Catherine G.P. Berdanier, PhD
Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Pennsylvania State University
Catherine G.P. Berdanier is an Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Pennsylvania State University and is the Director of the World Campus (online) Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering Program at Penn State. She directs the Engineering Cognitive Research Laboratory (ECRL) at Penn State in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, where her research interests include graduate-and postdoctoral-level engineering education; attrition and persistence mechanisms, metrics, policy, and amelioration; engineering writing and communication; cross-contextual design research; and methodological development for nontraditional data. Her work is funded through several NSF grants in the EEC and CMMI directorates, including RFE, IUSE, S-STEM, and CAREER. Her NSF CAREER award studies master’s-level departure from the engineering doctorate as a mechanism of attrition. Her work has been published across multiple venues in the engineering education and mechanical engineering research literature, including Journal of Engineering Education, International Journal of Engineering Education, and Journal of Mechanical Design. She is also an Assistant Editor for Journal of Engineering Education. Catherine earned her B.S. in Chemistry from The University of South Dakota, her M.S. in Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering from Purdue University, and Ph.D. in Engineering Education from Purdue University.
Carmen Cioc
Associate Profession In Mechaical Engineering
The University of Toledo
Carmen Cioc is an Associate Professor in Mechanical Engineering Technology (MET) at The University of Toledo. She earned her first M.S. degree in Aerospace Engineering from Politehnica University of Bucharest, and her second M.S. in Physics, Professional in Photovoltaics, as well as her Ph.D. in Engineering from The University of Toledo. Carmen is the program director for the General M.S. and the Energy M.S. in Engineering online programs offered by the College of Engineering. Her research in the area of engineering education includes active learning, peer assisted learning, entrepreneurial mindset learning, inclusiveness, and online education. Carmen is a 2021 Engineering Unleashed Fellow and an Engineering Unleashed Ambassador. Her work is published in the International Journal of Mechanical Engineering Education, Journal of Engineering Technology, Journal of STEM Teacher Education, as well as other journals and conference proceedings. Carmen is an active member of the ASEE for which she is a campus rep, member in ETD – MET Heads Board, and a Director in the ASEE North Central Section Board.
Heather Dillion
Professor and Chair of Mechanical Engineering
University of Washington Tacoma
Dr. Heather Dillon is Professor and Chair of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Washington Tacoma, where her research team is working on renewable energy systems, solid-state lighting, energy efficiency in buildings, fundamental heat transfer studies, and engineering education. She holds a joint appointment with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory working on both energy efficiency and renewable energy systems. She recently served as the Chair of the Council on Undergraduate Research Engineering Division and the Fulbright Canada Research Chair in STEM Education at the University of Calgary, Alberta. Before joining academia, Heather Dillon worked for the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) as a senior research engineer, where she received the US Department of Energy Office of Science Outstanding Mentor Award.
Todd Fernandez
Lecturer, Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University
Dr. Todd Fernandez is a Lecturer in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory university. He holds a Ph.D. in Engineering Education from Purdue University as well as a B.S. and an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the Rochester Institute of Technology. His current research focuses on student and faculty’s beliefs about teaching and learning and the implications of those beliefs on curricular culture in engineering departments. He teaches courses focused on introductory biomedical engineering design and biomedical engineering statistics where he employs innovative, evidence-based, educational practices to improve student learning. He has been published in and reviewed for numerous journals in engineering education, higher education, and scholarship of teaching and learning – including the Journal of Engineering Education, the International Journal of Engineering Education, Biomedical Engineering Education, To Improve the Academy, and others. In 2021, Todd was the recipient of Georgia Tech’s Undergraduate Educator of the Year award and he is the BME department’s nominee for the 2023 Georgia Tech Scholarship of Teaching and Learning award.
Karen High, PhD
Professor, Department of Engineering & Science Education
Clemson University
Dr. Karen High holds an academic appointment in the Engineering Science and Education Department (ESED) at Clemson University. Prior to this Dr. Karen was at Oklahoma State University where she was a professor for 24 years in Chemical Engineering. She received her B.S. in chemical engineering from University of Michigan in 1985 and her M.S. in 1988 and Ph.D. in 1991 in chemical engineering both from Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Karen’s educational research emphasis includes faculty development and mentoring, graduate student development, critical thinking and communication skills, enhancing mathematical student success in Calculus (including Impact of COVID-19), and promoting women in STEM. Her technical research focuses on sustainable chemical process design, computer aided design, and multicriteria decision making. She also has extensive experience in K-12 STEM education and program evaluation and assessment. She has held a variety of administrative positions: 1) Director of STEM Faculty Development Initiatives-Clemson, 2) Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies in the College of Engineering, Computing and Applied Sciences-Clemson, 3) Interim Director of Student Services-Oklahoma State University, 4) Coordinator of the Women in Engineering Program-Oklahoma State University, and 5) Director of the Oklahoma State University Measurement and Control Engineering Center-Oklahoma State University.
Heather Kirkvold, PhD
Associate Professor, Engineering
James Madison University
Dr. Heather Kirkvold, P.E. is an Associate Professor of Engineering at James Madison University inHarrisonburg, VA, where her research team works on infrastructure durability, concrete materialsdurability, and the synergy of student learning through making.Before joining academia, Heatherworked for the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) as their concrete research engineer, andalso for The Schemmer Associates, Inc. as a structural building designer. Heatheris a licensedprofessional engineer in the State of Kansas. She has served on various committees for theTransportation Research Board and the American Concrete Institute (ACI). She isa 2022 EngineeringUnleashed Fellow anda member of the Civil Engineering Industry Advisory Board for her alma mater,the University of Nebraska.
Brock LaMeres
Professor, Electrical & Computer Engineering
Montana State University
Brock LaMeres is a Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering at Montana State University (MSU) where he has been on faculty since 2006. His teaching and research interests are in computer engineering and engineering education. He serves as the Director of the Montana Engineering Education Research Center (MEERC). The MEERC has over 30 faculty affiliates that collectively conduct research in all aspects of engineering formation from elementary to graduate school. Under LaMeres’ direction, MEERC affiliates have won 17 external grants totally nearly $9M in the past 6 years. LaMeres’ own research has brought in over $12M of external funding to support his education research along with this technical interest of building computers for NASA. LaMeres has published over 100 manuscripts and 5 textbooks on computer engineering and engineering education and has been granted 13 US patents. https://www.montana.edu/blameres/
Micah Lande
Assistant Professor and E.R. Stensaas Chair, Engineering Education in the Department of Mechanical Engineering
South Dakota School of Mines & Technology
Micah Lande, PhD is an Assistant Professor and E.R. Stensaas Chair for Engineering Education in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology. Dr. Lande directs the Holistic Engineering Lab & Observatory. He teaches human-centered engineering design, design thinking, and design innovation courses. Dr. Lande researches how technical and non-technical people learn and apply design thinking and making processes to their work. He is interested in the intersection of designerly epistemic identities and vocational pathways. Dr. Lande received his B.S. in Engineering (Product Design), M.A. in Education (Learning, Design and Technology) and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering (Design Education) from Stanford University. Professor Lande is the is a past recipient of the Apprentice Faculty Grant from the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Education Research and Methods (ERM) division. He currently serves as the Vice-Chair for Publications in the ERM division. He was previously at Arizona State University at the Polytechnic campus, and the Center for Design Research and d.school at Stanford University. He has also been involved with the Center for the Advancement of Engineering Education (CAEE), as part of the Academic Pathways Study research team, the Academic Pathways of People Learning Engineering survey research team and an Institute Scholar with the Institute for the Scholarship of Engineering Education (ISEE). He does not like wearing socks.
John (Jongho) Park, PhD
Assistant Research Professor
Pennsylvania State University
Dr. John (Jongho) Park, is an assistant research professor at Penn State University and also currently serving as a consultant and visiting fellow for the United Nations University. He has educational psychology and engineering background and currently conducting several humanitarian engineering and sustainable development projects in Africa and Asia. Dr. Park’s scholarship is characterized by several interrelated areas of inquiry: engineering leadership development for sustainable development, environmental risk analysis and mitigation, global civic education, and humanitarian engineering.
Nicole Pitterson, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Engineering Education
Virginia Tech
Dr. Nicole Pitterson is an assistant professor in the Department of Engineering Education at Virginia Tech. Prior to joining Virginia Tech, she worked as a postdoctoral scholar at Oregon State University. Dr. Pitterson holds a PhD in Engineering Education from Purdue University, a Master of Science in Manufacturing Engineering from Western Illinois University and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Technology, Jamaica. Her research interests include difficult concepts in engineering, increasing students’ conceptual understanding of complex concepts, curriculum design and promoting collaboration through using active learning strategies as well as exploring students’ disciplinary identities through engagement with knowledge. Dr. Pitterson aims to guide students in developing critical understanding of core engineering concepts that goes beyond rote memorization so that they can adapt to the changing demands of a global workforce.