Jani Romanoff appointed vice dean at the School of Engineering

Aalto University President Ilkka Niemelä has appointed Professor Jani Romanoff as the vice dean for education of the School of Engineering. His three-year term will begin on 1 August 2021 as current Vice Dean Kirsi Virrantaus leaves for retirement.

Jani Romanoff is a professor of marine technology at the Department of Mechanical Engineering. The core area of his research and teaching is the development of lightweight structures that are used in ships as well as other applications.

Romanoff is a highly accomplished teacher and developer of teaching. He has served a long term as the professor in charge of marine technology and acted as the driving force behind the collaborative university of technology FITech. He served as the professor in charge of the mechanical and structural engineering major of the bachelor’s programme of the School of Engineering during 2013–2017 and, starting in 2020, the director of the Nordic Master Programme in Maritime Engineering.

In 2018, Romanoff and four other marine technology teachers received the Aalto Education Impact Award, given for pioneering educational work in developing the expertise of industrial sectors that are central to Finnish society. Romanoff also received the World Cultural Council Special Recognition Award in 2014 for merit in leading the marine technology research group. In 2012, he received the Award for Achievements in Teaching of the School of Engineering for introducing problem-based learning as a central theme in marine technology studies.

‘The significance of teaching and its development is becoming ever greater as the university adapts to new practices in a changing world. Jani Romanoff has precisely the type of experience, vision and skill a vice dean for education needs,’ says School of Engineering Dean Gary Marquis.