The largest department in the College of Engineering has named a new chair.
Texas Tech University's Edward E. Whitacre Jr. College of Engineering named Song-Charng Kong as chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, effective Jan. 1, 2022.
Kong joined Texas Tech from Iowa State, where he had served as a faculty member since 2005. He teaches courses in thermal sciences including thermodynamics, heat transfer, combustion and internal combustion engines. While at Iowa State, Kong served as the associate chair for graduate studies in mechanical engineering. In that role, he coordinated the department's graduate programs, including admissions, recruitment, curriculum development, candidacy exams and student advising.
Kong is a well-known researcher in combustion and clean energy. He served as program director of the Combustion and Fire Systems Program and the Major Research Instrumentation Program at the National Science Foundation (NSF) from 2015 to 2018.
“We are very pleased and excited to have Dr. Kong join the Whitacre College of Engineering to lead our largest department, Mechanical Engineering,” said Al Sacco Jr., dean of the College of Engineering. “Dr. Kong's research background and NSF experience will complement and enhance our research activities across the college. I fully expect the department's teaching and research to improve and along with that their national and international ranking. I could not be more pleased with Dr. Kong's addition to the Red Raider family.”
Kong is focused on thermosciences and advanced energy systems. His research includes two main thrust areas; internal combustion engines and biorenewable energy. His research in internal combustion engines includes applications in ground vehicles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), with the latter primarily for military applications. He conducts advanced experiments and develops high-fidelity computational models to optimize engine performance and enable the use of novel alternative fuels. His research in biorenewable energy is focused on converting non-food biomass to useful biofuels through gasification and fast pyrolysis methods.
The major sponsors for his research include the NSF, the U.S. Department of Defense's Army Research Laboratory, the U.S. Department of Energy's Vehicle Technologies Office and Geothermal Energy Office, John Deere, and Ford.
About Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical Engineering is the largest department in the College of Engineering, with 828 students and 40 faculty positions. The mechanical engineering department has a long-standing history of providing high-quality education with a demanding curriculum that offers a strong foundation for students to excel in both traditional and high-tech industries.
The department's vision is to provide a high-quality education to students while faculty and staff build their long careers in this unique community of scholars. This vision is student-centered concerning teaching, research and service. The department's goal is to provide an exceptional undergraduate and graduate education in the art, science and practice of mechanical engineering
