Our Team

Dr. Jerzy T. Sawicki is the Bently and Muszynska Endowed Chair and Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Cleveland State University, where he currently serves as department chair. He is the founding director of the Center for Rotating Machinery Dynamics and Control (RoMaDyC) and served as Vice President for Research from 2012 to 2020.

Dr. Sawicki is Editor-in-Chief of the ASME Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power, past chair of the International Gas Turbine Institute’s Structures and Dynamics Committee, a Fellow of ASME, and a licensed Professional Engineer. An accomplished scholar in dynamics and control, he earned his Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University.

Mr. Duplin started at Cleveland State University in 2021, working as the Project Manager for the EDA-funded EMDiS Center (now TransDigm Advanced Manufacturing Center). As Manager, he is actively engaged with leaders at local industry partners, non-profits, and educators to promote the growing resources and collaboration opportunities in the AMC. Within the University, Mr. Duplin is also aligning the AMC's efforts with the Engineering and Business Colleges, Continuing and Extended Education Division, and faculty/student research opportunities.

Prior to CSU, Mr. Duplin spent five years as a Technical Sales Engineer for Lincoln Electric, based in Chicago. He has a B.S. in Integrated Systems Engineering from Ohio State University, and an MBA from CSU. He lives in the Ohio City neighborhood of Cleveland with his wife Ashley and daughter Isla. 

Nick Knyszek ... 

Dr. Benjamin Ward is Director for Research Development and Ethics at Cleveland State University, where he supports growth of Cleveland State's research portfolio and strategic partnerships. Dr. Ward joined Cleveland State from industry, where he was a Senior Engineer at Makel Engineering and a Senior Design Engineer at GE Lighting.