Introducing Dr. Yolanda Mack, the Associate Dean for Industry Partnerships and Workforce Development and co-director of the Digital Engineering Hub

October 9, 2023

Yolanda Mack, Ph.D., joins the Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering as the Associate Dean for Industry Partnerships and Workforce Development and co-director of the newly established Digital Engineering Hub (DEHub), effective October 9, 2023. Mack comes to Rowan from Raytheon, an aerospace and defense company, where she has worked as an engineer since 2007, most recently as an Associate Director of Strategic Initiatives. 

“I am delighted to extend a warm welcome to Dr. Yolanda Mack as she joins our college. We are fortunate to have someone with her experience and talent help lead our growth as an economic engine for the region via industry partnerships and workforce development,” expressed Dr. Giuseppe Palmese, Dean of the Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering.

Mack is the college’s first Associate Dean for Industry Partnerships and Workforce Development. In the position, Mack will manage and develop the pipeline for industry partnerships that both bolster the college’s research opportunities and enhance the student education experience. Mack will also spearhead the creation of continuing education training for industry professionals at Rowan. 

“I am excited for this opportunity to leverage new research and technologies to build a workforce of the future,” Mack says.

Along with director Antonios Kontsos, Ph.D., Mack will lead the DEHub, a cutting-edge integrated technology center for the research, education and practice of emerging digital engineering methods. The center will focus on industry and government collaborations while forming an access hub to Rowan-wide resources in this research field. Mack looks to bolster the list of industry partners who will collaborate with the university through the DEHub. She also hopes to foster collaboration between engineering departments to work on digital engineering research. 

“With Dr. Mack at Rowan and in DEHub we are making a decisive step to integrate top-notch academic research with world-class industry experience on the most challenging and complex engineering systems. Dr. Mack’s combined role is therefore a testimony on how Rowan will drive the next-generation of industry 4.0 applications.” Kontsos says.    

While at Raytheon, Mack led several internal research and development projects in the areas of digital twin, digital engineering, manufacturing, artificial intelligence and machine learning, aerodynamics, and guidance, navigation, and control.

Mack received her doctorate degree in Aerospace Engineering (2007) and a master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering (2004) from the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. While there, she specialized in computational fluid dynamics-based design optimization and worked with NASA on the design and optimization of a radial turbine for liquid rocket motor engine components.

Mack has served as Vice President on the Board of Directors for Pi Tau Sigma, the International Honor Society for Mechanical Engineers, since 2018. Her other accolades include the 2017 Black Engineer of the Year Award for Outstanding Technical Contribution in Industry, the 2017 Outstanding Young Alumna Award from the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department of the University of Florida, and the 2006 Amelia Earhart Fellow.