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Dr. Miguel A. Gonzalez serves as the Associate Dean and Director for the School of Engineering and Computer Science in the University of Texas, Pan American’s College of Science and Engineering. He has a significant amount executive industry experience where he held managerial and executive positions including President and CEO of a large Citrus processor. Throughout his experience, Dr. Gonzalez’ professional and academic activities are focused on an overall mission to provide opportunities for student involvement by developing and maintaining a strong reputation of excellence. He has developed a strong track record of teaching effectiveness based on consistently good teaching evaluations, and he has won some departmental awards in this area. Dr. Gonzalez and colleagues from UTPA and Michigan State University were awarded Honorable Mention in the American Society of Mechanical Engineers 2004 Curriculum Innovation Award competition. Furthermore, his service as an Associate Editor for The IEEE Transactions on Education has provided him with a means of enhancing and maintaining his knowledge on the issues affecting engineering education. In the area of professional achievement, he has been able to obtain over Four Million Dollars in funding for his academic activities from various sources including NASA, The National Science Foundation, The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board’s Advanced Research Program, U. S. Department of Commerce, The Texas Manufacturing Assistance Center, The U.S. Department of Education, and The U.S. Department of Labor. One of his current interests is in the area of manufacturing systems for rapid response Manufacturing. An extension of this work is the current effort that established the UTPA Rapid Response Manufacturing Center in a consortium of academic institutions, economic development corporations, industry, local, state, and federal governments. This initiative is an integral component of the North American Advanced Manufacturing and Research Initiative (NAAMREI). Dr. Gonzalez is a founding leader of the initiative which seeks to develop the infrastructure for an integrated PK through practice educational system for the Rio South Texas Region. This endeavor involves a strong relationship with the Economic Development community, South Texas College and Region One Education Service Center which facilitates the activities of the proposed project. Because of his experience and role as a regional leader in a wide variety of endeavors, Dr. Gonzalez has served and continues to serve in leadership positions in technology based economic development in the Rio South Texas Region.

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