When Devesh Ranjan immigrated to the United States from India in 2003 to pursue a graduate degree in engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he said he “fell in love from the moment [he] arrived.”
In between completing research and coursework in power conversion and complex fluid dynamics, Ranjan sailed on Lake Mendota with Hoofers, played Ultimate Frisbee and enjoyed Halloweens on State Street.
Now Ranjan, currently a chair and professor of mechanical engineering at Georgia Tech, will be returning to Wisconsin this summer as Grainger Dean of Engineering. In an email exchange with The Daily Cardinal, Ranjan shared memories from the past and ambitions for the future of UW-Madison’s engineering school.
At UW-Madison, Ranjan worked under Professor Riccardo Bonazza, a specialist in high-speed fluid flows who remains at the university today. Fluid dynamics research is especially important in the aerospace industry but can be wide-ranging in its applications. Ranjan’s specific research can be used to determine supersonic combustion for high-speed vehicles, design shock waves for medical treatments like kidney stone fragmentation and produce power-production cycles, he said.
When Ranjan was completing his Ph.D., he wrote a successful paper after persevering through a two-month series of failures surrounding his experimental setup. Bonazza encouraged him to complete the research despite the setbacks.
“I told him that I shared his frustration,” Bonazza told the Cardinal via email. “I was willing to abandon the effort, but would he please try just one more week? He did, and his perseverance led to one of our most successful papers and his recognition by the international community of scientists working in our same area as a truly outstanding graduate student.”
Ranjan obtained a master’s degree and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at UW-Madison in 2005 and 2007. Since graduating, Ranjan has been the recipient of multiple prestigious awards, notably the National Science Foundation CAREER award, the Department of Energy-Early Career Award and the US Air Force Office of Scientific Research Young Investigator Award. After completing his Ph.D., Ranjan worked as a professor at Texas A&M University then joined Georgia Tech’s faculty in 2014 and took over the role of Eugene C. Gwaltney Jr. School Chair at the start of 2022. He currently specializes in fluid mechanics, heading a research laboratory on the subject at Georgia Tech.
But when a position opened at UW-Madison after Ian Robertson, the previous Grainger Dean, announced his retirement, Ranjan wanted to apply. During his visit to campus as a finalist for the position, Ranjan met with UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin, Provost Charles Lee Isbell Jr. and other campus groups, noting the “energy and passion” from “all levels” of the university.
“What I took away from the visit is there is a shared ambition to do something bigger, to do something bold,” Ranjan said. “To now come back and serve the university that shaped me is a great privilege.”
Once at the university, Ranjan hopes to connect with university staff, students and alumni, as well as community members, to gain a clearer picture of the engineering school’s strengths and challenges.
“I want to know what’s working well, what challenges exist and how we can build upon the college’s legacy of excellence and innovation,” Ranjan said. “I plan to create a regular dialogue and initiatives with business leaders so that I can understand the evolving needs of industry and strengthen our value proposition… I believe in investing in people and partnerships and building an inclusive culture.”
Moving from India to the U.S. allowed Ranjan to glimpse into two different educational models. While attending the National Institute of Technology-Trichy in India, he experienced a cohort-based model, where students in a particular batch, or year, took almost all of their classes together. In the U.S., the curriculum was more flexible and offered more opportunities for hands-on learning.
When he was a graduate student on campus, Ranjan used to enjoy sitting on the Memorial Union Terrace and talking to friends. He hopes to foster the same spirit of community when he is Dean.
“When I arrive on campus, you will see me,” said Ranjan. “I plan to be walking around, meeting people and learning about them. If you see me, come introduce yourself. I’d love to hear what excites you about UW-Madison and how we can work together to make the College of Engineering the most impactful program in the country.”
