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Professor Katrina Groth has been named director of the Center for Risk and Reliability (CRR), a major research hub based at the University of Maryland (UMD) and home to UMD’s Reliability Engineering program. Formerly associate director of the center, she succeeds Nicole J. Kim Eminent Professor Mohammad Modarres, who stepped down as director in Fall 2025.
Modarres will remain actively involved in CRR and will continue to guide and teach reliability engineering students.
“As we look to the future, I believe it is time for a new generation of experts to take the helm, bringing fresh ideas, dynamic leadership, and renewed enthusiasm to the center,” he said. “I have full confidence in Professor Groth’s ability to guide CRR into its next chapter of excellence.”
Groth, an internationally-recognized expert in safety, risk, and reliability analysis of energy systems, joined the UMD faculty in 2017 and has served as CRR’s associate director since 2018. In her role at the center, she has forged new partnerships with industry and government, including a major research partnership aimed at supporting reliable infrastructure for hydrogen vehicles, and expanded UMD’s footprint in nuclear engineering risk analysis. She also led a complete renovation of the CRR research space to create a collaborative atmosphere and foster interdisciplinary research for the CRR faculty and students.
In 2025, she received the University System of Maryland (USM) Regents' Faculty Award for Excellence in Scholarship or Research, the highest honor that USM bestows to recognize exemplary faculty achievement.
A former Principal R&D Engineer at Sandia National Laboratories, Groth gained experience and perspective that she brings into her research and teaching.
“It’s an exciting time for CRR as the nation accelerates progress in energy, transportation, defense systems, and infrastructure—domains where high reliability is essential, and solutions demand both deep technical expertise and multidisciplinary collaboration,” said Groth. “As Director, I am committed to ensuring that CRR continues to set the national standard in research and education needed to address our most consequential risk and reliability challenges.”
Since its inception in 1985, CRR has grown into a premier international institution in risk analysis and reliability engineering research and education. Its past and present faculty and over 500 alumni include leading experts in the field. CRR graduates and postdoctoral researchers now hold leadership positions across academia, industry, and government, making lasting contributions to and shaping the future of this discipline.
CRR’s work continues to have a far-reaching impact in areas such as nuclear energy safety, probabilistic risk assessment, hydrogen system safety, product durability and sustainability, and the probabilistic physics of failure, among other areas.
January 15, 2026
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