

Nam teaches and conducts basic and applied research in human factors and ergonomics engineering to advance the science of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) with a broad perspective on the application of systems and information engineering to human-centered technologies, including brain-computer interfaces and rehabilitation engineering. He has received departmental awards for teaching, research and service during his time at NCSU.

Nam earned his Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering from Sungkyunkwan University in Seoul, South Korea, his Master’s degree in Business Administration from the School of Business in Sogang University in Seoul, South Korea, his Master’s degree in Industrial Engineering from State University of New York at Buffalo and his Ph.D. in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Virginia Tech.

In addition, Nam serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the journal “Brain-Computer Interfaces.” He has published more than 180 publications, including five edited books: “Trust in Human-Robot Interaction: Research and Applications,” “Neuroergonomics: Principles and Practices,” “Mobile Brain-Body Imaging and the Neuroscience of Art, Innovation and Creativity,” “Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence: Research and Applications” and “Brain-Computer Interfaces Handbook: Technological and Theoretical Advances,” which Taylor & Francis selected as the 2018 Outstanding Book in STEM.

Nam is a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award recipient and a 2018 U.S. Air Force Summer Faculty Fellowship Program (AFSFFP) Awardee. He also received the 2019 Leland S. Kollmorgen Spirit of Innovation Award from the HFES Augmented Cognition Technical Group. 

His research has been supported by the NSF, Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) and the Laboratory for Analytic Sciences (LAS), UNC/NCSU Rehabilitation Engineering Center (REC).