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Ryan Lefers

South à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã Water Resource Institute 

Ryan Lefers has returned to his alma mater after a 20-year career that has taken him to from Minnesota to Saudi Arabia and Arizona.

The Corsica native earned his bachelor’s degree in ag engineering from South à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã State University in 2004 and followed that with a master’s degree in engineering in 2006. On Aug. 1, he began as the Griffith Endowed Chair of the South à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã Water Resource Institute while also holding positions in the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering and the State Extension system.

In between, he worked in Maple Plain, Minnesota; Thuwai, Saudi Arabia; and Tucson, Arizona.

He was in the Ph.D. program at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology from January 2013 to December 2017, earning a doctorate in environmental science and engineering. He stayed on as a postdoctoral researcher (January 2018 to March 2019) and a research scientist (April 2019 to March 2022) working in the Center for Desert Agriculture and the Water Desalination and Reuse Center. 

In 2022, Lefers relocated to Tucson, Arizona, as the chief executive officer of iyris to support the company’s global expansion. In Tucson, Lefers was based at the University of Arizona Tech Park at Biosphere 2.

Lefers shares his love of South à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã with his wife, Melissa, and their four children. 

Ruyi Lian

Computer Science

Ruyi Lian began work at SDSU Aug. 22 after completing her doctorate at Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, New York, this summer.

At Stony Brook, Lian also spent 10 months as a teaching assistant and from May 2020 until June was a research assistant. A native of China, Lian received her bachelor’s degree in applied mathematics in 2019 from the University of Science and Technology of China.

In addition to teaching at SDSU, she is performing research in the area of computer vision and artificial intelligence. Lian currently is recruiting Ph.D. students to join her research group to work on 3D computer vision tasks and interdisciplinary topics. 

Outside of school, Lian enjoys painting and plans to adopt a cat.

Trang Nguyen 

Trang Nguyen

Mathematics and Statistic

Trang Nguyen began work at SDSU Aug. 22 after completing her doctorate in applied mathematics at Wayne State University in Detroit earlier this year.

The assistant professor is teaching graduate courses and conducting research on the use of artificial intelligence to achieve optimization and optimal control for solutions related to mathematical biology, engineering and data science.

A native of Vietnam, Nguyen earned her bachelor’s degree in mathematics and education from Quy Nhon University in Vietnam in 2018. Following that she spent a year in an online collaboration master program in mathematics through Limoges University, France. In 2018–2019 she participated in the International Master Program in Mathematics at Sorbonne Paris Nord University, France. 

When not delving into mathematics, Nguyen enjoys watching horror movies, cooking, singing, walking, shopping and playing Nintendo Switch games.

Shashikala Nuchhi

Engineering Safety and Health Services

Shashikala Nuchhi began working at Engineering Safety and Health Services from April 23 as a safety consultant following a move to the United States from India last year after her marriage with Ravi Mural, who is an assistant professor in the Department of Agronomy, Horticulture and Plant Science.

Prior to joining SDSU, Nuchhi was assistant manager for safety, health and environment for Unilever Industries Private Limited in Bangalore, India. She has a total of 10 years of professional experience in environment, health and safety management.

Nuchhi’s education also was in this field.

She earned bachelor’s degree in biotechnology engineering from Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belgaum, Karnataka, India, and Master of Technology degree in industrial pollution control from the National Institute of Technology in Surathkal, Karnataka, India.

Outside of work, she enjoys gardening and reading.