School of Engineering
 Dr. Ralph Ford
 Director and Professor, School of Engineering
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Dr. Ralph Ford

    Penn State Behrend
    School of Engineering
    5101 Jordan Road
    Erie, PA  16563-1701

    Office:  REDC 242C
    Phone:  (814) 898-6153
    Fax:(814) 898-6125
    Email: Ralph-Ford@psu.edu

Ralph M. Ford
Biography

Dr. Ralph M. Ford is the director of the School of Engineering at Penn State Behrend. He obtained his B.S. degree from Clarkson University and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Arizona, all in electrical engineering. He was a senior associate engineer at IBM Microlectronics Division in East Fishkill, NY from 1989-1991 where he worked on the development of machine vision systems for the inspection of semiconductor packaging. 

He joined the faculty at Penn State Behrend in 1994 and then served as chair of the electrical and computer engineering program for eight years.  During this period, the program expanded in terms of academic offerings and student enrollment, and added two new degree programs in computer and software engineering.  He was a Fulbright Scholar to the Czech Republic in 2005, where he taught and conducted research at Brno University of Technology. In 2005 he co-authored the book, Design for Electrical and Computer Engineers: Theory, Concepts, and Practice (by Ford and Coulston, McGraw-Hill).  He was selected as director of the Penn State Behrend School of Engineering in 2005.  Dr. Ford's research and teaching interests are in digital signal processing, digital image processing, microelectronics, and engineering design.

Career Highlights

  • Director and Professor, School of Engineering, 2005- .
  • Fulbright Scholar at Brno University of Technology, Czech Republic, 2005.
  • Chair, Electrical and Computer Engineering, 1996-2004
  • Associate Professor, Penn State Behrend, 2000-2005.
  • Assistant Professor, Penn State Behrend, 1994-2000.
  • Graduate Research Associate, University of Arizona, 1991-1994.
  • Associate/Senior Associate Engineer, IBM Microelectronics Division, East Fishkill, NY, 1990-1991.
  • Summer Research Assistant, Brookhaven National Lab, 1986.
  • Software Engineering Intern, IBM Data Systems Division, Poughkeepsie, NY, 1985.
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