Ranjana Mehta, Grainger Institute for Engineering Professor in industrial and systems engineering, will serve as interim director of our Grainger Institute for Engineering. She will begin this one-year role on April 15.
Ranjana will take over for Oliver Schmitz, a professor of nuclear engineering and engineering physics who has served simultaneously as institute director and as associate dean for corporate engagement and entrepreneurship. (Schmitz’s associate dean role transitioned in fall 2025 from research innovation to his current focus.)
In one of her primary functions as interim director, Ranjana will oversee the launch of the College of Engineering moonshot initiative, in which our faculty, staff, students and partners will undertake several ambitious, transdisciplinary research challenges that aim to make a transformative impact on society.
In fact, when she joined the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering in the fall 2023 semester, Ranjana noted that one reason she chose to relocate to UW-Madison was the opportunity to build collaborations across departments and campus.
Prior to her position with our college, Ranjana spent 10 years as a professor at Texas A&M University. In her research, she investigates what she calls the “mind-motor-machine nexus.” Her work is fundamental and applied: Using a neuroergonomics approach, she seeks to understand, monitor and predict human performance under fatigue and stress. Then, she and her students develop closed-loop augmentation technologies for safety-critical applications such as emergency response and space exploration. They also study technologies—adaptive interfaces, wearables, human-robotic interactions and others—to facilitate effective human-technology partnerships.
She earned her bachelor’s degree in engineering from the University of Mumbai, a master of engineering from the University of Buffalo, and an MS and PhD from Virginia Tech. Before moving to Texas A&M, Ranjana was a faculty member at Michigan Tech.
The future of engineering will be shaped by collaboration, creativity and leadership that brings people together, says Devesh Ranjan, Grainger Dean of the College of Engineering. “Our goal is to translate bold ideas into outcomes that matter,” he says. “I’m excited to work with Ranjana as we continue advancing the Grainger Institute as a place where collaboration leads to lasting impact for society.”