Dr. Darryll J. Pines (NAE) is the Nariman Farvardin Professor of Engineering and Dean of the A. James Clark School of Engineering at the University of Maryland. As dean, he led the development and implementation of a strategy to (a) improve teaching in fundamental undergraduate courses and raise student retention, (b) achieve success in national and international student competitions, (c) place new emphasis on service learning and grand societal challenges, (d) promote STEM education among high school students, (e) increase the impact of research programs, and (f) expand philanthropic contributions to the school.

Dr. Pines is leading an initiative to pilot a first-of-its-kind, nationwide, precollege course on engineering principles and design. The pilot program, Engineering for Us All (E4USA), will test the effectiveness of a standardized educational curriculum across multiple states. The course, made possible through a $4 million NSF grant, is intended to eventually provide the equivalent of placement credit for an introductory college course.

Among his many awards are UMD’s 2018 President’s Medal, the State of Maryland House of Delegates Speaker’s Medallion in 2015, and various teaching awards, including two Department of Aerospace Broken Propeller awards and the Clark School’s E. Robert Kent Teaching Award for junior faculty.

Dr. Pines’ research focuses on structural dynamics, including structural health monitoring and prognosis, smart sensors, and adaptive, morphing, and biologically inspired structures, as well as the guidance, navigation, and control of spacecraft and uninhabited aerospace vehicles at all length scales.

He has published more than 250 technical papers and obtained six patents—US and worldwide—in the areas of smart structures, structural health monitoring, micro air vehicles, navigation, guidance, and control of aerospace systems. Dr. Pines is a fellow of the Institute of Physics, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and has received an NSF CAREER Award. He received a BS from the University of California, Berkeley, and MS and PhD degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, all in mechanical engineering.