UT Tyler Engineering Professor Elected to IEEE Executive Board
Dr. Nael Barakat
TYLER, Texas (January 21, 2026) – Dr. Nael Barakat, professor and chair of mechanical engineering at The University of Texas at Tyler, was elected for a two-year term as secretary for the executive board of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Education Society.
Through this role, Barakat will help promote engineering education and ensure the society’s goals globally.
“We congratulate Dr. Barakat, who I confidently know will represent UT Tyler well,” said Dr. Javier Kypuros, dean of the UT Tyler College of Engineering. “This appointment is a perfect match to his interest and passion for enhancing engineering education and bringing the human element to the process of building future engineers.”
A 2022–26 U.S. Fulbright Specialist in the mechanical engineering field, Barakat currently serves on the ABET Engineering Accreditation Commission, the largest national and international accreditation body for engineering programs. He is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, having also held multiple leadership positions within ASME and other professional organizations. Additionally, Barakat is an elected member and chair of the National Institute for Engineering Ethics. He joined UT Tyler in 2018.
His expertise and research areas include mechatronics, robotics, and engineering education and ethics. He holds master’s and doctoral degrees in mechanical engineering from Canada’s Concordia University and McMaster University in Ontario, respectively.
Founded in 1957, the IEEE Education Society is one of the oldest technical societies in the institute. It serves as a worldwide community of professionals dedicated to ensuring high-quality education in science and engineering. To learn more, visit: ieee-edusociety.org/.
With a mission to improve educational and health care outcomes for East Texas and beyond, UT Tyler offers more than 90 undergraduate and graduate programs to more than 11,500 students. Through its alignment with UT Tyler Health Science Center and UT Health East Texas, UT Tyler has unified these entities to serve Texas with quality education, cutting-edge research and excellent patient care. Classified by Carnegie as a doctoral research institution and by U.S. News & World Report as a national university, UT Tyler has campuses in Tyler, Longview, Palestine and Houston.
