Dr. G. Kemble Bennett, vice chancellor and dean of engineering, has appointed Dr. Zoubeida Ounaies the inaugural holder of the Edward C. “Pete” Aldridge Jr. ’60 Career Development Professorship I in Aerospace Engineering.

Dr. Zoubeida Ounaies

Ounaies is an associate professor in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at Texas A&M University. She is also a faculty member in the Materials Science and Engineering Program and a researcher in the Polymer Technology Center of the Texas Engineering Experiment Station. She joined the faculty in 2005 and shortly after established the Electroactive Materials Characterization Laboratory (EMCL), an experimental research facility dedicated to the processing and characterization of materials that combine structural integrity with the ability to sense or actuate in response to an electric field.

Ounaies earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering, and her Ph.D. in engineering science and mechanics, all from the Pennsylvania State University.

Ounaies received the National Science Foundation’s Faculty Early Career Development Award (CAREER) in 2007, as well as the TEES Select Young Faculty Award and the Montague Teaching Scholar Award in recognition of her research and teaching accomplishments.

Written by Lesley V. Kriewald, lesleyk@tamu.edu