The College of Emerging and Collaborative Studies is pleased to announce new faculty appointments, leadership roles and program advancements as the college begins another year of growth and innovation. These additions strengthen CECS’s ability to deliver forward-looking academic programs that expand opportunities for learners and respond to the evolving needs of Tennessee’s workforce and communities.
New Undergraduate Programs and Workforce Training
CECS continues to build on its mission to empower all learners with the skills and knowledge to thrive in careers of the future. With the Tennessee Higher Education Commission’s approval of the Experiential Medical Science undergraduate certificate, CECS has officially launched its Experiential Residence Program, an initiative designed to prepare undergraduate students for careers in healthcare through hands-on, applied curriculum.
In addition to its new healthcare pathways, the college piloted AI in Manufacturing, a workforce training in collaboration with the University of Tennessee’s Center for Industrial Services and teams in DENSO’s North American workforce. This program combines university expertise in applied AI with decades of experience helping Tennessee manufacturers improve competitiveness.
From advancing programs across sectors to expanding online learning and workforce-aligned credentials, CECS is focused on meeting learners where they are and connecting them to meaningful futures. The faculty and staff joining the college, and stepping into new leadership roles, will play an important part in shaping this next chapter of CECS’s impact.
Growing Leadership Team and Faculty Appointments
New Leadership Roles
Elis Vllasi, Senior Director of Academic Operations
Elis Vllasi has been promoted to the role of senior director of academic operations. Previously, Vllasi served as director of academic operations and associate teaching professor and program director in cybersecurity and nuclear deterrence for CECS. In his new role, he will oversee all academic program coordination processes working closely with Founding Dean Ozlem Kilic, assistant deans, faculty and industry partners.
Katie Cahill, Assistant Dean of Partnerships and Economic Development & Director of Workforce Development at the Office of Research, Innovation, and Economic Development (ORIED)
Katie Cahill has been appointed as the assistant dean of partnerships and economic development at CECS & director of workforce development in the Office of Research, Innovation, and Economic Development. In this jointly appointed role, Cahill will help strengthen connections between the university, industry and the evolving workforce needs across Tennessee, leveraging CECS and ORIED partnerships.
Emam Fatah, Director of Curriculum Strategic Initiatives
Emam Fatah has been promoted to director of curriculum strategic initiatives. In this role, Fatah will bridge academia and industry to accelerate innovation in CECS’s academic pathways. With his background in medical technology, he brings a wealth of knowledge to continue propelling healthcare pathways for the college.
Art Sedighi, Director of CECS Online Academy & Teaching Associate Professor
Art Sedighi has been promoted to the director of CECS Online Academy. The Online Academy serves as a flexible, online learning platform designed to introduce learners to the technologies shaping the future through a self-paced model. Sedighi will work closely with CECS leadership and faculty on continually developing the online academy with new, innovative modules and offerings.
Candice Adams, Director of Distance Education & Teaching Associate Professor
Candice Adams has been promoted to the director of distance education. In this role, Adams will collaborate with CECS faculty and staff and Digital Learning at UT to provide a learner-centered experience for the college’s online programs. Additionally, she will oversee the online faculty.
Brock Jamal-Ertel, Events Manager
Brock Jamal-Ertel joins CECS as the events manager. With over 10 years of experience leading high-profile events, Jamal-Ertel will support CECS’s mission and vision by strengthening the college’s institutional visibility and community engagement. He will collaborate across the college’s departments to ensure the execution of each CECS event is of the best quality.
Lola Alapo, Senior Director of Strategic Communications and Marketing
Lola Alapo joins CECS as the senior director of strategic communications and marketing. With over 20 years of experience, she will support the college through effective communications and marketing strategies to strengthen its reputation, engage key industry partners and advance organizational goals.
New Faculty Positions
Babak Shoraka, Teaching Associate Professor, Cybersecurity, Online
Babak Shoraka is a cybersecurity educator with nearly three decades of experience in industry and academia. His professional background includes information security, software development, and systems engineering, with experience in global banking and financial markets technology. His current academic interests include applied cybersecurity education, AI-enabled learning and assessment, and the cybersecurity of implantable medical devices. He holds a PhD in Information Systems.
Greg Patrick, Teaching Associate Professor, Cybersecurity, Online
A computer scientist and educator with over three decades of experience bridging academia and industry, Greg Patrick work spans software engineering, distributed systems, information assurance, and the secure application of artificial intelligence. Patrick earned his Doctor of Science in Computer Science from The George Washington University with a focus on Software Engineering and Distributed Systems. His current research interests include secure and ethical agentic AI, AI in education, information assurance, and reliable software engineering.
Sudip Vhaduri, Teaching Associate Professor, Data Science
Sudip Vhaduri graduated with a PhD in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of Notre Dame. His interests span emerging technologies across several fields, including healthcare informatics, biometrics and security, user identification, and adversarial machine learning and robust defense.
Burak Sahin, Teaching Associate Professor, Cybersecurity
Burak Sahin earned his PhD from the School of Computer Science at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he also worked with the School of Cybersecurity and Privacy. He is passionate about the security of industrial control systems and cyber-physical systems, as well as program analysis, malware analysis, and binary analysis. He focuses on identifying and addressing security vulnerabilities in complex software and critical infrastructure to build more secure and resilient systems.
Sena Sahin, Adjunct Faculty & Teaching Associate Professor, Cybersecurity, beginning Spring 2027
Sena Sahin is an assistant teaching professor beginning in Spring 2027. She holds a PhD in Computer Science from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Her research focuses on human-centered security and privacy, cybersecurity governance, security policy and regulation, and the design and evaluation of effective security guidance. Her work examines how cybersecurity policies, standards, and recommendations are interpreted and implemented in real-world settings, with applications spanning organizational security, authentication, critical infrastructure, and industrial control systems. She teaches and develops courses in cybersecurity policy, human factors in security, security and privacy, and related cybersecurity topics.
Miroslava Kennedy, Teaching Associate Professor, Artificial Intelligence, beginning Spring 2027
New Adjunct Faculty Positions
Ali Boyaci, R&D Staff Member at ORNL
Ali Boyaci is a Research & Design Staff Member in the Grid Communications and Security Research Group at the Electrification and Energy Infrastructures Division of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Knoxville, TN which he joined in 2024. His research interests include data analytics for power-grid anomaly detection, machine learning, and cybersecurity. He has a PhD in Computer Engineering from Yildiz Technical University.
Ali Riza Ekti, Senior R&D Staff Member at ORNL
Ali Riza Ekti is a Senior Research & Design Staff Member and the Group Leader of the Grid Communications and Security Research Group at ORNL. Since December 1, 2022, he has held a joint appointment as an associate professor at the University of Tennessee–Bredesen Center. His current research interests include data analytics, statistical signal processing, smart grid anomaly detection and classification, wireless sensor networks, wireless propagation channel modeling, optimization, and machine learning in 5G and beyond systems and the smart grid.
Major Robert Willix, Associate Professor of Aerospace Science at AFROTC
Major Robert C. Willix is an associate professor of aerospace science, Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC), Detachment 800, at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. As Associate Professor of Aerospace Science, he leads the training and education program for more than 100 cadets in pursuit of becoming commissioned Air Force and Space Force officers. Willix is a Senior Combat Systems Officer with over 1,600 hours and has served as an AETC Master Instructor in the B-52H and T-1A. He has operational experience in Operations INHERENT RESOLVE and FREEDOMS SENTINEL with nearly 500 combat hours.
Sally Ghanem, Machine Learning and Signal Analysis Researcher at ORNL
Sally Ghanem earned her MS and PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering from North Carolina State University. She is a machine learning and signal analysis researcher with expertise in artificial intelligence, computer vision, multimodal data fusion, and intelligent systems. Her research spans applied AI for vehicle re-identification, digital twins, and data-driven decision support, with a strong record of peer-reviewed publications, patents, and applied research. Ghanem is passionate about preparing students for careers in applied computing through hands-on, industry-relevant instruction and innovative problem solving.
Somb Adhikari, Executive Director at Integr Quant Intel
Somb Adhikari holds graduate degrees in Aerospace Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and Computer/Data Science from the City University of New York, Temple University, and Stanford University. He is a Certified Professional Contract Manager, Certified AI Systems Architect, Certified Information Systems Auditor, and Certified Data Privacy Solutions Engineer. He has also chaired major technical initiatives at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and SEMATECH, leading collaborative AI, software, and cybersecurity programs involving industry and government leaders.
Michael Kuhn, Senior Nonproliferation Data Scientist at ORNL
New Faculty Fellow Appointments
Cary Staples, Professor at UT School of Design
Cary Staples is a Professor of Design at the UT School of Design and Co-Founder of the APP.FARM, an interdisciplinary collaboration studio synthesizing design, data and technology. Staples is interested in creating experiences to help communicate complex ideas and data to audiences that may facilitate understanding and affect change.
Jen Bartlett, Associate Dean for Engagement, Learning, and Public Services at UT Libraries
Jennifer Schatz Bartlett is associate dean for engagement, learning, and public services at the University of Tennessee Libraries, leading a portfolio spanning liaison programs, public services, data and digital scholarship, immersive spaces and technologies, and teaching and learning. She holds master’s degrees from Indiana University and Murray State University.
Nicholas Nagle, Professor of Geography at the College of Arts and Sciences
Nicholas Nagle is a professor of geography at the College of Arts and Sciences specializing in spatial data science, spatial statistics, and demography. He recently served as a Program Director at the National Science Foundation, where he led and managed investments in data science and AI research across the social sciences, and previously served as Head of UT’s Department of Geography & Sustainability. His research develops statistical and geospatial methods for integrating surveys, censuses, imagery, and other data to better measure and understand populations and places.
Kristina Gordon, Professor of Psychology at the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences & the College of Social Work
Kristina Gordon, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and professor of psychology in UT’s College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences and the College of Social Work.