Four new faculty members join the VCU Engineering ranks this fall. They bring expertise in cyber-physical systems, artificial intelligence for autonomous systems, algorithm design — and a wealth of industry experience. Meet our newest faculty members.
Daniel Cranston, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department: Computer Science
Education: Ph.D. in computer science from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Research Interests: Graph theory and algorithm design, with a focus on structural and extremal graph theory and graph coloring
Fun Fact: Once designed a crossword puzzle that was published in USA Today
Robert Forkins, M.B.A.
Instructor
Department: Chemical and Life Science Engineering
Education: M.B.A. from VCU School of Business
Industry Experience: More than 30 years with Philip Morris U.S.A. in roles including senior process engineer and associate principal engineer
Patrick Martin, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department: Electrical and Computer Engineering
Education: Ph.D. in electrical and computer engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology College of Engineering
Research Interests: Application of control theory and artificial intelligence (AI) for safe deployment of distributed autonomous systems
Fun Fact: Enjoys reading comics, cyberpunk novels and James Joyce
Ashraf Tantawy, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department: Electrical and Computer Engineering
Education: Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Vanderbilt University
Research Interests: Cyber-physical systems (CPS), dependable and secure computing, CPS security, AI-enabled CPS
Fun Fact: Enjoys swimming, biking and classical music — especially violin