Tarek Abdel-Salam is a professor of mechanical engineering and the Associate Dean for Research in the College of Engineering and Technology at East Carolina University. Also, he is currently serving as the Director of the ECU Center for Sustainable Energy and Environmental Engineering. Tarek has over 32 years of experience as a thermal engineer and as an educator. He has been with ECU since 2003. His research is in the thermal-fluids area including alternative fuels, environmental management, energy storage, renewable energy, supersonic mixing and combustion in scramjet engines, fuel injection, and sprays. Tarek is an active member of multiple professional engineering societies including ASHRAE, SAE, ASME, and AIAA. He is the current Chair of the SAE Sustainable Development Committee, the Vice Chair for Operations of the AIAA Terrestrial Energy Systems Technical Committee, and the Vice Chair of the NASA/NC Space Grant Advisory Board.