Mario A. Rotea is the director of UTD Wind, a Center created at UT Dallas for the advancement of wind energy science and engineering. He is co-founder and site director of WindSTAR, an NSF Industry University Cooperative Research Center aimed at bringing together academia and industry to advance wind energy through industry-relevant research. He is a professor of mechanical engineering at UT Dallas and an affiliate professor of electrical and computer engineering. His current research interests are in condition monitoring, optimization, and control of wind energy systems. He is a Fellow of the IEEE for contributions to robust and optimal control of multivariable systems. He joined UT Dallas in 2009 to serve as professor and inaugural head of the mechanical engineering department. He spent 17 years at Purdue University as a professor of aeronautics and astronautics, developing and teaching methods for the analysis and design of control systems. He also worked for the United Technologies Research Center as a senior research engineer on advanced control systems for helicopters, gas turbines, and machine tools. He was the head of the mechanical and industrial engineering department at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he expanded the department in wind energy. His career includes terms as director of the Control Systems Program and division director of Engineering Education and Centers at the NSF.