Al Pisano, UCSD

Al Pisano, UCSD

Albert P. Pisano was appointed Dean of the Jacobs School of Engineering at UC San Diego on September 1, 2013, where he holds the Walter J. Zable Chair. He was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2001.

Previously, Pisano served on the UC Berkeley faculty for 30 years where he held the FANUC Chair of Mechanical Systems and was co-director of the Berkeley Sensor & Actuator Center. Since 1983, Pisano has graduated over 70 Ph.D. and 75 M.S. students. From 1997 to 1999, Pisano was a program manager for the MEMS Program at DARPA.

Pisano earned his undergraduate (’76) and graduate degrees (’77, ’80, ’81) in mechanical engineering at Columbia University. Prior to joining academia, he held research positions with Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, Singer Sewing Machines Corporate R&D Center and General Motors Research Labs.

Pisano’s research interests include: micro electromechanical systems (MEMS) wireless sensors for harsh environments (600°C) such as gas turbines and geothermal wells; and additive, MEMS manufacturing techniques such as low-temperature, low-pressure nano-printing of nanoparticle inks and polymer solutions. He is a co-inventor listed on more than 36 patents in MEMS and has co-authored more than 400 archival publications.