Sudip K. Mazumder named Robert Uyetani Collegiate Professor
Sudip K. Mazumder named Robert Uyetani Collegiate Professor Heading link
This month, Distinguished Professor Sudip Mazumder received the Robert Uyetani Collegiate Professor award.
Robert “Bobby” Uyetani is an alumnus of the University of Illinois Chicago and University of Illinois Urbana Champaign. He spent his career in the aerospace industry as an electrical engineer, and designed landing gear for F-16s, guidance systems and flight systems for Sidewinder missiles, and the systems for laser guided missiles. Uyetani also worked with NASA on the Cassini probe to Saturn, the Magellan space probe, and some of the components used on the international space station.
Uyetani completed his first two years of college on the University of Illinois’ Navy Pier campus. He completed his studies at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, becoming a member of Phi Beta Kappa and graduating with a BS degree in engineering physics in 1953.
Uyetani was forever grateful to the University of Illinois for the opportunities it opened for him. He gave generously to the university throughout his life, and at his passing at the age of 93, he left a final generous gift of $1 million to the College of Engineering at UIC and the Physics department at UIUC. His family hopes his gift provides life-changing opportunities for students to make advances in science and engineering.
Mazumder is an expert in power electronics. He is a distinguished professor at UIC and the director of the Laboratory for Energy and Switching-Electronic Systems. He received his PhD from Virginia Tech in 2001. He is a Fellow of the IEEE, AAAS, and AAIA. Mazumder was an IEEE Distinguished Lecturer between 2016 and 2019 and is the editor at Large for IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, the world’s leading journal in power electronics.
He has more than 30 years of professional experience, has held R&D and design positions in leading industries, and has served as a consultant for several industries. At UIC, his research has yielded 62 sponsored-research projects, 300 publications, including several prize and feature article papers, 15 patents, one book, 11 book chapters, and 130 keynote, plenary, distinguished, and invited presentations.
Mazumder received the 2023 IEEE Ramakumar Family Renewable Energy Excellence Award. At UIC, he has been the recipient of UIC’s Distinguished Researcher Award (2020), Inventor of the Year Award (2014), and University Scholar Award (2013). Earlier, he also received the U.S. Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award (2005) and the U. S. National Science Foundation CAREER Award (2003).
Mazumder and Professor Natasha Devroye were among College of Engineering faculty members who received endowed professorships and were honored at an investiture ceremony held October 10. These positions recognize individuals who have had a significant impact on their field through scholarship, creativity, and leadership, and provide dedicated resources for innovative research and teaching.