The College of Engineering is thrilled to announce the addition of three new faculty members who will be joining our institution in August 2023. Each faculty member brings a wealth of knowledge, expertise, and diverse perspectives that will undoubtedly enrich our academic community. Please join us in welcoming the following new faculty members:

Humberto Vergara 

Vergara obtained his BS degree in Environmental Engineering from El Bosque University in Colombia, where he is originally from, and his MSc and PhD degrees in Civil Engineering with focus in Water Resources from The University of Oklahoma in Norman, OK. Before joining The University of Iowa, he was a Research Scientist at the Cooperative Institute for Severe and High-Impact Weather Research and Operations (CIWRO) of the University of Oklahoma and the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Dr. Vergara’s primary field of study is hydrological modeling for flood forecasting based on observations from remote sensing platforms with a focus on model development, probabilistic forecasting and data assimilation. He is one of the original developers of the Flooded Locations And Simulated Hydrographs (FLASH) system, a suite of new-generation tools for flash flood forecasting in NOAA’s National Weather Service (NWS). He also works with colleagues in other institutions Nationally and Internationally to extend flash flood forecasting capabilities beyond The United States.

Wang received his MSc and PhD in Aeronautics from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Before joining the University of Iowa, he was postdoctoral scholar and research scientist in the department of Aerospace Engineering at Caltech. Wang’s research interests are in the broad area of flow physics, flow diagnosis, and flow control systems. His current focus is on turbulent flow and multi-phase flow, with applications in naval hydrodynamics and bio-inspired underwater system. Wang is also actively developing the state-of-art flow diagnosis techniques, such as three-dimensional particle image velocimetry.

Priscilla Williams 

Williams received her PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Windsor in 2019. They have also held postdoctoral fellowships at Northwest Hydraulic Consultants and the University of Iowa's IIHR - Hydroscience & Engineering.

Williams' research interests encompass physical modelling, sediment transport, flow measurements, and river hydraulics.