Engineering Unleashed Faculty Development

Dr. Michael Gross is a Founding Faculty and Associate Professor of the Department of Engineering, the David and Leila Farr Faculty Director of the Entrepreneurship program, and a KEEN Leader at Wake Forest University. The Engineering Department launched in the fall of 2017 and is viewed as an opportunity to break down silos across campus and creatively think about reimagining the undergraduate engineering educational experience, integration and collaboration across departments and programs, and how to achieve the motto of Wake Forest University: Pro Humanitate (”For Humanity”). He has engaged in research and faculty development for designing educational experiences that support student intrinsic motivation for all students, particularly at the course activity level, and basic psychological needs satisfaction. He also collaborates with the Wake Forest Program for Leadership and Character in designing course activities that support character virtue development in the undergraduate engineering curriculum.

Dr. Tricia Clayton (she/they) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Engineering at Wake Forest University. Prior to joining Wake Forest, she was a faculty member at the University of Texas at Austin in the Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering, where she was the faculty advisor for multiple professional and identity-based student organizations. Her background provides a unique perspective teaching and leading research teams at two very different institutions, from a research-intensive program at a large state school to a small undergraduate-only engineering program at a liberal arts college. She teaches courses in engineering mechanics, structural design, natural hazards engineering, probability and statistics, and a first-year seminar on LGBTQ+ experiences in STEM. Her goal is to make engineering education a place where all feel welcomed, included, and valued.

Dr. Erin Henslee is a Founding Faculty and Assistant Professor of Engineering at Wake Forest University. Her research spans biomedical engineering, e-sports, and STEM education. She is also passionate about developing open education resources, sharing inclusive teaching practices in STEM fields. She has served as a community catalyst since 2020. Prior to joining Wake Forest she was a Researcher Development Officer at the University of Surrey where she supported Early Career Researchers. She received her BS degrees in Engineering Science and Mechanics and Mathematics from Virginia Tech, her MS degree in Biomedical Engineering from the joint program between Virginia Tech and Wake Forest University, and her PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Surrey.

Lauren Lowman is a Founding Faculty member and an Assistant Professor in the Engineering Department at Wake Forest University and has served in this role since 2018. In this role, she has developed new interdisciplinary curriculum that bridges engineering fields and reflects the Wake Forest University motto of Pro Humanitate ("For Humanity"). Lauren received a Ph.D. and M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering with a focus in Hydrology and Fluid Dynamics from Duke University, and a B.A. in Public Policy Studies from Duke University. Her research investigates how extreme events affect overall ecosystem health, productivity, and sustainability using numerical models, geospatial data analysis, and field experiments. She is also passionate about developing and sharing inclusive teaching practices in STEM fields and received a 2020 Engineering Unleashed Fellowship from the Kern Family Foundation to support this work.