Curtin's Engineering building

Meet the CME leadership team

Learn more about the people providing leadership and direction across CME.

Leading through experience

The School of Civil and Mechanical Engineering (CME) is led by respected researchers, industry experts and experienced professionals.

Our school’s leadership is committed to ensuring CME continues to advance engineering expertise across education, research and industry collaboration.

Professor Ramesh Narayanaswamy

Professor Ramesh Narayanaswamy

Head of School

Professor Ramesh is a teaching and research academic, specialised in the areas of Heat Transfer and Fluid Mechanics in the Mechanical Engineering discipline.

A/Professor Ranjan Sarukkalige

A/Professor Ranjan Sarukkalige

Deputy Head of School

A/Prof Sarukkalige is a research group leader and an active researcher in water engineering, with over 20 years’ research experience in civil engineering.

Ms Chelsea Little

Ms Chelsea Little

School Business Manager

Chelsea is an experienced business manager and operational leader with 18 years in diverse university roles across functional areas.

Ms Kerri Bland

Ms Kerri Bland

Director, Learning & Teaching

As Director of Learning and Teaching, Kerri specialises in civil engineering materials and structural design, and is a dedicated educator in the field.

Dr Nima Nadim

Dr Nima Nadim

Director, Graduate Research

Dr Nadim’s work spans fundamental and applied thermofluidic research. He highlights the importance of modern CFD in advancing thermofluid engineering.

Dr Hilde van der Vyver

Dr Hilde van der Vyver

Dir. Diversity & Inclusion

Dr van der Vyver is an enthusiastic lecturer with a focus on second year mechanical engineering units. She promotes a more supportive and inclusive environment for all.

Professor Abhijit Mukherjee

Professor Abhijit Mukherjee

Lead, Civil Engineering

Prof Mukherjee is a civil engineer, researcher and educator with a passion for rehabilitating heritage structures. He offers industrial consultations while researching sustainable engineering practices.

Professor Pawel Podsiadlo

Professor Pawel Podsiadlo

Lead, Mechanical Engineering

Prof Podsiadlo teaches design, specialising in manufacturing, systems engineering and materials handling. His research focuses on surface-texture technologies, detecting wear-related damage, and bone-texture analysis.

Dr Lei Cui

Dr Lei Cui

Lead, Mechatronic Engineering

Dr Cui is an award-winning roboticist whose research on novel robots and sensing technologies has been published in leading journals.