Babak D. Beheshti, PhD is professor and Dean of the College of Engineering and Computing Sciences (CoECS) at New York Institute of Technology. CoECS has over 2000 students, pursuing undergraduate and graduate programs in two New York based campuses, as well as in its Vancouver, BC campus.  As the chief executive officer of the College, Dr. Beheshti guides the college towards academic excellence; promotes a culture of research, innovation and scholarship; and represents its students, faculty, and staff at the university level and beyond.

Babak’s experience in higher education spans over 33 years, where he has served as a full time faculty member, President of the Senate, Associate Dean, and Dean. As dean of the engineering college, Babak led the development and implementation of a strategy to improve undergraduate student retention, place new emphasis on experiential and service learning, expand internships, achieve success in national and international student competitions, promote STEM education among high school students, promote gender equity and broadening participation of under-represented groups in engineering, increase the impact of research programs, and expand industrial partnerships with the college. Babak led the college to introduction of its first PhD program in computer science, as well as continues to forge mobility and exchange programs with the world’s leading universities.

Babak has served as a member of the IEEE Board of Directors (2018-19), and a member of the Board of Directors of Long Island Software & Technology Network (LISTnet). In 2020 Babak serves as a member of the Educational Activities Board and the Member and Geographic Activities Board of the IEEE. He has been a member of Publication Services & Products Board (PSPB) of the IEEE.

An expert in embedded systems, signal processing and real-time applications, his research interests include real-time operating systems, performance analysis, secure embedded systems, wireless sensor networks, and wireless systems. He has supervised dozens of graduate and undergraduate students and is author of numerous technical papers in these areas. He is also an NSF Reviewer 2020.

Babak is a recipient of the IEEE, MGA Leadership Award, IEEE Millennium Medal, the IEEE LI Section Athanasios Papoulis Outstanding Educator Award (given for noteworthy contributions to engineering education), and three IEEE Region 1 Awards, including 2008 IEEE Northeastern Region Technical Innovation Award "For Providing Technical Leadership in the Development of State-of-the Art Reconfigurable Wireless Technologies."

He has over 20 years of experience in R&D for embedded systems and wireless technology industry, where he has successfully managed joint R&D programs with Asian, European, and U.S. companies including Siemens Mobile, Nokia, Samsung, KDDI, and LG.

Babak received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering at the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth, and his master's and bachelor's degrees in Electrical Engineering at Stony Brook University.