As part of its major expansion into the digital era, the Stevens Institute of Technology has announced the appointment of robotics expert and academic leader Brendan Englot as the interim dean of its newly established School of Computing.
Englot, who serves as the Anson Wood Burchard Endowed Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Director of the Stevens Institute for Artificial Intelligence (SIAI), will step into the two-year role effective Aug. 1, guiding the school through its official launch period ahead of its opening in fall 2026.
With 15 years of experience developing mobile robots and autonomous navigation algorithms across land, air, and sea, Englot brings deep technical expertise and a collaborative vision to the new school. A member of the Stevens faculty since 2014, his extensive research has earned funding from major government and industry sponsors, including the NSF, ONR, DARPA, and the U.S. Army DEVCOM. He is an IEEE Senior Member, a co-author of eight U.S. patents and over 75 refereed publications, and a recipient of numerous accolades.
University leadership expressed strong confidence in Englot’s ability to anchor the school’s critical formative years.
“Dr. Englot brings a rare combination of skills and expertise to this role. Beyond his deep technical knowledge in AI and robotics, he has strong collaborations with faculty throughout Stevens as well as demonstrated leadership in facilitating cross-disciplinary partnerships through SIAI,” Nariman Farvardin, president of Stevens, said.
The launch of the School of Computing responds to surging national demand for professionals equipped to apply computing and artificial intelligence skills across diverse domains such as health, finance, and the arts.
“This is a pivotal moment for computing education, and I’m honored to help lead the School of Computing through its launch,” Englot said. “Over the next two years, my priority is to build a foundation, in curriculum, faculty hiring and interdisciplinary partnerships, that will position our students, faculty and the school itself to lead for many years to come.”
To bolster its academic and research capacity ahead of the fall 2026 debut, the school also announced the addition of three new faculty members: Adam Coscia (specializing in visual analytics and human-centered computing), Zhen Tan (focusing on AI interpretability and trustworthy AI), and Noam Zilberstein (expert in programming languages and formal methods).
