Dutta Named Director of Johns Hopkins’ Doctor of Engineering Program

Johns Hopkins University (JHU) recently named Ashutosh Dutta, chief 5G strategist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) in Laurel, Maryland, and an IEEE fellow, director of the Whiting School’s Doctor of Engineering program.

Established in 2018, the Doctor of Engineering program provides professional engineers with advanced technical expertise and research experience by emphasizing creative problem-solving and the innovative application of technical knowledge. Specifically targeted to working professionals, the program is centered around a research collaboration between a student’s employer and the Whiting School. The program is available for both domestic and international students, with no residential requirement.

“I am honored to be named director of the Doctor of Engineering program,” said Dutta, who assumed his new role on Dec. 1. “I am excited to take on this new challenge, and look forward to collaborating with the university, APL, government and industry partners to continue creating a learning environment that accommodates the unique needs of working professionals seeking to enhance their engineering expertise.”

Dutta will focus on growing the program by increasing the number of APL staff members and JHU faculty serving as program advisers, establishing new partnerships with industry and government to increase corporate engagement and research collaboration, and boosting annual enrollment by enhancing the resources available to prospective applicants.

“This appointment further cements the valuable partnership between APL and the Whiting School,” said Harry Charles, head of APL’s Education Center. “Through this collaboration, students have the unique opportunity to gain both theoretical and practical expertise from university faculty and APL researchers.”

Until recently, Dutta served as program chair for Electrical and Computer Engineering in JHU’s Engineering for Professionals program, where he managed part-time faculty and approximately 1,000 students while leading curriculum development. Under his leadership, the program was ranked fourth among top online electrical engineering graduate programs by U.S. News and World Report. Dutta also continues to serve as an associate research professor in the university’s Institute for Assured Autonomy and sabbatical fellow in JHU’s Computer Science Department.