Bill Diong named associate vice president for research at Kennesaw State
Kennesaw, Ga. (Dec 18, 2019) — Bill Diong, professor of electrical engineering in the Southern Polytechnic College of Engineering and Engineering Technology, has been named associate vice president for research at Kennesaw State University
for a two-year term, effective Jan. 1, 2020.
As associate vice president for research, Diong will divide his administrative time in the Office of Research between the Kennesaw and Marietta campuses to ensure his accessibility to all research faculty. He will be working in Kennesaw Hall on Mondays and Fridays and in Norton Hall on Wednesdays, respectively.
Diong’s primary duties include promoting efforts related to intellectual property and technology transfer as well as facilitating ways to strengthen the infrastructure to support researchers and scholars in their individual and collaborative endeavors.
“I am so pleased to have Bill join the Office of Research as the Associate Vice President for Research,” said Phaedra Corso, vice president for research. “He is an exceptional researcher and his wealth of experience at KSU and leading research with faculty and students on the Marietta campus will be an incredible asset to our team.”
Diong, whose academic career spans two decades, started out in industry as a research engineer at Sundstrand Aerospace, a manufacturer of aerospace and industrial products. He designed control systems for, and analyzed dynamic performance of, electric power generation, motor drive, power converter, and magnetic bearing systems. He also supported various commercial and military aircraft programs such as Boeing’s 777 passenger airliner, Northrop Grumman’s B-2 bomber and Lockheed’s F22 fighter jet.
Much of Diong’s research experience and interests are in the broad area of power and energy; in particular, electric transportation, energy harvesting systems, solar and wind energy systems, fuel cell systems and distributed generation systems. He has been the author or co-author of more than 80 refereed journal articles and conference papers in these areas.
As principal or co-investigator, Diong also has received more than $1.25 million in research and education grants focused on dynamic systems and electric power from funding sources such as the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Georgia Department of Transportation, Ford, and El Paso Electric. Several of these involved interdisciplinary collaborations.
Diong’s current funded research includes developing wireless power transfer devices for aircrafts aimed at reducing their weight and carbon emissions, and assessing energy savings and other advantages of low-voltage traffic signal cabinets as compared to existing high-voltage traffic signal cabinets. He was recognized for his scholarly achievements with KSU’s Outstanding Research and Creative Award (Engineering Applications) in 2018.
In addition to his teaching and research activities at KSU, Diong is the co-faculty advisor for the Electric Vehicle Team, whose student members won first place at the International evGrand Prix competition in Indianapolis in 2016 and 2018. He also has served as the faculty advisor for student teams that participated in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Future Energy Challenge and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s People, Prosperity, and Planet (P3) sustainable design competition.
"This is a truly exciting time for KSU’s faculty and students on both campuses to engage in research and creative activities,” Diong said. “I look forward with great eagerness to joining the team of highly talented and dedicated individuals in the Office of Research - led by Dr. Corso - that will help KSU forge its way to becoming the best R2 institution in the country."
Diong earned his bachelor’s, master’s and doctorate degrees from the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign), all in electrical engineering.
—Joëlle Walls
