The MIT School of Engineering welcomed a new cohort of faculty across six academic units in 2026, spanning mechanical, aerospace, biological, chemical, and computing disciplines. Dean Paula T. Hammond said: "I’m pleased to welcome these talented colleagues to our engineering faculty. They bring fresh perspectives that will open new directions for research and create opportunities for our students to learn through discovery." The new faculty include: Andrew Akerson, assistant professor in Mechanical Engineering, focuses on optimal design, computational solid mechanics, and material characterization; he previously worked at Meta Reality Labs and holds degrees from the University of Minnesota and Caltech. Jake Hecla ’17, assistant professor in Aeronautics and Astronautics and Nuclear Science and Engineering, researches aerospace nuclear power, space heat rejection, and long‑standoff characterization techniques; he was a Stanton Postdoctoral Fellow at MIT’s Laboratory for Nuclear Security and Policy, with a BS from MIT and MS/PhD from UC Berkeley. Zachary Manchester, associate professor in Aeronautics and Astronautics, builds autonomous systems that aim to surpass human performance; he taught at Carnegie Mellon’s Robotics Institute and earned his BS, MEng, and PhD from Cornell. Eric Sun, assistant professor in Biological Engineering, develops computational and machine‑learning models to study multi‑scale biology with applications in aging, rejuvenation, and immunity; he holds a BS and MS from Harvard and a PhD from Stanford. Haoning Tang, assistant professor in Mechanical Engineering, works at the intersection of nanophotonics, optical instrumentation, and device engineering, focusing on metamaterials, quantum materials, and MEMS platforms; she previously served as an adjunct professor at UC Berkeley and earned her BS from HKUST and PhD from Harvard. Stylianos Varchanis, assistant professor in Chemical Engineering, creates theoretical and computational models of transport processes in complex fluids, soft matter, and living systems; he was a Flatiron Research Fellow and received his BS, MS, and PhD from the University of Patras. Hengyun Zhou ’17, assistant professor in EECS, is developing full‑stack, resource‑efficient, fault‑tolerant quantum computing architectures, covering quantum error correction, algorithms, compilation, and hardware; he previously worked at QuEra Computing and holds a BS from MIT and a PhD from Harvard. Edward “Jas” Bordeau Brooks, assistant professor in EECS, joined as the KDD Career Development Professor in Communications and Technology in September 2026. The school also remembers the late Thomas Rose, MIT’s POSCO Professor of Materials Science, whose work on ancient metallurgy and pyrotechnology integrated geochemistry, mineralogy, experimental archaeology, and materials science.
Review: The diverse expertise and cutting‑edge research of these new faculty members will further strengthen MIT’s engineering leadership and provide students with expanded opportunities for interdisciplinary learning and collaboration.