December 5, 2024
By Ashley Ritchie

Associate Professor Matthew McDowell has been selected as the next Associate Chair for Research in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering. He will step into the role on January 1, 2025.

The Associate Chair for Research is responsible for working with the Woodruff School’s faculty to develop a strategic research plan for future growth and investments in the School, as well as identifying new research opportunities, helping to foster strategic relationships with government, industry, and foundations, and synergizing research efforts with other units in the College of Engineering and across the Institute.

“I am thrilled to be chosen for this role, and I look forward to working with the faculty, students, researchers, and staff of the Woodruff School to enhance and support our world-class research program,” said McDowell.

McDowell joined Georgia Tech in the fall of 2015 as an assistant professor with a joint appointment in the Woodruff School and the School of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE). He was named Carter N. Paden, Jr. Distinguished Chair earlier this year and serves as co-director of the Georgia Tech Advanced Battery Center (GTABC). Through this center, McDowell and Professor Gleb Yushin (MSE) are building community at the Institute, enhancing research and educational relationships with industry partners, and creating a new battery manufacturing facility on Georgia Tech’s campus.

“I am excited to work with Matt in advancing the research priorities and goals of the Woodruff School,” said Devesh Ranjan, Eugene C. Gwaltney Jr. School Chair and professor. “Through his exceptional leadership of the Georgia Tech Advanced Battery Center, Matt has demonstrated a deep commitment to excellence in scholarship and to fostering partnerships that drive innovative, collaborative research across the Institute. I am confident in the positive transformation he will bring to our program in this new role.”

McDowell’s research group focuses on understanding and designing new battery technologies, with a focus on developing energy storage systems with lower cost, higher energy density, and enhanced sustainability, opening the door to widespread vehicle electrification and the use of renewable energy.

McDowell has won many prestigious awards throughout his career including the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) Young Investigator Award, National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Early Career Faculty Award, Office of Naval Research (ONR) Early Career Grant, and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the highest government honor bestowed on an early career scientist or engineer. He was also named to the Georgia Tech Alumni Association’s first 40 Under 40 class in 2020 and received the Georgia Tech Outstanding Achievement in Early Career Research Award in 2022.

Prior to joining the Institute, McDowell was a postdoctoral scholar at the California Institute of Technology. He received his B.S. in materials science and engineering from Georgia Tech in 2008 and his M.S. and Ph.D. in 2011 and 2013, respectively, from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Stanford University.