Avram Bar-Cohen, Ph.D.

Dr. Avram Bar-Cohen is a Program Manager in the Microsystems Technology Office of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Arlington, VA; he is serving in this capacity while on leave from his position as a Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland, where he most recently also served as the Chair of the Mechanical Engineering Department (2001-2010). Bar-Cohen earned a PhD in mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and prior to joining Maryland, Bar-Cohen directed the University of Minnesota’s Center for the Development of Technological Leadership and held the Sweatt Chair in Technological Leadership. His publications, lectures, short courses, and research, as well as professional service in ASME and IEEE, have helped to create the scientific foundation for the thermal management of electronic components and systems and pioneered techniques for energy-efficient sustainable design of manufactured products. 


Dr. Bar-Cohen has received numerous awards, including the prestigious International Centre for Heat and Mass Transfer's 2008 Luikov Medal, ASME’s Heat Transfer Memorial Award (1999), and the IEEE CPMT Society’s Outstanding Sustained Technical Contributions Award (2002). He is among a very select number of ASME Honorary Members and is a Fellow of IEEE.