Dr. Majid Minary
- Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering
- Fellow, Eugene McDermott Distinguished Professor
The McDermott Professorships were established in August 2017, funded by an anonymous gift, with the goal of providing early career support and recognition to faculty members who have established extraordinary records of research productivity, teaching excellence, and university service, and who show promise of being leaders of the UT Dallas faculty in the future.
“I appreciate the vision of our administration in recognizing my contribution in bringing recognition to UT Dallas through prestigious and highly competitive YIP awards from the Department of Defense, as well as graduating three PhD students in five years at UT Dallas. With the resources provided by this endowed professorship, I commit to bring more recognition to UT Dallas and continue graduating doctoral students that carry the UTD name and quality in their careers.”
Dr. Majid Minary joined the UT Dallas faculty in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science in 2012. His research focuses on nanomaterials, including the nanomechanics of multifunctional bioinspired materials, nanomanufacturing and advanced manufacturing.
“I became fascinated by the potential that nanotechnology has to touch many aspects of our life during my PhD studies at the University of Illinois. Since then, I have relentlessly pursued this field with a focus on mechanics, processing and manufacturing,” Minary said.
His research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, and he has been awarded two Young Investigator Program awards, one each from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and the Office of Naval Research. Additionally, he received one of the Junior Faculty Research Awards from the Jonsson School in 2016.
As a teacher, Minary understands the importance of reaching engineering students early in their academic career, and he tailors his courses accordingly.
“Through the years, I have learned that students really learn hard subjects by many examples. I try to teach each subject with as many examples as I can fit in the time,” he said. “I put most of my energy finding the right talents and then try to let them find their own voice in the research.”
Minary said working at UT Dallas allows him to surround himself with “outstanding research facilities, great graduate students, helpful colleagues and the most supportive administration, at all levels.”
Minary earned his bachelor’s degree from the Sharif University of Technology in Iran, his master’s degree from the University of Virginia, and his PhD from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Northwestern University before joining UT Dallas.