Occupation
- Abel Bliss Professor of Engineering, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
- Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs, The Grainger College of Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Education
- Ph.D., Electrical and Computer Engineering, Cornell University, 2003
- B.S., Electrical Engineering, Magna Cum Laude with Honors, Cornell University, 1999
Notable Accomplishments
Dr. Makela leads undergraduate programs and student success initiatives for over 9,000 students across The Grainger College of Engineering. In this role he has championed the integration of artificial intelligence into engineering education, increased access to co-curricular experiential learning opportunities, and developed international partnerships to expand global learning opportunities for Illinois students. His research group developed wind retrieval algorithms adopted by NASA’s Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) mission and has pioneered techniques that help understand the impact of space weather on our society’s technological systems.
He is a recipient of the NSF CAREER Award, the Zeldovich Medal from COSPAR and the Russian Academy of Sciences, and multiple teaching honors including the Mac Van Valkenburg Early Career Teaching Award from the IEEE Education Society and the Pratt Faculty Outstanding Teaching Award from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.