The School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) is pleased to welcome three new assistant professors – Azadeh Ansari, Sam Coogan, and Brendan Saltaformaggio – to Georgia Tech. These three faculty members joined ECE over the summer.

Azadeh Ansari is a member of the electronic design and applications and microelectronics/microsystems technical interest groups, and her office is located in TSRB 544. Her research interests lie in N/MEMS and integrated micro-systems with a focus on III-V electro-acoustic devices and integrated circuits, nonlinear and nonreciprocal devices, and resonators for timing and sensing applications.

Prior to joining our faculty, Ansari was a postdoctoral researcher in the Physics Department at Caltech from 2016-2017. She received the B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran in 2010 and her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 2016.

Sam Coogan is member of the systems and controls technical interest group and holds a joint appointment in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering; his office is located in TSRB 437. Coogan’s research is in dynamical systems and autonomy and focuses on developing scalable tools for verification and control of networked, cyber-physical systems. He is interested in applying these tools to create efficient, intelligent, and autonomous transportation systems.

Coogan received the B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from Georgia Tech and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. Before joining Georgia Tech, he was an assistant professor in the Electrical Engineering Department at UCLA from 2015-2017. Coogan is originally from Cincinnati, Ohio.

Brendan Saltaformaggio is a member of the computer systems and software technical interest group and has a courtesy appointment in the School of Computer Science. He is located in Klaus 2314. Saltaformaggio’s research interests are in computer systems security, cyber forensics, and the vetting of untrusted software. His research group develops new capabilities for the investigation of advanced cyber crimes and the analysis and prevention of next-generation malware attacks, particularly in mobile and IoT environments.

Originally from New Orleans, Louisiana, Saltaformaggio earned his Bachelor of Science with Honors in Computer Science from the University of New Orleans in 2012. He received his Master’s and Ph.D. in Computer Science at Purdue University in 2014 and 2016, respectively.

“Please be sure to check out the faculty profiles for Azadeh, Sam, and Brendan on the ECE website and introduce yourselves as you see them in our buildings and around the campus,” said Steven W. McLaughlin, Steve W. Chaddick School Chair and ECE Professor. “I am excited to have all three of them on our faculty and look forward to them having long and productive careers with us.”