Timothy Wei, PhD is the founder and principal of the Transformational Food Manufacturing Initiative (TFMI), a public private partnership at the intersection of advanced manufacturing and food production.  Prior to that, he was the Richard L. McNeel Professor and Dean of Engineering at the University of Nebraska.  He also holds an adjunct professor appointment in Mechanical Engineering at Northwestern University.

 

Prof. Wei received a B.S. from Cornell and an M.S. from Lehigh, both in Mechanical Eng’g., and a Ph.D. in Aerospace Eng’g. from Michigan.  He was a professor at Rutgers, department head and interim dean at RPI, and held visiting appointments at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, MIT and Tampere University of Technology in Finland.

 

Dr. Wei’s expertise is in the field of fluid dynamics where he has worked on a range of topics from the fundamentals of turbulent flows to working with US Olympic swimmers.  In addition, he has been active in outreach including helping secure and lead an NSF GK12 Fellows program and establishing partnerships with two tribal colleges focused on helping Native Americans build a self-sustaining technology-based economy.  Prof. Wei was active in government relations through the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME); he has appeared before Congress to present testimony on the federal R&D budget and served as ASME’s Senior Vice-President for Public Affairs and Outreach.  He is a Fellow of ASME, the American Physical Society and Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

 

“I am delighted to join the BRDG Board of Trustees.  I believe that true equality and equity in an increasingly technological and diverse society can only be achieved when every segment of that society is fully and meaningfully engaged.  I am passionate about how BRDG is proactively developing technological leaders from underrepresented and disinvested communities that bring critically important voices that will shape our collective future.”

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