EPIC Staff

Biography Benjamin Futrell is a Research Engineer at UNC Charlotte in EPIC. He completed his Ph.D. in Infrastructure and Environmental Systems at UNC Charlotte in 2015. His research interests include building energy modeling and improved energy utilization in commercial buildings and industrial facilities. He works closely with many industry partners, including Wells Fargo, Bank of […]

Biography James Gafford joined EPIC in 2018 as the Assistant Director of Research and Special Projects. Prior to joining EPIC, James was a Senior Research Engineer in the Advanced Vehicle System Group at Mississippi State University’s Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems. He earned a master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Mississippi State University and a […]

Biography Dr. John Hall has held senior level positions in design, manufacturing, maintenance, and reliability engineering and is a licensed professional engineer. He has provided engineering consultation for GEC-Alstom Electric, TECO-Westinghouse, Lockheed-Martin, Advanced Micro Devices, Hewlett Packard, Accretech USA, and IBM. Following a career in industry, Dr. Hall, completed his graduate work at The University […]

Biography Dr. Tao Hong is Professor, Graduate Director, and Research Director of Systems Engineering and Engineering Management Department, Director of BigDEAL (Big Data Energy Analytics Laboratory), NCEMC Faculty Fellow of Energy Analytics, and associate of Energy Production and Infrastructure Center at University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He is the Founding Chair of IEEE Working […]

Biography After majoring in Business Administration and Computer Programming, Shannon Jenkins’ career experience began as an Engineering Administrator for RBI, Inc. an electro-mechanical engineering and manufacturing corporation. She assisted in the coordination of aerodynamics and government contracts for customized electro-mechanical assembly projects. Shannon then joined Victory Bolt & Specialties, Inc. where she assisted as a […]

Biography Dr. Sukumar Kamalasadan is a Duke Energy Distinguished Professor of electric power engineering at UNC Charlotte and the Director of the Power Energy and Intelligent Systems Lab (PEISL) within the Energy Production and Infrastructure Center (EPIC). He received his Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Toledo in 2004. His research interests […]

Dr. Kernicky most recently was a Post-Doctoral Research Associate in the Civil and Environmental Engineering department at UNC Charlotte. He received his Masters in Engineering and Ph.D. in Infrastructure and Environmental Systems from UNC Charlotte. His research interests include Structural Health Monitoring, Vibration-Based Damage Detection, Experimental Testing of Full-Scale Structures, Nondestructive Testing and Evaluation, Structural […]

Biography Dr. Saffeer M. Khan, P.E., is the Energy Production and Infrastructure Center’s Associate Professor of Practice and Flexible Energy Laboratory Manager. Dr. Khan joins EPIC from Arkansas Tech University where he was an Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering. Dr. Khan’s research areas of interests are electrical machines and drives, internet of […]

Biography Dr. Milind Khire is Assistant Director – EPIC for Environment & Construction Research and Professor of Geoenvironmental and Environmental Engineering. Khire holds a Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental engineering from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. After six years of engineering consulting work in the U.S. and New Zealand, he joined the faculty at Michigan […]

Biography LeClair joined EPIC in July 2019 as Research Engineer – Electro-Mechanical Systems Design and Integration Specialist. Previously, LeClair was a Research Engineer and Lab Manager at the Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems at Mississippi State University where he was instrumental in designing and developing over twenty patented prototypes. He received a B.S. and M.S. […]