| Dereje Agonafer | |
| Native Name: | Amharic: ደረጀ አጎናፍር|italic=no |
| Birthname: | Dereje Agonafer |
| Birth Place: | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia |
| Occupation: | Professor of mechanical engineering at University of Texas at Arlington |
| Nationality: | Ethiopian-American |
Dereje Agonafer (Geez: ደረጀ አጎናፍር) is an Ethiopian-American engineer and educator, who is currently a professor of mechanical engineering at University of Texas at Arlington, and member of National Academy of Engineering.[1] He is also a fellow of National Academy of Inventors since 2018.[2]
Prof. Agonafer received his B.S. in Aerospace Engineering from University of Colorado Boulder in 1972. After obtaining his PhD from Howard University in (1984), he joined IBM.[3] He served at IBM for 15 years before joining University of Texas at Arlington as tenured Professor. Prof. Agonafer's research focuses on Electronic packaging, heat transfer, thermal engineering.[4]
In 2019, Agonafer was elected to the prestigious National Academy of Engineering for "contributions to computer-aided electro/thermo/mechanical design and modeling of electronic equipment".[5] He also is a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors,[6] the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers[7] and lifetime member of National Society of Black Engineers.[8]