UT Tyler Professor Nael Barakat Named To U.S. Fulbright Specialist Program Roster

Office of Marketing and Communications

March 29, 2022

Media Contact: Beverley Golden
Senior Director of Media Relations
Marketing and Communications
The University of Texas at Tyler
903.566.7303

The University of Texas at Tyler announced that Nael Barakat, PhD, professor and chair of mechanical engineering, has been selected by peers to be a member of the U.S. Fulbright Specialist Program Roster. Barakat will serve a four-year term.

A program of the U.S. Department of State, the Fulbright Specialist Program is a unique opportunity for U.S. academics and established professionals to engage in two- to six-week, project-based exchanges at host institutions across the globe.

“We are extremely proud of Dr. Barakat and his recent accomplishment,” said Amir Mirmiran, PhD, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. “This is an outstanding opportunity for one of our own faculty members to interact and share knowledge and expertise with other colleagues on the global stage.”

Barakat’s expertise includes engineering education, which is the same specialty he is listed for on the roster. This includes engineering education methods, higher education management and curriculum and program development as well as evaluation and educator training. A certified Program Evaluator (PEV) for the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Inc., or ABET, Barakat has prepared numerous training workshops worldwide aiming at improving engineering education.

“Being selected by peers as a scholar with expertise to be shared with the world signifies a mix of respect and appreciation for our achievements and accomplishments in what we do daily in the mechanical engineering department and in the College of Engineering,” said Barakat, who has served UT Tyler since 2018. “In addition, this is another step in enhancing the visibility of UT Tyler nationally and its presence globally, which eventually translates into better opportunities to attract talents and resources.”

As a Fulbright Specialist, Barakat is a candidate for a prestigious Fulbright Scholarship. The Fulbright Program is the flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government. Programming is designed to forge lasting connections between the people of the United States and the people of other countries, while helping nations work together toward common goals.

A fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), Barakat currently serves on the executive boards of both the ASME Engineering Management and Technology & Society Divisions. He previously served as past chair of the Engineering Ethics Division at the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) as well as in multiple leadership positions with ASME.

Other expertise and research areas include mechatronics, robotics, energy harvesting and nanotechnology.

Barakat is the recipient of multiple awards including ASME’s Dedicated Service Award (2011), McDonald Mentoring Award (2014) and Edwin F. Church Medal (2020). He holds master’s and doctoral degrees in mechanical engineering.

For more information about the Fulbright Specialist Program, visit https://fulbrightspecialist.worldlearning.org/.

With a mission to improve educational and healthcare outcomes for East Texas and beyond, UT Tyler offers more than 80 undergraduate and graduate programs to 10,000 students. UT Tyler recently merged with The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler (now known as the UT Tyler Health Science Center). Through its alignment with the UT Tyler Health Science Center (HSC) and UT Health East Texas, UT Tyler has unified these entities to serve Texas with quality education, cutting-edge research and excellent patient care. Classified by Carnegie as a doctoral research institution and by U.S. News & World Report as a national university, UT Tyler has campuses in Tyler, Longview, Palestine and Houston.