Engineering Unleashed Faculty Development

Dr. Heather Dillon is Professor and Chair of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Washington Tacoma, where her research team is currently working on renewable energy systems, solid-state lighting, energy efficiency in buildings, fundamental heat transfer studies and engineering education. She is the Chair of the Council on Undergraduate Research Engineering Division and recently served as 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 working on both energy efficiency and renewable energy systems, where she received the US Department of Energy Office of Science Outstanding Mentor Award. During her time at the University of Portland she received the Provost’s Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Research Faculty Member (2017) and the Outstanding Scholarship Award (2020).

Glenn R. Gaudette, PhD, is the inaugural John W. Kozarich '71 Chair of the Department of Engineering at Boston College. Working together with his colleagues, they have developed the first Engineering program in the history of BC. His research has pioneered the use of plants as scaffold for heart regeneration. This work lead to significant recognition, including Prof Gaudette and his colleagues being featured throughout the world including Bill Nye Saves the World (on Netflix), CBS’s Innovation Nation, the BBC (live interview) and Popular Science. The work was displayed at the Centre Pompidou (Paris) as part of an exhibit entitled “The Factory of Life”. Recently, a children’s book (From Plant to Human: The Extraordinary Spinach-Leaf Heart by Oscar Silver) was published about this inspiring work. His recent research aims to develop cost-effective methods for growing meat in the laboratory setting, which could reduce our reliance on conventional animal agriculture. Dr. Gaudette also teaches engineering mechanics, design and innovation, biomechanics and physiology. He promotes the development of a mindset for helping others, especially in the technical courses he teaches. He was named the 2015 Faculty Member of the Year by the Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network and was elected a Fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) and the National Academy of Inventors.

Dr. Bodnar is an Associate Professor in the Experiential Engineering Education Department at Rowan University. Her research interests relate to the incorporation of active learning techniques such as game-based learning in undergraduate classes as well as integration of innovation and entrepreneurship into the engineering curriculum. In particular, she is interested in the impact that these tools can have on student perception of the classroom environment, motivation and learning outcomes.