Nominations for Two Thousand Nineteen ASEE Board Elections
Presented on the following pages are candidates for offices to be voted on in the 2019 ASEE elections. These candidates were selected by the 2018 Nominating Committee, chaired by Past President Louis Martin-Vega. The nominations were received by the executive director as required by the ASEE constitution. The Nominating Committee believes that the candidates offered here are eminently qualified and deserve the close consideration of members. Additional nominations of eligible candidates may be made by petition of at least 200 individual members. Nominees so proposed must indicate a willingness to serve before their names are placed on the ballot. Write-in votes will be accepted for all offices. In all cases, a simple plurality constitutes election. The official ballot, which will be furnished to each individual member by March 1, must be returned by March 31, 2019.
Candidates for the Office of President-Elect
Sheryl Sorby
Professor of Engineering Education
University of Cincinnati
Sheryl Sorby, a professor of engineering education at the University of Cincinnati, was a Fulbright Scholar conducting engineering education research at the Dublin Institute of Technology and a long-time faculty member at Michigan Tech, where she was a professor of mechanical engineering-engineering mechanics, associate dean of engineering for academic programs, and chair of the Engineering Fundamentals Department. She was responsible for the development and delivery of the First Year Engineering Program and has been the principal investigator or co-PI on more than $14 million in grant funding, mostly for educational projects. For nearly three years, she served as a program director in the National Science Foundation’s Division of Undergraduate Education. Sorby earned a B.S. in civil engineering, an M.S. in engineering mechanics, and a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering-engineering mechanics, all from Michigan Tech.
The author of seven textbooks and more than 150 papers, Sorby has a well-established research program in spatial visualization and is actively involved in the development of various other educational programs. She received her first grant in 1993 to develop a course for helping engineering students develop their 3-D spatial skills and has received numerous follow-up grants from NSF to further this work. She received the Betty Vetter award for Research on Women in Engineering through the Women in Engineering Pro-Active Network (WEPAN) for her work in improving the 3-D spatial skills of engineering students.
Sorby has been a member of ASEE since 1991 and has served the Society in various capacities. She was chair of the Engineering Design Graphics Division and has served as program chair for EDGD for several conferences. She was director of programs for EDGD from 2010 to 2013 and conference chair for its 2010 and 2018 midyear meetings. She is one of the inaugural associate editors of Advances in Engineering Education, ASEE’s online journal. She has served on the ASEE Board of Directors for several years, first as Professional Interest Council III Chair and Vice President of PICs and currently as the Vice President for External Relations. In 2017-18, she was cochair of ASEE’s Data Task Force that examined the Profiles database to ensure its long-term viability and robustness.
In 2009 she was inducted as a Fellow of ASEE, and in 2011 she received the Society’s Sharon Keillor award as an outstanding female engineering educator.
Candidate’s Statement
Wow! Nominated for President-Elect of ASEE. I’m truly honored and humbled to be in this position and a little incredulous at the same time. I attended my first ASEE Annual Conference in 1992, in beautiful downtown Toledo, Ohio. Coming from Michigan, I decided to drive to the Conference—this was long before the days of GPS. Armed with my maps of Michigan and Ohio, I found the convention center but couldn’t figure out how to get “in.” There were one-way streets all around, and I think I circled the building three times looking for the one street that would bring me to the parking deck, which I could see in the distance but couldn’t reach.
I think this is an analogy for my ASEE journey. Initially, I could see the Society that I wanted to be a part of but didn’t know how to find my way “in.” I circled for a while until I finally found my ASEE “home.” Since that time, I have devoted my professional service life to the Society. I have served ASEE in multiple capacities over the years, including as division chair, program chair, PIC chair, and most recently as Vice President, External Relations. My past five years on the Board of Directors has been a learning experience for which I am truly grateful. I have learned much through my long association with ASEE and have made many friends along the way. It really has been an incredible journey, and I’m so glad that I persevered to find my way in.
While my story of how I found my way in to ASEE will be familiar to many others who have similar stories to tell, unfortunately, I don’t think that all of our past or present members could say the same. There are too many times when a newcomer to our Society feels lost and overwhelmed at the Annual Conference and instead of finding their way in they become discouraged and either choose to be inactive or to stop being members all together. This is a situation I would like to see improved—it is imperative for the vitality of the Society to help all who want to find their way in.
Engineering education is about more than technical know-how—it really does take a village to develop an engineering or engineering technology student to their fullest capacity. Those in the liberal arts, the sciences, mathematics, and business, as well as technologists and engineers, all need to be pulling together to develop excellent programs and opportunities for student engagement and development. ASEE is the one Society where this can happen. We need to ensure that all faculty are welcome in our ranks, and we need to assist them in finding their way in. The diversity, broadly defined, of members in ASEE is our greatest strength as an organization, and we should continue to foster an inclusive community of scholars for future generations of engineering and engineering technology students.
All information ever conceived is available instantaneously on the Web. There’s no sitting around wondering what the answer to a question is—just Google it. And we can Google it on our phones, any time, any place. Rote learning can be done at home or on the beach. To survive, we have to provide students with a reason to come to campus and to provide funders with a reason to support transformational educational research that will move us ever forward. ASEE is the professional society that is poised to help faculty as they rethink engineering and engineering technology education to provide experiences that prepare our students for a lifetime of learning and intellectual engagement. I welcome the opportunity to apply what I have learned through conducting educational research as an engineering faculty member, through serving as a program officer in the National Science Foundation, and through my service to ASEE in multiple capacities, to provide leadership to propel the organization ever forward.
When I first came onto the Board of Directors five years ago, ASEE was in financial meltdown and there was talk that we might not survive. This was devastating news for someone like me, who relied on the Society for intellectual growth and professional development for nearly 30 years. As a Board we worked through this crisis, making difficult decisions to ensure the long-term viability of the organization. With the financial crisis averted we are now working on making strategic decisions that will propel ASEE to new heights. I would like to continue to be part of setting a forward-looking direction for the Society for future generations of engineering and engineering technology educators so that others, like me, can find their way “in” and be part of an exciting, vibrant Society that promotes and enhances engineering and engineering technology education for our nation and the world beyond. I look forward to continuing to serve the members of ASEE for the remainder of my academic career, and it would be my honor to be able to do so as President-Elect.
Gregory Washington
Dean, Henry Samueli School of Engineering
University of California–Irvine
Gregory Washington, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering and the Stacey Nicholas Dean of the Henry Samueli School of Engineering at the University of California–Irvine, has been involved in multidomain research for the past 20 years. He is the first African-American engineering dean at any of the University of California campuses. His core research interest lies in the area of dynamic systems, with an emphasis on modeling and control of smart materials systems and devices. He has been involved in the design and control of mechanically actuated antennas; advanced control of machine tools; the design and control of hybrid electric vehicles; and structural position and vibration control with smart materials. He has written more than 150 technical publications in journals, edited volumes, and conference proceedings, and is internationally known for his research on ultra-lightweight, structurally active antenna systems and other structures that involve the use of “smart materials.” Washington has served on several advisory boards, including the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board and the National Science Foundation Directorate for Engineering Advisory Board. He currently serves as chair of ASEE’s Engineering Deans Council, the largest organization of engineering deans in the United States. He received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees from North Carolina State University.
Candidate’s Statement
The challenges facing engineering programs today are unprecedented. These challenges include: 1) significant global competition for diverse students, faculty, and staff; 2) global interdisciplinary grand challenge problems (climate, energy, water, etc.) that have stretched the boundaries of current engineering education; 3) a rapidly changing research landscape, with higher requirements from both industry and government; 4) the fiscal realities of the high cost of delivering the engineering discipline in an uncertain economic climate.
In my last three administrative positions—as Chair and Vice Chair of the ASEE Deans Council and leader of its Public Policy Committee—I have worked to position ASEE to help our members effectively compete and excel in each of the four areas listed above. My progression through these positions has allowed me to develop a sequential and comprehensive strategy for success that has yielded significant results.
I was introduced to ASEE as an assistant professor in the 1990s, when I attended my first Conference in Seattle as part of the ASEE National Effective Teaching Institute. The techniques and methodologies I received at the institute and subsequent Conference left me feeling empowered, energized, and inspired. I left equipped with techniques that involve teaching to various learning styles along with the use of active, collaborative, and experiential learning. These tools empowered and energized me to redesign my courses and workspaces and to lead others on my campus to do the same. I left inspired by the passion and dedication to engineering education that was demonstrated by many of the institute’s instructors and Conference attendees.
From that time to the present, more than 23 years, nothing has been more important to me than the education and aspiration of the next generation of engineering students. I have served on more than 15 national advisory and corporate boards, and my mantra remains the same. The most important thing we can do as educators is to develop the next generation of diverse engineers who are analytically and experimentally sound, culturally aware, and globally connected. My nomination as President-Elect is a tremendous honor and recognition of my service to ASEE and my commitment to the vision and mission of this organization.
While I cannot promise specific outcomes in a one-year appointment, there are a number of areas where I believe I can be impactful to ASEE’s vision and long-term objectives. These include the following:
- We will more than double the engagement with industry and external stakeholders (foundations, nongovernmental and governmental organizations, etc.), expanding workforce opportunities for member organizations and individuals.
- Through an expansion of our undergraduate experience committee to a recognized ASEE Council, we will significantly target, identify, and expand best practices for member organizations to better educate and train engineers.
- We will develop new programs and initiatives that enable our members to continue to diversify the profession and our students.
- We will continue to expand the borders of the engineering discipline by significantly expanding partnerships with a focus on community colleges and international partners.
I mentioned above that our profession is probably facing the greatest challenges since its inception. It is also facing the greatest opportunities in its history as well. Some have said we are in the midst of a fourth industrial revolution, spearheaded by the intersection of technology and information. Engineering, as a profession, is the global leader in this space, and ASEE has the clear mantle of providing thought leadership in this regard. It sits alone as the only global organization that engages and speaks to every engineering discipline on the subject of engineering education.
As President-Elect, I will represent our organization with drive and excellence. I will continue to foster and expand ASEE’s networks and connections both nationally and globally. I will work to expand our efforts in the area of workforce development, student and faculty diversity, and faculty development. I welcome the opportunity to serve as President-Elect of ASEE and look forward to the continuation of my service to this illustrious organization.
Candidate for the Office of Vice President, Finance
Doug Tougaw
Department Chair and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Valparaiso University
Doug Tougaw received a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and a master’s degree and Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame. In 1996, he joined the engineering faculty at Valparaiso University, where he now serves as the department chair of electrical and computer engineering and holds the Richardson Professorship of Engineering. He has received two university-wide teaching awards and was named one of the 150 most influential people in Valparaiso University history in 2009. He earned an M.B.A. degree from Valparaiso University in 2004 and a master of higher education administration degree from North Park University in 2013.
Tougaw’s research interests focus on nanotechnology and engineering pedagogy, and he has published more than 70 refereed publications split almost evenly between those two areas.
An active member of ASEE since 2000, he has served as the Illinois/Indiana Section Chair and has been the Section Annual Conference cochair three times. He received the Outstanding Teaching Award, the Outstanding Service Award, and the Outstanding Campus Representative Award from the Illinois/Indiana Section. He received the Outstanding Paper Award for the Section Conference four times and the Outstanding Zone Paper at the national conference once.
Tougaw completed a four-year sequence of officer positions in the Ethics Division and served as an officer in the Entrepreneurship and Engineering Innovation Division for three years. He also chaired two national ad hoc ASEE committees; the first revised the Board of Directors Statement on Engineering Ethics Education, and the second wrote the first-ever ASEE Code of Ethics.
He served on the ASEE Board of Directors as Zone II chair from 2010 to 2012. During that time, he also participated in the Membership Policy Committee, the Long-Range Planning Committee, and the Nominating Committee. In 2011, Tougaw was appointed as one of three inaugural members of the Risk Management Committee. He served on that committee for three years, the last of them as committee chair.
From 2015 to 2017, Tougaw served as one of two at-large members of the ASEE Finance Committee. He also served on the Awards Policy Committee and on an ad hoc committee to review the finances associated with annual awards given by ASEE. Since June 2017, he has served as ASEE Vice President, Finance. During that time, he has worked closely with ASEE headquarters and the Board of Directors to strengthen the financial sustainability of the organization.
Candidate’s Statement
This is both an exciting and a challenging time to be a member of our profession. New technologies are constantly being developed that promise to dramatically improve the education we can offer to our students. Yet, engineering programs are not immune to the increasing financial stresses being faced by the field of higher education, and neither is ASEE. Our profession and our professional society are both in the midst of a time of transition, and both require thoughtful and forward-looking leadership to successfully navigate the challenges that face us.
I have been actively involved in ASEE throughout my career, assuming many leadership positions of increasing responsibility and service to the organization’s members. I believe that these experiences have helped prepare me well for my current position as Vice President, Finance. In that role, I have worked closely with the ASEE Board of Directors, the executive director, and the chief financial officer to help return ASEE to a strong financial footing. I’m pleased to report that the organization is in better financial condition than it was two years ago.
As Vice President of Finance, my primary goal will continue to be to help ASEE provide the highest possible level of sustainable service to our members. Every organization must strive to meet the needs of current members while also operating sustainably so as to ensure ongoing service to future generations. My objective as Vice President, Finance will be to continue to listen carefully, work collaboratively, and communicate openly so that this balance is maintained.
I will also continue to work closely with the professional staff in the ASEE finance office to ensure that timely and accurate budget information is provided to sections, zones, and divisions. This information is critical for these units to make informed decisions about the programs they offer, especially at the Annual Conference. My time as an officer at each of these levels has helped me to recognize the importance of such timely and accurate budgetary information, and I will work hard to ensure it is made available.
I am honored to be nominated to continue as the Vice President, Finance, and if elected, I promise to work diligently on your behalf.
Candidates for the Office of Vice President, External Affairs
Marjan Eggermont
Teaching Professor, Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering
University of Calgary
Marjan Eggermont is a teaching professor in the department of mechanical and manufacturing engineering at the University of Calgary’s Schulich School of Engineering, where she served as associate dean (student affairs) from 2012 to 2017. She earned a B.A. in military history, a B.F.A. and M.F.A. in print media, and recently finished her Ph.D. in computational media design specializing in information visualization. Since joining the Schulich School in 2002, she has taught all incoming engineering students—just over 10,000 students at last count. She teaches in the areas of visualization, engineering sketching, communication, design history, bio-inspired design, and technology and society. Her commitment to teaching excellence and innovations in teaching graphical communications to a very large cohort of first-year students is evidenced by awards received both internally (Schulich School of Engineering Common Core Teaching Award, University of Calgary Teaching Scholar) and externally (ASME Curriculum Innovation Award and the STLHE Alan Blizzard Award).
Eggermont’s significant contributions to teaching and learning encompass curriculum development, educational leadership, and the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL). She also has served or currently serves on numerous university committees, such as the Conjoint Faculties Research Ethics Board, Global Challenges Community of Scholars, University Academic Sustainability Implementation Committee, and the President’s, Sustainability, and PURE (Program for Undergraduate Research Experience) awards committees to help improve the student experience. She has published over 100 conference papers in engineering education, including in ASEE’s and the Canadian Engineering Education Association’s annual conference proceedings. She recently began participating in visualization conferences such as IEEE VIS and Information+.
An artist who exhibits nationally and internationally, Eggermont is also a Biomimicry Institute fellow and former member of its Biomimicry Educational Advisory Board. She is the cofounder of Biomimicry Alberta. In 2013, she won “Best of Biomimicry: Excellence in Biomimicry Education Within a College or University” at the Biomimicry Education Summit and Global Conference in Boston. With coeditors Tom McKeag (San Francisco) and Norbert Hoeller (Toronto), she started the bio-inspired design journal Zygote Quarterly (zqjournal.org), which was a Digital Magazine Award finalist for science and nature magazine of the year in 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015.
Eggermont has served ASEE since becoming a member in 2004. She has risen through the ranks of the Design in Engineering Education Division, starting as a director and serving as division chair in 2012-2013. She served on the ASEE Board of Directors as PIC II chair from 2014 to 2017.
Candidate’s Statement
Attending ASEE and meeting like-minded individuals has made me a better teacher. Each June I come home from the Annual Conference with new ideas and things to try out on my unsuspecting students—always in the hope of creating a better class, a more interesting assignment, an improved experience for all in the room. I happily accept the nomination of Vice President, External Relations for ASEE. I always enjoy my time at the Conference and look forward to continuing my service to the Society if elected.
The two primary functions of the Vice President, External Relations are projects and building/maintaining connections with external organizations, primarily international entities.
On the international front, I grew up in Europe, lived in California, and currently live in Canada. I have many colleagues and collaborators around the world and would be very happy to serve in this international role for ASEE.
Engineering is a global activity with global impacts. Improvements in infotech and biotech will change the nature of employment in the near future. Some warn of an impending jobless class that may reach 2 billion by 2030. I wonder if engineering educators can start incorporating design questions into their curriculum on how to create meaningful work opportunities not only for the students themselves but for those whose jobs will be taken by, for instance, artificial intelligence. This question is not limited to one country but is a collective problem that needs a global solution.
I realize this is not something that can be solved overnight or during the term of a VP for External Relations, but it is something I think about. Starting to talk about this is an important next step.
Agnieszka Miguel
Associate Professor and Chair, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Seattle University
Agnieszka Miguel is department chair and an associate professor in electrical and computer engineering at Seattle University. She received her Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of Washington and M.S. and B.S. degrees, both in electrical engineering, from Florida Atlantic University. Her teaching interests include circuits, linear systems, MATLAB, digital image processing, and data compression. She also advises senior design projects and mentors undergraduate research students.
Miguel’s research program involves image processing and machine learning. Her current project focuses on the design of algorithms to automatically sort images of snow leopards and recognize individual cats in a large camera-trap study. Her scholarly interests in the area of engineering education center on diversity and inclusion, retention, recruitment, and active learning. At Seattle University, she leads a Boeing-sponsored project that studies how to improve the persistence of women and underrepresented minority students in undergraduate engineering and computer science programs. She is also a co-principal investigator on a grant funded by the W. M. Keck Foundation to develop an Internet of Things (IoT)-based innovation laboratory, and is a member of the university’s NSF ADVANCE Institutional Transformation Grant team. Miguel was also a PI on an NSF S-STEM grant.
Miguel has been a department chair since 2011. She also serves on Seattle University’s Academic Assembly and was a member of the College of Science and Engineering Strategic Planning Committee and the University Leadership Council. She is a member of IEEE, HKN, SWE, WEPAN, and Tau Beta Pi. A member of the ASEE since 2004, she has served the Society in various capacities, including as Division Chair and Program Chair of both the Electrical and Computer Engineering and the New Engineering Educators Divisions (2010-13). She was the ASEE Pacific Northwest Section Chair (2015-17) and a campus representative (2009-16). Miguel, chair of Professional Interest Council I since 2016 and Vice President of Professional Interest Councils in 2017-18, has been a member of the ASEE Board of Directors since 2016, serving on the Executive Committee in 2017-18.
Miguel also is a member-at-large of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department Heads Association (ECEDHA) Board of Directors and of the ECEDHA Foundation Board of Directors. She has been a member of the ECEDHA Annual Conference Program Committee since 2013 and was a member of the ECEDHA Source Editorial Board and ECEDHA Awards Committee. Her work with ECEDHA focuses on diversity and inclusion in engineering and regional-groups development.
Candidate’s Statement
I am honored and excited to have been nominated for the office of Vice President, External Relations. I have been a member of the ASEE since 2004, have served the Society in different capacities for many years, and am looking forward to continuing my service if elected to this position. There are two main roles of the VP for External Relations: chairing the Projects Board and International Advisory Committee. In addition, it is the responsibility of the person in this position to serve on the Finance Committee and to chair the Board’s public policy committee.
In support of the ASEE mission to advance innovation, excellence, and access at all levels of education for the engineering and engineering technology professions, the ASEE Projects Board oversees such activities as fellowships, workshops, and data collection. These activities provide ASEE members with additional professional development opportunities and enhance collaboration with industry and other engineering and engineering technology organizations. If elected, I will work collaboratively with the ASEE staff to review new project proposals, support existing projects, publicize their benefits to the members, and solicit new proposals, as appropriate. I will also invite input from the ASEE membership regarding existing and future projects in which ASEE engages.
The role of the International Advisory Committee is maintaining and developing connections with organizations external to the ASEE, especially international entities. These relationships are extremely important to our organization and its members. Engineering and engineering technology education are global activities; we all have a lot to learn from each other. In my role as VP for External Relations, I would like to leverage our international contacts into relationships that clearly benefit the members. In addition to working on increasing the number of international institutional and individual memberships, I would like to ensure that we work toward engaging more engineering and engineering technology students in global education. I still remember my excitement when, as an undergraduate student, I was selected by a competitive program for summer study in Madrid. I am still very grateful for the opportunity to experience a different style of education, learn about a new culture, meet a diverse group of people, and test my independence and self-reliance. In addition to building the global presence of ASEE, I would like to grow the number of engineering and engineering technology students and faculty members who have the opportunity to engage in different forms of global education and collaboration.
In the role of the VP for External Relations, I will leverage my leadership, networking, and teamwork skills that I have gained as a department chair in service to the Society. While the role of the VP for External Relations is outward facing, it requires strong cooperation with the ASEE staff and Board of Directors. I am serving in my third year on the Board, including one year on the Executive Committee. I am familiar with operations of the Board and look forward to continuing my close collaboration with its members. In my roles as a PIC I Chair and VP of PICs, I have served as a liaison between program and division chairs and the ASEE staff. I have enjoyed the opportunity to work closely with the ASEE staff and members who volunteer their time for the benefit of the organization, and I am looking forward to future partnerships.
If elected, I would welcome the opportunity to serve in the capacity of a VP for External Relations to further expand ASEE’s global presence and to support our members by providing enhanced opportunities for cooperation with other U.S. societies and organizations, industry, and international entities. Keeping in mind the six core values of ASEE (excellence, engagement, innovation, integrity, diversity, and inclusion), I will work collaboratively and be responsive to the needs, feedback, and ideas from our members, volunteers, Board of Directors, and the ASEE staff to propel ASEE into the next 125 years of innovation and excellence in engineering and engineering technology education.
Candidates for PIC I Chair-Elect
Deepak Keshwani
Associate Professor of Biological Systems Engineering
University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Deepak Keshwani came to the United States from his native India in 1998 to pursue an undergraduate degree in biological systems engineering at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. After receiving his Ph.D. in biological and agricultural engineering from North Carolina State University, he returned to his alma mater as a faculty member. His disciplinary research interests are in the area of bioprocess and biosystems modeling. He is also actively engaged in scholarship of teaching and learning, and leads faculty development programs related to teaching and learning.
Keshwani provides leadership to his department’s undergraduate teaching and advising mission, and teaches courses ranging from first-year through graduate level. He coordinates the Justin Smith Morrill Scholars, a campuswide cocurricular student program focused on civic engagement. He coordinates the UNL Mechanized Systems Management undergraduate degree program and is involved in numerous university-wide student success initiatives, including mentoring a first-year learning community. In August 2017, he was appointed a faculty fellow at the University of Nebraska in recognition of his work in the area of student retention and success.
Keshwani is currently the chair of ASEE’s Biological and Agricultural Engineering Division and is also a member of the First Year Program Division. He is also the chair of the Education, Outreach, and Professional Development Community of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers.
Christi Patton Luks
Associate Teaching Professor of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Christi Patton Luks earned a B.S. in chemical engineering from Texas A&M University and both an M.S. in applied mathematics and Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of Tulsa. She has taught chemical engineering courses at both the University of Tulsa and Missouri S&T; mathematics courses at the University of Tulsa and Tulsa Community College; and mechanical engineering courses at Oklahoma State University. She has been an active member of ASEE and has taken on many leadership roles. She served as chair of the Midwest Section in 2008 and as the Zone III chair and member of the ASEE Board of Directors from 2011 to 2013. She was program director for the first Zone III meeting in 2015, and served as the campus representative for five years while working at the University of Tulsa. More recently, she has served in the Chemical Engineering Division Chair rotation from 2014 to 2017.
William J. Schell
Associate Professor of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering
Montana State University
William J. Schell holds a Ph.D. in industrial and systems engineering–engineering management from the University of Alabama–Huntsville and M.S. and B.S. degrees in industrial and management engineering from Montana State University (MSU). He is an associate professor and graduate program coordinator in industrial and management systems engineering and associate director of the Montana Engineering Education Research Center at MSU. His research interests include engineering education and the role of leadership and culture in process improvement. His research is supported by a variety of national, state, and local sources, including the National Science Foundation and industry, and has received numerous national and international awards. He is an elected fellow of the American Society for Engineering Management and serves as an associate editor for both the Engineering Management Journal and Quality Approaches in Higher Education. Prior to his academic career, Schell spent 14 years in industry, where he held leadership positions focused on process improvement and organizational development in both Fortune 50 and Inc. 500 companies. Schell is engaged with ASEE in a number of leadership roles: a six-year officer in the Engineering Management Division (EMD), where he is currently an elected board member; appointed as the inaugural Director of Scholarly Activities for the Engineering Leadership Division (LEAD) in 2017; and ASEE campus representative for MSU. His work with ASEE has led to numerous awards, including Best Paper Awards for EMD (2017) and LEAD (2016), Best Presentation Award for EMD (2015, 2017), and 2018 Outstanding Campus Representative for the Pacific Northwest Section and Zone IV.
Candidates for PIC IV Chair-Elect
Beth M. Holloway
Assistant Dean for Diversity and Engagement, College of Engineering
Purdue University
Beth Holloway received both B.S. and M.S. degrees in mechanical engineering and a Ph.D. in engineering education, all from Purdue University. She spent nine years as a research and development engineer at Cummins, Inc., becoming a recognized corporate engine lubrication system expert, with specialties in piston cooling nozzle and lubrication pump performance. An advocate for research-informed approaches to engineering education, equity, and policy, as well as student recruitment and retention efforts, Holloway has made significant contributions nationally as well as at Purdue, where she has spent her academic career and currently serves as an assistant dean, the Leah H. Jamieson Director of Women in Engineering, and, by courtesy, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering.
Her research areas include women and leadership, particularly in male-dominated careers; differential retention issues for women across engineering disciplines; engineering admissions practices; and diversity and equity. She has received funding from the National Science Foundation, various private foundations, and industry.
Holloway has been a member of ASEE since 2002 and received Fellow status in 2017. She is currently the past chair of the Women in Engineering Division, where she also served as program chair. Holloway was a charter member of and served on the ASEE Diversity Committee from 2010 to 2012. In 2014, she became a charter member of the ASEE P-12 Committee on Engineering Education, where she continues to serve. Holloway has been a member of the Sharon Keilor Award Committee, also since 2014. She was a member of the Strategic Doing Governance Team from 2016 to 2017. In each position held, she has worked to increase the collaboration across ASEE to make a greater impact and leverage resources.
Holloway also has been president of WEPAN (Women in Engineering ProActive Network) in 2006-07, served on WEPAN’s Board of Directors from 2005 to 2008, and was the cochair of the 2003 WEPAN National Conference. She believes in student engagement and currently serves as the adviser to the Purdue Society of Women Engineers (SWE), which has over 650 members. She is also the adviser for the Alpha Chapter of Phi Sigma Rho, a national engineering sorority.
Her honors include the 2015 ASEE William Elgin Wickenden Award, as lead author, for research published in JEE, the 2016 WEPAN Founders award, the 2016 Purdue Panhellenic Advisor of the Year, the 2013 Purdue Helen B. Schleman Gold Medallion Award, the 2012 SWE National Outstanding Faculty Advisor Award, and the inaugural Phi Sigma Rho National Sorority Lifetime Achievement Award in 2009.
She looks forward to continuing to serve ASEE.
James Lewis
Assistant Professor of Engineering Fundamentals, J.B. Speed School of Engineering
University of Louisville
My first involvement with ASEE was in 2008, and since then I have presented papers in the following divisions: Computers in Education, First-Year Programs, Mathematics, Educational Research and Methods, and Minorities in Engineering. I also have presented at NSF Grantees’ poster sessions. After the 2008 Annual Conference, I started exploring ways to increase my participation in ASEE. My first service involvement was as a paper reviewer, and later as a presentation judge. My involvement has increased over the years. First I was elected program chair-elect in the Computers in Education Division (CoED), which supported the program chair, assisted in the social events, and organized and evaluated the judging of the poster session. After serving two years, my next position was CoED program chair, which was responsible for coordinating paper reviews, paper acceptance, nominations for best paper, session scheduling and assignments, and organization of social events for the division. I then served as CoED division chair for two years. Last year, I was also elected to be a Director-At-Large for CoED. I’m currently finishing my term as past chair for CoED.
I would like to continue my involvement at a higher level with ASEE. Being a PIC chair would allow me to continue my active involvement in the organization and allow me to use my skills to help the divisions that report to the PIC chair. PIC chairs need to be organized and willing to discuss matters with the divisions that report to them, as well as being available to work on resolutions to matters that occur. My organizational skills and past positions help me in the pursuit of being a good PIC chair and would allow me to continue to be active in the administration of the organization.
Currently, my research has been dedicated to engineering education, with active involvement in training undergraduate teaching assistants in effective teaching practices through a collaboration with the School of Education as well as in course redesigns.
Candidate for PIC V Chair-Elect
Maureen A. Barcic
Director of Cooperative Education, Swanson School of Engineering
University of Pittsburgh
I began at the University of Pittsburgh in the Cooperative Education office in July 1987, when the program was just beginning. It has grown to encompass almost 50 percent of our engineering students. We also have expanded the program to computer science and the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown.
In 1991, I became a member of ASEE, and was actively involved in the Cooperative and Experiential Education Division (CEED) by 1993. Since then, I have enjoyed many roles and positions within both CEED and ASEE. They include: two terms as CEED chair (2004-2005 and 2013-2014); CEED membership chair (2006-2013 and 2017-present); CEED secretary/treasurer (2001-2003); and CEED public relations chair and board member (1993-1998). In addition, I was the editor of CEED’s 2012-2013 Cooperative Education and Internship Directory and its 75th anniversary magazine. I have been a member of the College- Industry Partnership Division since 2009, and was CEED program chair for four ASEE Annual Conferences (2009-2012).
Inducted as an ASEE Fellow in 2013, I have received numerous Society honors, including the Alva K. Borman Award (2006) and CEED Chair’s Award (2001, 2002, and 2011). I’m currently serving my third term as assistant PIC V chair (2011 to present), responsible for attending the ASEE Annual Conference and Conference on Industry and Education Collaboration (CIEC) board meetings, and acting as secretary and performing other duties as required. I was the executive general conference chair of the 2005 CIEC in Savannah, Ga., general conference chair of the 2001 CIEC in San Diego, Calif., and assistant general conference chair for the 2000 CIEC in Orlando, Fla.
Because of these many opportunities within ASEE, including seven years as PIC V assistant chair, I have the necessary experience to run for this position. If selected, I would strive to be the very best PIC V chair I could be.
Candidates for Zone II Chair-Elect
John Brocato
Technical Communication Program Coordinator and Instructor, James Worth Bagley College of Engineering
Mississippi State University
John Brocato helped establish the Shackouls Technical Communication Program at Mississippi State University in 1999, one of the earliest in-house engineering-communication programs of its kind in the United States. He also created GE 3513 Technical Writing, an engineering-specific technical-communication course required of all MSU engineering undergraduates, as well as GE 6513 Engineering Writing and Presenting, a similar course for engineering graduate students. He also coordinates writing-to-learn activities and writing- and presenting-related workshops throughout all of the Bagley College’s departments. Brocato was inducted into the Bagley College’s Academy of Distinguished Teachers in 2011. He has published on engineering-communication pedagogy at ASEE conferences as well as those of the IEEE Professional Communication Society and the University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA) for over 15 years. He became an ASEE Fellow in 2018 and has held multiple leadership roles within the Society at the national and section levels, including chair of the Liberal Education/Engineering and Society (LEES) Division and president of the Southeastern section. He currently serves as ASEE’s National campus representative and as the Southeastern section’s Proceedings editor, and he is Mississippi State’s longtime Campus Representative, a service for which he has won numerous ASEE national and regional awards.
Brocato also served as the site coordinator when MSU hosted the Southeastern section’s annual conference in 2012 (and will again when it next hosts in 2023), and he was instrumental in establishing, planning, and coordinating the first Zone II conference in over 20 years (March 2017, in San Juan, Puerto Rico).
Thomas Trusty
Associate Dean and Associate Professor and Department Chair for Design Engineering Technology, Allen School of Engineering and Technology
Trine University
Tom Trusty is a leader dedicated to engineering education at Trine University who has twice received the Mcketta engineering faculty teaching excellence award as well as the university’s overall highest teaching award for faculty excellence, the Barrenbrugge award, in 2014. During his career in education, his leadership has also been recognized on a national level with an award from the National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development.
A Veteran of the United States Marine Corps, Trusty has a background in education that started at Purdue University as an undergraduate in industrial engineering technology, followed by graduate degrees in career and technical education from Ball State University to refine his passion for teaching, and in engineering technology from Trine University to refine technical expertise. He has a long-standing membership with ASEE and has been in leadership roles with the Illinois-Indiana section during the past nine years, where he has served the section as chair, vice-chair, and webmaster. He currently serves as past chair, awards chair, and webmaster. He has also filled the role of the local ASEE campus representative since 2008. Trusty has received awards from the section for campus representative of the year three times, the annual service award in 2017, and a national award for recruitment as a campus representative in 2015. He served as conference chair and hosted the annual section conference at Trine University in 2013, and he serves as a paper reviewer and poster judge at the local section conferences annually as well as a paper reviewer for ASEE’s
Annual Conference, which he attends each year, and participates in the representative and chair meetings when held to provide his input to help guide and shape the future of the membership.
Trusty has a record of dedicated service and is prepared to work with the membership and leaders in Zone II to shine a light on engineering education locally and nationally.
Candidates for Zone IV Chair-Elect
Lily Gossage
Director of Maximizing Engineering Potential
California State Polytechnic University–Pomona
Lily Gossage is the director of Maximizing Engineering Potential in Cal Poly Pomona’s College of Engineering and its Center for Gender, Diversity, and Student Excellence. She provides management-level oversight for development, strategic planning, recruitment, and retention of minority, women, first-generation, and low-income students. She serves as adviser for the Society of Women Engineers (SWE) and the American Indian Science & Engineering Society (AISES). A co-principal investigator of a $2.5 million Title V Department of Education project (MENTORES: Mentoring, Educating, Networking, and Thematic Opportunities for Research in Engineering and Science), her work also involves increasing the number of low-income minorities in graduate studies. With over 20 years of experience developing K-12 women-in-engineering outreach programs—such as “My Daughter Is an Engineer,” a three-day summer residential experience for fifth-grade girls and their parents, and “Engineering Girls: It Takes a Village,” a weeklong residential program for homeless girls and mothers—supporting outreach/recruitment efforts for under-resourced communities is at the heart of her advocacy. She has been involved with ASEE since 2003 and advocates for culturally relevant pedagogy in engineering education. Her current research interests focus on exploring work-life balance/work-life integration dynamics for women in tenured/tenure-track engineering positions. She served as chair (2015/2016) of ASEE’s Pacific Southwest section. She served as Director of Diversity Advancement (2012–2014) for the Women in Engineering ProActive Network (WEPAN). She currently serves as treasurer for the ASEE PSW section and as director of awards for ASEE’s Women in Engineering Division. As a returned Peace Corps volunteer, Gossage attributes her leadership style and creative problem-solving skills to social-cultural experiences gained during life in the village; such experiences have given her invaluable insight into working with diverse communities of people.
David B. Lanning
Professor and Associate Chair of Aerospace Engineering
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
David B. Lanning holds a Ph.D. (1997) and B.S. (1990) in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from Ohio State University and an M.S. (1991) in mechanical engineering from the University of Akron. His research interests are in fatigue and fracture mechanics, structural analysis, and mechanical testing, and engineering education. He teaches undergraduate courses and laboratories in structural mechanics, materials science, and failure mechanics, and also organizes and teaches at the summer Aerospace Engineering Aero Track camp for high school students held at Embry-Riddle’s Prescott, Ariz., campus each year. Lanning first became involved with ASEE in 2008 at the Pacific Southwest (PSW) regional conference as an author and ASEE campus representative and has attended the regional conferences ever since, becoming active on the PSW executive board a few years thereafter. In 2016 he was elected to the position of PSW Chair-Elect and served as PSW chair for the 2017-2018 academic year. He appreciates the learning, collegiality, and friendships fostered by the section conferences, and believes the organization of regional sections into zones widens the view gained when visiting engineering programs further afield during zone conferences. Among the many benefits ASEE has brought are the relationships that develop between faculty eager to understand effective teaching methods, innovative curricula, and the challenges of teaching engineering to a diverse group of students, and he hopes to continue to foster such relationships through his service to ASEE.
Board Profile
Vertical Ascent
Though she grew up near the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, where her dad and grandfather worked, Pamela Norris never imagined developing innovative jet-blast deflectors to protect people and equipment aboard next-generation aircraft carriers. Nor did the Portsmouth, Va., native, who now is executive dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Virginia, foresee that her decision in fourth grade to become an engineer would lead to a trailblazing career as an educator, researcher, and mentor. A struggling student at the time, she credits her single mom, who “didn’t have a fricking clue” about what engineers did, with inspiring resolve and self-confidence.
The first in her family to attend college, Norris had mentors at pivotal points. A high school math teacher enrolled her in a statewide competition, where she finished in second place. At Old Dominion University, where she earned a B.S. in mechanical engineering and mechanics in 1987, Norris worked with professors on NASA research projects, including designing systems for the Mars rover. In 1992, she became the third woman to receive a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Georgia Tech— “and I’m not that old,” notes Norris. Her life-changing encounter, however, came during a postdoctoral year as a research engineer at the University of California–Berkeley, where she had been recruited by then Chancellor Chang-Lin Tien, father of the field of nanoscale heat transfer. He advised her that the interdisciplinary edge is where “the most interesting questions” lie, prompting Norris to switch her research focus to heat transfer in ultralight-weight, porous materials known as aerogels.
Joining the Virginia faculty in 1994, Norris landed a National Science Foundation CAREER award and launched both the Nanoscale Energy Transfer Laboratory and the Aerogel Research Laboratory. Her $1 million, laser-based “thermometer” enables measurement of temperature changes over “really short,” sub-pico-second timeframes, probing the nanoscale limits. Her work has practical applications in areas from thermal management of microelectronics to biowarfare detectors to heat pipes. In one memorable project, her team tested its novel system for dissipating intense bursts of exhaust heat using a real military plane—rented at an established hourly rate. “To think that one day my technology might land planes on an aircraft carrier is pretty damn cool,” she says.
As impactful as her research has been, Norris remains equally intent on helping women and underrepresented minorities succeed in engineering. Having been “the first in many situations,” she is “passionate” about “educating the university about the impact of implicit biases.” Winner of a 2016 Society of Women Engineers Distinguished Engineering Educator Award, she spares no effort to make students feel that they belong in engineering.
An ASEE Board member as chair of the Engineering Research Council, Norris sees an important role in communicating the value of engineering research to society, especially in an era when science is under attack along with federal research funding.
Anniversary Gala
A capacity crowd of 365 celebrated ASEE’s 125 years at a festive gala October 4 at the historic Willard Hotel in Washington D.C. Among attendees captured on camera were, in order from the top: Immediate Past President Bevlee Watford and her son, Devon Johnson, with Board Member Agnieszka Miguel standing behind them; President Stephanie Farrell; President-elect Stephanie Adams; Oscar Barton Jr., chair of the Mechanical Engineering Department at George Mason University, and his wife, Edythe; keynote speaker Audie Cornish of National Public Radio; Board members (left to right) Gregory Washington, Teri Reed, P.K. Imbrie, and Doug Tougaw; the entire gathering; Board members Scott Dunning (left), Reed, and Patricia Fox with past Board member Charles McIntyre; Executive Director Norman Fortenberry; and Eric Felten’s Jazz Orchestra.
Images Courtesy of Trevor De Saussure