Dereje Engida Woldemichael

Dereje Engida Woldemichael is a distinguished mechanical engineer, educator, and academic leader with more than two decades of experience in higher education, engineering research, and university management. He holds a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering (mechanical design) from Universiti Teknologi Petronas, Malaysia, and is a Chartered Engineer (CEng) registered with the UK Engineering Council.

His areas of expertise include engineering design methodologies, topology optimization, artificial intelligence in design, finite element methods, applied mechanics, renewable energy, and innovative teaching and learning approaches. Throughout his career, Engida Woldemichael has held academic and leadership positions at leading institutions in Ethiopia and Malaysia. He served as head of the Mechanical Engineering Department at Curtin University Sarawak, senior lecturer and cluster leader for teaching and learning at Universiti Teknologi Petronas, and has been an associate professor of mechanical engineering at Addis Ababa Science and Technology University (AASTU) since 2019. He currently serves as the president of AASTU and has contributed extensively to national higher education governance through board memberships in several key Ethiopian public institutions and enterprises. He has also led engineering program accreditation initiatives, securing international accreditation from, ABET, Engineers Australia, and the Engineering Accreditation Council of Malaysia.

Engida Woldemichael has established a strong research and innovation portfolio, securing 12 competitive research grants as principal investigator and publishing over 40 refereed journal articles, 22 conference papers, 5 book chapters, and 2 books. He has successfully supervised multiple postgraduate students, including completed Ph.D. and MSc candidates, while continuing to mentor ongoing doctoral and master’s research. His career reflects a unique combination of academic excellence, research leadership, institutional management, and commitment to advancing engineering education and innovation in Ethiopia and internationally.