Engineering faculty move to endowed chair, director positions

Wael Mokhtar, associate professor of engineering, has been named the new director of the School of Engineering. Diane LaFreniere, affiliate professor of engineering, has been named the new James R. Sebastian Endowed Chair in Engineering Cooperative Education and Educational Development. 

Mokhtar and LaFreniere began their new positions in January. Both positions were previously held by Chris Plouff, now assistant vice president for Academic Affairs in the Provost Office. 

Mokhtar joined Grand Valley in 2009 as an assistant professor. He has served as assistant director of the School of Engineering and previously served as department chair for Lake Superior State University. He has a doctorate from Old Dominion State University in Virginia and degrees from Alexandria University in Egypt. 

Paul Plotkowski, dean of the Seymour and Esther Padnos College of Engineering and Computing, said Mokhtar will lead the school during a time of rapid enrollment growth; the school has grown from 600 students in 2008 to more than 1,200 students in 2015. 

Mokhtar said he will focus on helping future engineers succeed both in and out of the classroom. "From a strategic point of view, it's important that we manage the growth of the school while maintaining a high standard for our students," he said.

LaFreniere joined Grand Valley in 2014 as affiliate professor of engineering. She attended Michigan Technological University and has worked for Ford Motor Company, Rockwell International and University of Toledo. As the Sebastian endowed chair, LaFreniere will focus on preparing undergraduates to work in Michigan's industrial sector by furthering the assessment, accreditation and cooperative education efforts within the school. 

"I look forward to the smiles on students' faces when they realize that their technical education and professional skills are highly valued in real-world industry work, and make them valuable engineering innovators and leaders," said LaFreniere. 

The Sebastian endowed chair, which was established in 2008, is named for James R. Sebastian, Sr., founder of Rapistan, who led the effort to introduce engineering at Grand Valley in the 1980s. 

Plotkowski said in her time at Grand Valley, LaFreniere has already demonstrated tremendous passion for the cooperative education program, which will celebrate 30 years this spring.