Pictured left to right: Regents' Professor Steven Liang and Regents’ Entrepreneur F. Levent Degertekin
USG Honors Woodruff School Faculty with Regents’ Titles
May 21, 2025
By Joshua Stewart
The University System of Georgia (USG) Board of Regents honored two George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering faculty members with Regents’ appointments at its April and May meetings.
Steven Liang was named Regents’ Professor, and F. Levent Degertekin received the Regents’ Entrepreneur title.
Regents’ Professor, Innovator, and Entrepreneur are the highest distinctions from the system and recognize faculty members for academic, innovation, and entrepreneurial excellence. Altogether, the Regents honored 10 Georgia Tech faculty members and reaffirmed the appointments of five others.
Steven Liang
Regents’ Professor
Morris M. Bryan, Jr. Professor in Mechanical Engineering for Advanced Manufacturing Systems
Liang connects materials science and mechanical manufacturing to more clearly link the manufacturing process and material microstructures to the properties and performance of the parts produced by those processes. He has devoted specific attention to metal machining and additive manufacturing.
His work offers deeper insight into the physics of the manufacturing process, providing a scientific foundation for process planning and optimization for effectiveness and productivity.
Liang has been a leader in the manufacturing research community nationwide, including serving as chair of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Manufacturing Engineering Division and president of the North American Manufacturing Research Institution. He was President of Walsin-Lihwa Corporation from 2008 to 2010, leading a multinational manufacturing enterprise with more than $6 billion in annual revenue and 35,000 employees.
Liang is a fellow of ASME, the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, and the Academy of Engineering and Technology.
F. Levent Degertekin
Regents’ Entrepreneur
George W. Woodruff Chair in Mechanical Systems and Professor
Degertekin’s research group uses acoustics and optics concepts to creatively address a wide variety of engineering problems, such as acoustic and seismic measurements, medical ultrasound imaging, and sensors for magnetic resonance imaging.
Degertekin is an inventor or coinventor on 65 U.S. patents and six international patents, including more than 50 granted for his work at Georgia Tech with his students and collaborators. His compact, micromachined optical interferometers form the basis of seismometers used by major oil companies and the technology is part of a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) project that will someday explore Europa, an icy moon of Jupiter.
His research on capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers led to the first low-cost, commercial, handheld full-body ultrasound imaging probe. Several other technologies have been commercialized by Silicon Audio and OpenCell Technologies. He is an IEEE Fellow.