Advancing Departmental Growth Through Strategic Leadership

Cate Brinson didn’t plan to become chair of the Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science (MEMS) when she first joined Duke in 2017 as the Sharon C. and Harold L. Yoh, III Professor. But two years later, then-chair Ken Gall and Vinik Dean of Engineering Ravi Bellamkonda invited her to consider the role. With prior experience as department chair and associate dean at Northwestern University’s McCormick School of Engineering, she was intrigued. 

“At that point I had established my lab at Duke, but I also had all these great ideas from another institution,” Brinson said. “It’s like you get the best of both worlds: You know the current departmental landscape but can also bring in fresh ideas from the outside.”  

Equipped with that unique perspective, Brinson began her appointment as chair in June 2019. She guided MEMS for the next five and a half years, most notably by expanding the department’s external connections, strengthening its internal organization, and strategically recruiting the next generation of faculty. 

One of Brinson’s first priorities as chair was to create a more comprehensive and engaged External Advisory Board (EAB). Previously, MEMS had maintained only a small committee to support ABET accreditation reviews. “It was just a few people, providing input only on the undergraduate program,” Brinson recalled. Drawing on her Northwestern experience, she quickly began forming a new version of the board that represented a wider range of perspectives.  

The expanded EAB included alumni from different career stages: industry professionals, government researchers and academic peers. This larger group with stakeholders from various backgrounds provided more relevant and actionable feedback to help guide the department’s strategic directions, for education, research, innovation and impact. The EAB now meets annually for one‑ to two‑day sessions; stays engaged throughout the year as mentors, senior design project sponsors and curriculum reviewers; and provides invaluable input and support.  

Brinson also became chair at a time of rapid growth for the department. Gall’s earlier expansion had brought many new hires and greater research output, but the department’s infrastructure hadn’t yet caught up. “There were a lot of new people, including myself,” Brinson said. “The department had become a bigger team, and we needed more organization to empower what said team could accomplish.” 

Drawing on her administrative experiences at Northwestern, she formalized internal processes and built better communication channels between faculty, staff and students. These systems made day‑to‑day operations more consistent and helped the department think beyond annual cycles, creating a foundation for longer-term strategic plans. 

Under Dean Jerry Lynch’s newly introduced three‑year hiring plan, MEMS transitioned from one‑year hiring cycles to a more coordinated, forward‑looking approach. The department agreed on three priority research domains: robotics/automation, aerospace/fluids and energy materials. 

Under Brinson, MEMS hired significantly in robotics as an area with increasing national importance and strong alignment with mechanical engineering. The new appointments — Joanna Deaton Bertram, Boyuan Chen, Xianyi Cheng and Siobhan Oca— strengthened links between mechanical systems, controls and computation. Aerospace/fluids also regained momentum after a period of limited hiring, with three new faculty members — George Delagrammatikas, Michela Geri and Bavand Keshavarz — revitalizing a field where Duke Engineering historically has a rich legacy.  

In energy materials and sustainability, Brinson sought to bring in researchers that connected materials science with energy systems. “We had some strength in areas like photovoltaics, but we were lacking emphasis in battery materials and sustainability,” Brinson said. “I think it’s crucial we have a foot in this space because energy is always going to be important.” Miaofang Chi, Liang Feng and Xiaoyue Ni were brought on board as part of this effort. 

Brinson also emphasized the recruitment of early‑career scholars with a wide variety of backgrounds, complementing Gall’s prior focus on established leaders. “In total, we hired ten new faculty members — six of them women, and eight of them junior scholars,” she said. Brinson also helped to bring in Kip Coonley and Greg Twiss as MEMS teaching faculty. Altogether, these hires reinforced the department’s generational balance and advancement of research in emerging areas of priority. “I’m really proud of the hiring that we did,” Brinson said.   

Brinson concluded her service as chair at the start of 2025, passing leadership to Christine Payne. She remains an advocate for AI‑driven materials research and continues to expand that connection in both her lab and the classroom. Soon after her chairship, MEMS launched a new Master of Engineering program in AI for Materials, an expansion of a previous certificate program. These programs train students to integrate machine learning and computational modeling with materials discovery. 

“How do you incorporate AI into a mechanical or materials engineering degree so that students graduate with deep understanding and fluency in methods that are essential in today’s world?” Brinson said. “That’s an educational thread I’ve continued to pursue after being chair.” 

Looking forward, Brinson hopes to establish a research institute devoted to AI and materials systems or delve into the start-up world with custom AI-materials tools. “I’ve run a department twice now, so I think that running a big research center program or launching a start-up would be a fun next adventure,” she said.