Cynthia Atman
Cynthia J. Atman is the founding director of the Center for Engineering Learning and Teaching (CELT), a professor in Human Centered Design & Engineering, and the inaugural holder of the Mitchell T. & Lella Blanche Bowie Endowed Chair at the University of Washington. Dr. Atman is co-director of the Consortium to Promote Reflection in Engineering Education (CPREE), funded by the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust. She was director of the NSF-funded Center for the Advancement of Engineering Education (CAEE), a national research center that was funded from 2003-2010. Her research focuses on engineering design learning, considering context in engineering design, and the use of reflection to support learning. She is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the ASEE. Dr. Atman holds a Ph.D. in Engineering and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University. Website.
Mary Besterfield-Sacre
Mary Besterfield-Sacre is the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Nickolas A. DeCecco Professor in Industrial Engineering. She also serves as founding Director for the Engineering Education Research Center (EERC). Mary has a B.S. is in Engineering Management from the University of Missouri – Rolla, a M.S. in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University, and a PhD in Industrial Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh. Mary was on faculty at the University of Texas – El Paso; and returned to Pitt in 1999. Her principal research is in engineering education assessment, which has been funded by the NSF, Department of Ed, Sloan, EIF, and VentureWell. Mary has sponsored 4 postdocs, produced 10 PhDs, and sponsored 32 graduate students and 60 undergraduate students on research. As a top researcher in engineering education, Mary has won numerous national awards for her research, and is a Fellow in the ASEE. In 2011 Mary established the Engineering Education Research Center (EERC), where she also founded Pitt-CIRTL, a member of the Center for the Integration of Research, Teaching and Learning (CIRTL), a national consortium of R1 schools aimed at preparing the next generation faculty member in STEM.
Alan Cheville
Alan Cheville received degrees in electrical engineering at Rice University, specializing in ultrafast optical spectroscopy. After postdoctoral work in ultrafast optoelectronics, he joined the faculty of Oklahoma State University in 1998. He continued his work on high speed THz optoelectronics—supported by funding from the Department of Energy, the Army Research Office, and the National Science Foundation including a CAREER award—in areas such as THz time domain spectroscopy of molecular vapors and flames, pulsed ranging, and optical tunneling. During his time at Oklahoma State University he slowly transitioned his research interests from optoelectronics to engineering education, with an initial focus on effectively integrating research-based pedagogies into engineering curricula in the areas of photonics and electromagnetics. He led a five year, $1.2M NSF-sponsored department-level reform project at OSU that sought to integrate relevant design experiences and mathematical competencies across the curriculum. Following the conclusion of this project, he served for two and a half years as the program director for engineering education in the National Science Foundation’s Engineering Directorate. During this time he developed several funding programs, served as NSF liaison to a Federal working group on games, as well as on several internal working groups. He was recognized by the Director’s Award for Program Management Excellence. He currently serves as chair of the Electrical & Computer Engineering at Bucknell University and is interested in engineering design education, engineering education policy, and the epistemology of engineering. Website.
Aditya Johri
Aditya Johri is a Professor in the Department of Information Sciences and Technology. He studies the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) for learning and knowledge sharing, with a focus on cognition in informal environments. Dr. Johri also examine the role of ICT in supporting distributed work among globally dispersed workers and in furthering social development in emerging economies. He received the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Early Career Award in 2009. He is co-editor of the Cambridge Handbook of Engineering Education Research (CHEER) published by Cambridge University Press, New York, NY. Dr. Johri earned his Ph.D. in Learning Sciences and Technology Design at Stanford University, M.S. in Information, Design, and Technology at Georgia Tech, M.A. in Mass Communication at University of Georgia, and a B.Eng. in Mechanical Engineering at Delhi College of Engineering. Website.
Michael Loui
Michael C. Loui is the Dale and Suzi Gallagher Professor of Engineering Education at Purdue University. He was previously Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and University Distinguished Teacher-Scholar at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His interests include computational complexity theory, professional ethics, and engineering education research. He served as the editor of the Journal of Engineering Education from 2012 to 2017. He is currently on the editorial boards of College Teaching and Accountability in Research. He is a Carnegie Scholar, an IEEE Fellow, and an ASEE Fellow. Professor Loui was Associate Dean of the Graduate College at Illinois from 1996 to 2000. He directed the theory of computing program at the National Science Foundation from 1990 to 1991. He earned the Ph.D. at M.I.T. in 1980. Website.
Karl Smith
Karl A. Smith, Purdue University and University of Minnesota
Cooperative Learning Professor, School of Engineering Education, College of Engineering, Purdue University and Emeritus Professor of Civil, Environmental and Geo- Engineering, Morse-Alumni Distinguished University Teaching Professor, University of Minnesota. Research and development interests include building research and innovation capabilities in engineering education; faculty and graduate student professional development; the role of cooperation in learning and design; problem formulation, modeling, and knowledge engineering; and project and knowledge management. PI on the NSF Innovation Corps for Learning (I-Corps™ L) grants. Author of eight books, including Teamwork and Project Management, 4e (2014). Website.