The College of Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences has dedicated faculty who promote inclusion and equity, and Kapil Chalil Madathil, an associate professor who holds the Wilfred P. Tiencken Endowed Professorship, is one of them. After earning his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Vellore Institute of Technology in Chennai, India, he decided to pursue his master’s and Ph.D. in industrial engineering at Clemson. As a graduate student, he worked as a lab assistant under the guidance of Professor Joel Greenstein, an experience that exposed him to diverse perspectives and backgrounds as he was working with students from different parts of the world.
Since becoming an associate professor at Clemson with a dual appointment in the Industrial Engineering and Civil Engineering Departments, he has continued to create a welcoming environment for all students. He believes that DEI at Clemson involves “participating in and supporting campus-wide diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and events, and creating opportunities for students to engage with and learn from diverse communities.”
Kapil’s research focuses on applying human factors to the design and operation of human-computer systems. He has been a principal investigator or co-principal investigator on over 30 research grants and awards generating more than $24 million in funding. In addition, he serves as an editor for several professional journals and in leadership positions in various professional societies. His research and teaching efforts both at the graduate student and tenure-track levels have been recognized by Clemson University and the broader field. He has received numerous best paper awards, been named the Junior Researcher of the Year for the college, and most recently received the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society’s William C. Howell Young Investigator Award. His research interests include human factors engineering with a focus on healthcare systems and the design and operation of human-computer systems.
