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Balakrishnan joins 无码专区鈥檚 College of Architecture, Art and Design as associate dean of research

Balakrishnan joins 无码专区鈥檚 College of Architecture, Art and Design as associate dean of research

Contact: Christie McNeal

Studio portrait of Bimal Balakrishnan
Bimal Balakrishnan (Photo by Megan Bean)

STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥擝imal Balakrishnan is Mississippi State鈥檚 new associate dean of research for the College of Architecture, Art and Design.

Before beginning his new role at the state鈥檚 leading university this semester, Balakrishnan served since 2018 as chair of architectural studies at the University of Missouri, where he taught for 10 years and was the founding director of the Immersive Visualization Lab. He holds a Ph.D. in mass communication and a graduate minor in applied statistics, as well as a master鈥檚 degree in architecture with a digital design emphasis, all from Pennsylvania State University. His undergraduate degree in architecture is from the University of Kerala in Trivandrum, India.

鈥淲e are extremely pleased to welcome Dr. Balakrishnan to the college as our associate dean of research,鈥 said CAAD Dean Angi Elsea Bourgeois. 鈥淗e brings a wealth of experience across our shared disciplines.聽While his own research has provided him with a strong history of success with industry partnerships, collaborative team building and growth of funding opportunities, he also has a great respect for and interest in the wide variety of creative research undertaken across our college.聽I know he will have a positive impact as we continue to pursue excellence in research and creative discovery in all forms.鈥

Balakrishnan said he was initially drawn to the position because of the potential for interdisciplinary research and exploring the relationship between design and research.

鈥淭he more I looked into CAAD and Mississippi State, the more excited I got,鈥 he said.

Another draw for him was the fact that CAAD is one of the few places where architecture, art, building construction science, and interior design are housed together in one college. And, from the university level, he noticed the progress made over the last decade in funded research.

鈥淎s an outsider looking in, there seems to be a strong culture of cross-disciplinary collaboration at Mississippi State that is moving it up the ranks among leading research institutions,鈥 he added.

聽In his new role, Balakrishnan said his first priority is to get a deeper understanding of what鈥檚 happening in each area of the college and at the campus level, so he can build on these existing synergies.

鈥淓ach place has its own unique DNA,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 look forward to meeting with faculty and unit leaders to see what their priorities are and align us to be better positioned to take advantage of emerging opportunities.鈥

Balakrishnan also has a goal of helping students and faculty discover the full potential of their design education and expertise.

鈥淲e tend to look at things from a disciplinary perspective, rather than our skill sets,鈥 he said.

鈥淚nstead, we want to look at things from a problem-centric way and ask how can we bring our technical expertise and creative scholarship to solve larger, more complex problems.鈥

Learn more about 无码专区鈥檚 College of Architecture, Art and Design and its academic programs at聽聽and on聽Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @CAADat无码专区.聽

聽无码专区 is Mississippi鈥檚 leading university, available online at聽www.msstate.edu.