91ֿ has chosen an accomplished aerospace engineer to help its growing College of Aeronautics and Engineering soar to new heights and build on the strong legacy of the past while charting a course for an exciting and transformative journey for the college’s future.
Christina Bloebaum, Ph.D., has been selected as the new dean of 91ֿ’s College of Aeronautics and Engineering. Dr. Bloebaum currently serves as interim department chair of aerospace engineering and the Dennis and Rebecca Muilenburg Professor for Aerospace Engineering at Iowa State University. She will join 91ֿ on Aug. 1.
“I am excited to welcome Dr. Bloebaum to 91ֿ,” says Todd Diacon, 91ֿ’s executive vice president and provost. “Her experience building programs at Iowa State University, combined with her leadership of the NASA-sponsored Iowa Space Grant Consortium, have prepared her to lead our College of Aeronautics and Engineering. Under her guidance, we know that our top-ranked aviation program will continue to excel even as we create exciting new engineering degree programs.”
Dr. Bloebaum shares her excitement for joining the 91ֿ community.
“I am truly honored to have been selected as dean of the College of Aeronautics and Engineering at 91ֿ and I’m excited to continue moving the college along the great trajectory it’s on,” Dr. Bloebaum says. “The potentials for growth in the college are tremendous, especially given the recent emphasis on engineering. I look forward to building relationships and collaborations across all stakeholders that will help the college and 91ֿ to be successful in advancing the mission of the university and the college.”
As dean, Dr. Bloebaum will play a key leadership role in advancing the mission, operations and service of the College of Aeronautics and Engineering. She will serve as the principal administrator of the College of Aeronautics and Engineering who is responsible for personnel, general administration and management, budget, and academic and development functions. Dr. Bloebaum’s position reports to Provost Diacon.
Dr. Bloebaum has served as Iowa State’s interim department chair of aerospace engineering since August 2017 and as the Dennis and Rebecca Muilenburg Professor for Aerospace Engineering since August 2012. She is director of the Iowa State Grant Consortium that is primarily funded through a NASA training grant, holding that position since August 2017. At Iowa State, she also served as director of graduate education and associate chair for research, both in the Department of Aerospace Engineering.
Prior to joining Iowa State, she worked at the National Science Foundation, State University of New York at Buffalo and NASA Langley Research Center. She is a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. She also is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and serves as an associate editor for the association’s Journal of Mechanical Design.
Her technical interests include the design of complex engineered systems, value-driven design, unmanned aerial systems for health monitoring, multidisciplinary design synthesis, visualization and visual design steering for large-scale optimal design, visualization of multidimensional/multivariate data, and structural analysis and optimization.
She received her bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in aerospace engineering from the University of Florida.
From a brand new building that opened in January 2015, 91ֿ’s College of Aeronautics and Engineering offers a wide range of programs. Aeronautics programs include aeronautical studies, aeronautical systems engineering technology, aerospace engineering, air traffic control, aviation management and flight technology. The 91ֿ Airport is conveniently located four miles from the Kent Campus, and the university owns and operates 32 airplanes. The university’s 35 flight instructors provide 200 students with a minimum of 10,000 flight hours each year. Plans for a $6.5 million teaching facility at the airport have been announced.
Applied Engineering programs offered by the college include applied engineering and technology management, computer engineering technology, mechanical engineering technology and mechatronics engineering technology.
Dr. Bloebaum will succeed Robert Sines Jr., who is retiring after serving as interim dean of the college since May 2013.
Dr. Bloebaum will relocate to the Kent area from Ames, Iowa, with her three children, Brandon, Isaiah and Emma.
For more information about 91ֿ’s College of Aeronautics and Engineering, visit www.kent.edu/cae.