Sreekala Bajwa will become the chair of NDSU’s Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering. Bajwa, an associate professor of agricultural engineering at the University of Arkansas, will have the rank of professor at NDSU. She will start her new appointment on or before Feb. 29.

"Dr. Bajwa will bring a great set of teaching, research and outreach skills to the department and will provide excellent vision and leadership to ensure the success of the faculty, staff and students in this important department," says Ken Grafton, NDSU's interim vice president for Agriculture and University Extension, director of the North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station and dean of the College of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Natural Resources.

Bajwa earned a doctorate from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She joined the University of Arkansas in 2001 as an assistant professor and became an associate professor in 2007.

Her responsibilities at the University of Arkansas included teaching, advising undergraduate and graduate students, and research. Her research topics include remote sensing, agricultural air quality, water quality, precision agriculture and biofiber composites. She has written or co-written more than 30 peer-reviewed publications and 70 conference presentations.