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ENGE Doctoral Students Venters and Winters named 2009 Graduate Teaching Fellows

May 5 , 2009 - The College of Engineering has selected Engineering Education PhD students Chris Venters and Katherine Winters with four students from other COE departments to receive the

distinguished Graduate Teaching Fellowship.

"We're thrilled with the ways that the GTF program complements the teaching and research missions of the Department of Engineering Education and allows us to share our experties with the rest of the College of Engineering, " commented Engineering Education Graduate Program Director Maura Borrego.

Chris Venters is a first-year doctoral candidate in engineering education, receiving his Master's degree from North Carolina State University in Aerospace Engineering. Upon completion of his degree, he plans to pursue research in the effective design of teaching methods as a member of university engineering faculty.

Also a first-year Engineering Education doctoral student, Katherine Winters is a graduate of Brigham Young University with her Master's degree in Civil Engineering. Katherine's interests are centered upon curriculum development in undergraduate programs. After receiving her PhD, she plans to join a university as a faculty member specializing in undergraduate courses in transportation engineering.

College of Engineering Graduate Teaching Fellows are selected based upon their potential for success as a classroom educator and future academician. As a Graduate Teaching Fellow, students receive a stipend, full tuition, a laptop, and $2,000 in travel support to attend a professional research conference or ASEE.

Ricky Castles, PhD co-advisee of Dr. Lohani,  Wins Third Prize in Poster Contest at National Academy of Engineering’s Summit on the Engineering Grand Challenges

March 30 , 2009 - Ricky Castles, a Ph.D. Candidate in the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, presented a poster that took third prize in the area of Learning/ Computation at the National Academy of Engineering’s (NAE) Summit on the Grand Challenges

in Engineering.  The summit, held March 2-3, 2009 in Durham, North Carolina brought together engineering faculty, students, and industry professionals from around the country in an attempt to address the 14 Grand Challenges of Engineering (www.nae.edu). 

Ricky’s research is interdisciplinary in nature drawing from theories in both engineering and education to formulate a computational approach to modeling learning.  His work includes fundamental concepts from feedback control theory to assess the outcome of the classroom instruction process. The extensible markup language (XML) is used to represent directed graphs showcasing how engineering concepts fit together.  His research will lead to graphical depiction of individual student’s knowledge in order to objectively evaluate the effectiveness of instruction at the conceptual level. 

This work has a wide set of potential applications including objective outcomes-based faculty evaluation, automated accreditation, effectiveness of industrial training, and intelligent tutoring systems.  This research is supported by a grant under the Department-level Reform (DLR) program of the National Science Foundation. Ricky is co-advised by Dr. Vinod K Lohani of the Department of Engineering Education and Dr. Pushkin Kachroo, formerly of the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering who is now on the faculty at UNLV.  Ricky has taken a lead role in developing and implementing a number of hands-on activities including mechatronics, LabVIEW, early design experiences, etc. in a freshman year engineering course Engineering Exploration (EngE1024) since fall 2006.

The Grand Challenges were first made public in February 2008 after a panel convened to determine visionary goals for how engineers, scientists, and policy makers can bring their expertise together in order to solve grand scale problems.  The challenges include making solar energy economical, providing energy from fusion, developing carbon sequestration methods, managing the nitrogen cycle, providing access to clean water, restoring and improving urban infrastructure, advancing health informatics, engineering better medicines, reverse-engineering the brain, preventing nuclear terror, securing cyberspace, enhancing virtual reality, advancing personalized learning, and engineering the tools of scientific discovery.

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Engineering Education Doctoral Candidate David Richter to Present at International Research in Engineering Education Symposium

March 19 , 2009 - The International Research In Engineering Education Symposium (REES) has announced that Engineering Education doctoral student David Richter has been selected to

present the paper "A Cognitive Framework for Understanding the Role of Students' Expectations and Motivations in Interdisciplinary Design Collaboration" (co-authored with Marie C. Paretti) at their conference July 20-23, 2009, in Queensland, Australia.

"Dave will be presenting work from his dissertation research, which explores the cognitive barriers students face when they attempt to collaborate on design projects across disciplinary boundaries. Drawing on his Master's thesis, Richter has developed a theory of disciplinary egocentrism, adapted from educational theory, to help faculty explore the kinds of barriers that limit student learning," commented advisor and co-author Dr. Marie Paretti.

REES is an annual conference which provides 100 scholars the opportunity meet in a casual setting to have contemplative discussions on current and future research in engineering education. It also provides the opportunity for scholars to present their latest research findings and increase networking opportunities with other leading scholars across the globe.

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Griffin Receives Alumni Award for Excellence in Teaching

January 16, 2008 - Professor and Engineering Education Department Head O. Hayden Griffin was

recently honored with the university's 2008 Alumni Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Having been instrumental in the creation of the Department of Engineering Education's doctoral program and courses, Dr. Griffin also continues to challenge freshmen engineering students by encouraging innovation and interdisciplinarity in and outside of the classroom.

The university's Alumni Award for Excellence in Teaching was created in 1982 by the Virginia Tech Alumni Associate and awarded annually to two faculty members recognizing their teaching excellence. In addition to being inducted into the Academy of Teaching Excellence, each awardee receives a $2000 cash prize.

More information on Dr. Griffin's recognition is available at VT News.

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Borrego named recipient of National Science Foundation Presidential Award

January 5, 2009 - Assistant Professor Maura Borrego has been recognized by the White House as a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) for her efforts in the area of improving interdisciplinary research for faculty and graduate students.

Borrego joins an elite group of PECASE honorees as it is the highest recognition given by the U.S. Government to scientists and engineers beginning their careers.

"We hope to develop strategies to help faculty cultivate interdisciplinary skills among their graduate students, as well as assessment tools so faculty will know if the strategies are working," noted Borrego.

Dr. Borrego is the first engineer in the field of engineering education research to obtain this distinction and was nominated for this honor by the National Science Foundation as a result of receiving the NSF CAREER Award which is given to leading junior faculty across the nation.

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