Justin Solomon appointed deputy director of engineering education | MIT News

Justin Solomon, an associate professor in MIT’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS), has been named dean of engineering education at the MIT School of Engineering, effective July 1.

In this new role, Solomon will focus on developing innovations in engineering education across the school. He will help shape new ways of teaching in the context of an AI-enabled world and will explore knowledge, orientation, and alternative learning methods. Working closely with academic departments, Solomon will serve as a thought partner in integrating AI into the curriculum and will help advance interdisciplinary teaching opportunities and sharing across departments and other schools. He will also play a key role in helping the school implement relevant recommendations from the Committee on the Use of AI in Teaching, Learning, and Research Training.

Solomon will explore opportunities to build industry partnerships, including new apprenticeship models and industry-engaged learning on campus. Working with department heads and the School of Engineering leadership team, he will also support faculty in designing new courses and developing existing programs to meet emerging opportunities in engineering.

“Justin’s interdisciplinary approach will be especially valuable as we continue to evolve engineering education to meet new opportunities and challenges. His extensive experience in using AI in many different domains will help each academic department carefully integrate AI and new educational models into their academic programs,” said Paula T. Hammond, dean of the School of Engineering and Institute Professor. “I look forward to the vision and vision he will bring to the school’s leadership team.”

A dedicated educator, Solomon played a key role in shaping computer science education at MIT. He is a major contributor to Common Ground for Computing, where he co-teaches the class 6.C01 (Machine Learning Modeling: From Algorithms to Applications) with Regina Barzilay, Delta Electronics Professor in MIT’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and an adjunct faculty member in the Center for Medical Engineering and Science. Within EECS, he teaches 6.7350 (Numerical Algorithms for Computing and Machine Learning) and 6.8410 (Shape Analysis). He is also the founder of the Summer Geometry Initiative, a six-week program that introduces students to the study of geometry through intensive training, collaboration, and research experience.

Solomon’s dedication to teaching and helping students has been recognized with various awards, including the EECS Outstanding Educator Award and the Burgess (1952) and Elizabeth Jamieson Awards for Achievement in Teaching. He is the author of “Numerical Algorithms,” a book that presents a modern approach to numerical analysis for computer science students.

Solomon is a principal investigator at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL), where he leads the Geometric Data Processing Group. His research sits at the intersection of geometry and calculus, with applications including computer graphics, automatic navigation, political redistricting, physical simulation, 3D modeling, and medical imaging. He is also a founding member of the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab, which contributes to research that advances the fundamentals and applications of artificial intelligence.

His academic contributions have been recognized with numerous distinctions, including the 2023 Harold E. Edgerton Faculty Achievement Award for exceptional contributions to teaching, research, and service. In 2025, he was named a Schmidt Polymath, supporting interdisciplinary research in all areas such as acoustics and climate that rely on large-scale simulation of physical systems.

Solomon joined the MIT faculty in 2016. He previously held an NSF Mathematical Sciences Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at Princeton University’s program in Applied and Computational Mathematics. He received his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate degrees from Stanford University. While studying at Stanford, he also worked as a research assistant at Pixar Animation Studios.