El Kadiri named new 91传媒 department head in mechanical engineering
Contact: Philip Allison
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擜 world-renowned scholar in the field of mechanical metallurgy has been selected as the new department head for mechanical engineering within 91传媒鈥檚 Bagley College of Engineering.
听transitions into the role on a full-time basis after having served as interim department head since May of 2020.
鈥淚 am honored to serve as the department head for mechanical engineering and to continue working with the outstanding students and faculty at Mississippi State,鈥 El Kadiri said. 鈥淎s an educator in Mississippi for more than 17 years, I have witnessed the extraordinary hands-on talent and machine-building passion that students have here. The region is a proven development ground for clever tech innovators, astute engineers and strong business leaders.鈥
A native of Morocco, El Kadiri first came to Mississippi State in 2004 as a post-doctoral associate with the Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems (CAVS). He joined the Mississippi State faculty in 2006 as an adjunct research professor in mechanical engineering and as an assistant research professor at CAVS. He was promoted to assistant professor in 2009 before being chosen as the Whiteside and Coleman Associate Professor in 2015.
Since 2016, El Kadiri has also served as the university鈥檚 Moroccan Programs Coordinator, helping to facilitate Mississippi State鈥檚听award-winning partnership听with Morocco鈥檚 Universit茅听Internationale de Rabat.
鈥淗aitham has been an invaluable member of the Bagley faculty during his time at Mississippi State,鈥 said Jason Keith, dean of the Bagley College of Engineering. 鈥淗is experience as a researcher, as an educator and as an administrator made him a strong candidate during our national search. I look forward to working with him in his new role as he leads our mechanical engineering department forward.鈥
El Kadiri earned the 2016 Mechanical Engineering Outstanding Senior Faculty Research Award and was selected to receive the StatePride Research Award in both 2010 and 2011. He鈥檚 been a part of programs and projects that have garnered more than $25 million in funding. His work also has led to two U.S. patents.
To date, El Kadiri has authored more than 78 journal publications and 26 conference papers.
During his time at Mississippi State, El Kadiri鈥檚 has worked to benefit the Mississippi economy by encouraging technological innovation and promoting job placements for students.
鈥淯niversities are critical to effectively train next-generation innovators,鈥 El Kadiri said. 鈥淲e must create strong business leaders in Mississippi who will strive to solve the complicated technical problems that affect our health, security and the environment.
鈥淎spiring engineers need to know the market, and they need to know how to process real-world information toward economically viable products that positively impact people鈥檚 lives,鈥 he added. 鈥淭hey need to have access to engaged mentorship and the effective infrastructure throughout their four-year college experience. My goal is that our students have a life-changing experience while they are on our campus.鈥
El Kadiri received an Ing茅nieur d鈥櫭塼at in materials science from 脡cole Nationale de l鈥橧ndustrie Min茅rale in Rabat, Morocco in 1996. He earned a dipl么me d鈥櫭﹖udes approfondies (DEA), the equivalent of a master鈥檚 degree, from the Universit茅 de Nice and 脡cole des Mines de Paris in 1999. He also received his Ph.D. in materials science and engineering from the Materials Center of 脡cole des Mines de Paris in 2004.
The Mechanical Engineering Department is the largest engineering program at Mississippi State and second largest department within the university. The department has a long history of quality engineering education and research and aims to education students in fundamental and practical engineering principles, thus enabling the understanding and making of existing and next generation technologies relevant to research and engineering practice.
Mississippi State鈥檚 Bagley College of Engineering is online at听听and can be found on听,听听听and听听at @msuengineering.
91传媒 is Mississippi鈥檚 leading university, available online at听www.msstate.edu.