Campus adds 10 new faculty members

The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford welcomed to campus this fall 10 new full-time faculty members in engineering, communications, criminal justice, mathematics, accounting, chemistry, economics and history.

Dr. Pouria Ahmadi is an assistant professor of engineering with experience in sustainability and fuel cell research. He earned his doctoral degree from the Department of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering at Ontario (Canada) Tech University and is the author of two books, “Optimization of Energy Systems” and “Simulation of Battery Systems, Fundamentals and Applications.”

Dr. Elinam Amevor is an assistant professor of communications. He holds a doctorate in communication and media studies from the University of Oregon. He practiced newspaper journalism and taught journalism and public relations in Ghana. His research interests include approaches to global health, communication for development and social change, and cultural sensitivity in health crisis communication.

David Bish is an assistant professor of criminal justice who earned his law degree at Valparaiso University School of Law. He has extensive experience working in the criminal justice field as an attorney in criminal prosecution and both public and private criminal defense. He is a native of DuBois, where he lives with his wife, two children and three beagles.

Dr. Hirushie Karunathilake is an assistant professor of engineering with a doctoral degree from the University of British Columbia, Canada, where she studied energy system planning and life cycle management. She researches and writes about energy planning, urban planning and climate change mitigation.

Dr. Siddiqua Mazhar is an assistant professor of math who holds a doctorate in mathematics from Newcastle University, U.K. Her academic journey led her to transition into the field of artificial intelligence and neural networks, where she honed her skills as a data engineer at the University of Arizona.

Matthew Moonan is a Pitt-Bradford alumnus and visiting assistant professor of accounting. A certified public accountant, he holds a Master of Business Administration from St. Bonaventure University. He has worked in the audit department of a public accounting firm and will teach upper-level accounting courses such as auditing, federal income taxes, corporate income taxes and more. 

Dr. Ryan Myers is an assistant professor of chemistry. He earned his doctoral degree in chemistry at The Pennsylvania State University. He will teach general chemistry, analytical chemistry and instrument analysis. As a graduate student, he received the Dalalian Continuing Graduate Student Award at Penn State and the Dan Waugh Chemistry Graduate Student Teaching Award for his work as a mentor and teaching assistant.

Dr. Femi Oloye is an assistant professor of chemistry who earned his doctorate in chemistry at the University of Aberdeen, U.K. He has dedicated his career to studying the impact of human activities on the environment. Prior to his appointment at Pitt-Bradford, he was the lead wastewater scientist at the Roy Romanow Provincial Laboratory of the Saskatchewan (Canada) Health Authority.

Dr. Erickosowo Tiku is an assistant professor of economics with a doctorate in economics from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Her academic focus is development economics, and her research interests include ethnic favoritism in Africa, ethnicity and gender intersection, favoritism, and access to public goods.

Dr. Patrick Troester is an assistant professor of history who earned his doctorate in history at Southern Methodist University. He grew up in Erie and is a cultural and social historian of 19th century North America, specializing in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands. His current book project traces the series of violent conflicts that swept that region between 1820 and 1890.

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