Internationally Recognized Scholar, Leading Edge Researcher, Innovative Dean of Engineering

Dr. Darryll Pines

Dean of the A. James Clark School of Engineering

University of Maryland

Quote: Scientists study the world that is. Engineers design the world that will be.

Dr. Pines has served as Dean and Nariman Farvardin Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the Clark School since January 2009. He first arrived at the Clark School in 1995 as an assistant professor and then served as Chair of the Department of Aerospace Engineering from 2006 to 2009.

A Major Force in Engineering

Because of the quality and scope of our work, and our location, we are a major force in the nation's technological advancement, working hand-in-hand with corporate, government and academic colleagues. Our research expenditures—more than $110 million for the most recent fiscal year—indicate our leading role in aerospace, networking technologies, bioengineering, defense and consumer electronics, intelligent transportation, advanced materials, nanotechnology, energy and public safety, to name only a few. If you want to help our country take on difficult challenges—how to explore space, communicate more securely and effectively, develop new treatments for diseases, travel with greater safety, create new energy resources and unlock the potential of the "nano-world"—come to the Clark School.

If you want to build sustainable solutions for specific engineering problems in countries around the globe, work with our award-winning Engineers Without Borders program. If you want to help advance innovative ventures to drive the region's economy, facilitate technology transfer, and promote technology entrepreneurship, work with our Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute. At the Clark School, we're fully engaged—in the region, the nation and the world.

As Dean, Pines has led the development of the Clark School's current strategic plan and achieved notable successes in key areas, such as improving teaching in fundamental undergraduate courses and raising student retention; achieving success in national and international student competitions; placing new emphasis on sustainability engineering and service learning; promoting STEM education among high school students; increasing the impact of research programs; and expanding philanthropic contributions to the school.

Today, the school's one-year undergraduate retention rate and four-year graduation rate is 90 percent and 60 percent respectively.  The university's Solar Decathlon team placed first worldwide in the most recent competition against other leading universities, the Engineers Without Borders chapter is considered one of the nation's best, and the Engineering Sustainability Workshop launched by Pines has become a key campus event. Pines has testified before Congress on STEM education and created the Top 25 Source Schools program for Maryland high schools. At a national level he has led an effort as part of the American Society for Engineering Education-ASEE Deans Council’s K-12 STEM Committee to develop a potential College Board AP Exam in Engineering. He is the current Secretary on the Executive Committee of the National GEM Consortium (GEM), a national non-profit providing programming and full fellowships to support increasing untapped domestic human capital at the graduate level in STEM fields.

The Clark School's research expenditures are $119 million, and the school is ranked 34th worldwide by the Academic Ranking of World Universities, which focuses on research citations. The Clark School led the university in achieving and surpassing its $185 million Great Expectations campaign goal, going on to reach $240 million as of the most recent accounting.

During Pines' leadership of aerospace engineering, the department was ranked 8th overall among U.S. universities and 5th among public schools in the U.S. News and World Report graduate school rankings. Pines has been director of the Sloan Scholars Program since 1996, and served as chair of the Engineering Council, director of the NASA CUIP Program, and director of the SAMPEX flight experiment. He currently serves on the Executive and Advisory Board for Engineers Without Borders-EWB National and major corporations.

During a leave of absence from the University (2003-2006), Pines served as Program Manager for the Tactical Technology Office and Defense Sciences Office of DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency). While at DARPA, Pines initiated five new programs primarily related to the development of aerospace technologies, for which he received a Distinguished Service Medal. He also held positions at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), Chevron Corporation, and Space Tethers Inc. At LLNL, Pines worked on the Clementine Spacecraft program, which discovered water near the south pole of the moon. A replica of the spacecraft now sits in the National Air and Space Museum.

Pines' current research focuses on structural dynamics, including structural health monitoring and prognosis, smart sensors, and adaptive, morphing and biologically-inspired structures, as well as the guidance, navigation, and control of uninhabited aerospace vehicles.  He is a fellow of the Institute of Physics, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and has received a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award.

He is also the co-author of over 60 journal articles, three book chapters, and 140 conference papers. Additionally, Dr. Pines also is the holder of five co-authored Patents with his students and collaborators including:

1. Biomimetic mechanism for micro aircraft, Patent number: 6938853, Filed: March 14, 2003, Issued: September 6, 2005, Assignee: University of Maryland, College Park, Inventors: Darryll J. Pines, Felipe A. Bohorquez, Jayant Sirohi

2. Navigational System and Method Utilizing Sources of Pulsed Celestial Radiation, Suneel I. Sheikh, Darryll J. Pines, Kent S. Wood, Paul S. Ray, and Michael N. Lovellette, U.S. Patent No. 7,197,381 (27 March 2007). (FIRST PATENT ON XNAV SYSTEM)

3. Controllable miniature mono-wing aircraft, Patent number: 8366055, Filed: June 18, 2010, Issued: February 5, 2013, Assignee: University of Maryland, Inventors: Evan R. Ulrich, Darryll J. Pines, Joseph Park, Steven Gerardi.

4. Method and System for Determining the Relative Displacement and Heading for Navigation Application number: 20130040656, Filed: November 8, 2010, Issued: February 14, 2013, Assignee: University of Maryland, Inventors: Suneel Ismail Sheikh, Darryll J. Pines, Joseph Kim Conroy, Timofey N. Spiridonov.

5. A Fiber Optic Sensor Band for Monitoring Machinery Vibrations, nondisclosure submitted to University of Maryland Technology and Licensing Office filed July 1, 2007. Patent Pending, Inventors: Darryll J. Pines, J. Kiddy, J. Coker and P. Samuel.“

Academic Credentials

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

PhD, Mechanical Engineering, 1991

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

SM, Mechanical Engineering, 1988

University of California, Berkeley

BS, Mechanical Engineering, 1986


As shared from A. James Clark School of Engineering, University of Maryland
Photo Credit: UMD