Personnel

The University of Maine College of Engineering has announced several new faculty members:

Dr. Michael F. Worboys has joined the National Center for Geographic Analysis and the Department of Spatial Information Science and Engineering, where he will hold the rank of professor. Before coming to the University of Maine, Worboys was a professor and department head of computer science at Keele University in the United Kingdom. His work on temporal data models for Geographic Information Systems is widely cited. He also is the author of “Geographic Information Systems: A Computing Perspective.” He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Reading, a master’s degree from the University of Bristol, and a doctorate from the University of Birmingham.

Dr. David J. Neivandt joined the Department of Chemical Engineering as an assistant professor in October 2001. Prior to his appointment, Neivandt spent three years as the Oppenheimer Research Fellow of the Cambridge University Department of Chemistry. Neivandt obtained his bachelor’s degree and doctorate from the University of Melbourne, Australia, in the departments of chemistry and mathematics and statistics. Additionally he twice served as a visiting scientist at the Xerox Research Center of Canada. At the university, Neivandt will be teaching in the field of polymer science and technology.

Dr. Silvia Nittel has joined the National Center for Geographic Analysis and the Department of Spatial Information Science and Engineering, where she will hold the rank of assistant professor. Nittel recently served as senior research associate in the Computer Science Department at UCLA, where she managed and conducted research for “ESP2NET: Earth Science Partners Private Network,” a NASA-sponsored research project. Prior to her work at UCLA, she was a research associate at the Institute for Computer Science at the University of Zurich, and worked as a software engineer for two firms in Zurich. Nittel received her doctoral degree in computer science from the Institute for Computer Science at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, and her master’s degree in computer science from the University of Erlangen-Nurnberg, Germany.

Dr. M. Clayton Wheeler has joined the Department of Chemical Engineering as an assistant professor. Before coming to the University of Maine, he was a National Research Council postdoctoral research associate at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, MD. While at NIST, he was involved in research pertaining to development of micromachined devices for use as chemical sensors. He also has worked as a research engineer for Texaco in the areas of new energy technologies and multiphase flow distribution. He holds bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in chemical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin.

Raymond F. Werkmeister, Jr. joined the School of Engineering Technology’s Construction Management Program as an associate professor of construction management in August 2001. Prior to his appointment, Werkmeister spent five years as a research engineer, instructor, and graduate student in the Civil Engineering Department, University of Kentucky. All this came after he retired early following more than 25 years in engineering practice in the industrial design and construction industries. Werkmeister obtained his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering from the University of Missouri. A licensed professional engineer in the fields of civil and structural engineering, Werkmeister will be teaching construction engineering, management and administration within the School of Engineering.