Engineering Unleashed Faculty Development

Dr. Cheryl Bodnar is an Associate Professor in the Experiential Engineering Education Department at Rowan University. She is a recent KEEN Rising Star Award winner and has been the KEEN leader on Rowan’s campus since it became a partner in 2016. Both the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Kern Family Foundation have funded her research. 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.

Joe Tranquillo is the Associate Provost for Transformative Teaching and Learning and a Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Bucknell University. He was the first direct hire in a new biomedical engineering program, which has since grown to 7 faculty, ~100 students, and has been ranked five times in a row as the number one undergraduate biomedical engineering program by US News and World Report. Joe previously served as the Director of the Teaching and Learning Center and co-director of the Institute for Leadership in Technology and Management and co-founded the Bucknell Innovation Group and KEEN Winter Interdisciplinary Design Experience. Off campus, Joe is an ASEE Fellow, AIMBE Fellow, BMES Fellow, National Academy of Engineering Frontiers of Engineering Education Fellow, Senior Member of IEEE, NSF Pathways to Innovation Faculty Fellow, past chair of the ASEE Biomedical Engineering Division, co-editor of the Morgan and Claypool Biomedical Engineering Book Series, Media Director for BigBeacon and serves on several national and international boards. He has been recognized with awards including the National Biomedical Engineering Teaching Award, ASEE Theo Pilkington Outstanding Educator, and has been nominated twice for the CASE US Professor of the Year. Joe has delivered over 100 intensive teaching workshops, including in Peru, Finland, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, United Kingdom and Columbia. Joe is the author of five books and over 200 articles and conference proceedings. His work, conducted exclusively with undergraduates, has been feature on the Discovery Channel, TEDx, Gates Foundation, Google, LinkedIn, and CNN Health. He has received ~$3M in funded from NASA, NIH, NSF, Kern Family Foundation, VentureWell, Degenstein Foundation, and the US Department of Defense. Joe is an affiliate faculty member of Cornell University, an international faculty member at Universidad Catolica de Chile, and was a visiting scholar at Stanford University and the University of Utah.

Andy is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Lawrence Technological University. He has developed undergraduate and graduate courses in fluid mechanics, creative problem solving, leadership, engineering design, and first-year introductory engineering. He is the supervisor of the Thermal Science and Aerodynamics Laboratories, Coordinator of the Aeronautical Engineering Minor and the Interdisciplinary Design & Entrepreneurial Applications curriculum, and faculty advisor for the student branch of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics & SAE Aero Design team. He facilitates workshops worldwide for K-12 and higher education instructors, focusing on active, collaborative, and problem-based learning, as well as training professional engineers in creative problem solving and innovation. He has received five best paper awards from American Society for Engineering Educators. He is also an author of the top-selling Fluid Mechanics textbook. Dr. Gerhart was awarded the 2010 Michigan Professor of the Year (by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education), Lawrence Tech’s teaching and faculty awards, and two leadership awards from the Engineering Society of Detroit (ESD). He was elected to ESD’s College of Fellows, and serves on the American Society of Mechanical Engineers Performance Test Code Committee for Air-cooled Condensers.

Michael J. Rust received his B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Cincinnati, in 2003 and 2009, respectively. During his undergraduate training, he worked for Ethicon Endo-Surgery and AtriCure, companies that specialize in the development of novel surgical devices. While completing his doctoral dissertation, Dr. Rust served as an NSF GK-12 Graduate Fellow, which allowed him to develop hands-on engineering activities for high school students. In 2009, he joined the faculty of Western New England University, where he is currently a Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Director of Experiential & Entrepreneurial Learning. He teaches undergraduate courses in bioinstrumentation, physiology, lab-on-a-chip, and global health. As a result of his work with students in the classroom, Dr. Rust received the Excellence in Teaching Award at Western New England University (2022) and the Biomedical Engineering Teaching Award from the American Society for Engineering Education (2013).

As Director of the Experimental Biomechanics Laboratory at Lawrence Technological University, my goal is to advance biomechanics understanding by providing practical training to engineering, life science and medical students and advancing the boundary of knowledge through translational research. My KEEN experience also includes developing EML course modules in biomechanics and biomedical engineering, including a unique multidisciplinary “Wearable Technology Design Studio” course. I enthusiastically cultivate collaborations with clinicians and the medical device industry to develop preventative and regenerative treatments for bone and soft tissue damage and disease. Recently, we have developed a Wearable Technology Innovation Center (WTIC) that provides practical training and shared experience around the topics of sensing, perception, and control in next generation robotics, haptics, quantified-self and wellness devices.

Michael Lancina (he/him) is an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Lawrence Technological University and the current director of LTU’s Center for Teaching and Learning. He teaches many courses throughout the department from Introduction to Engineering to Capstone Design. His past research experience is in biomaterials and pharmaceutical engineering, but his current focus is on interdisciplinary projects studying critical thinking and information credibility. He is an enthusiastic advocate for authentic assessment in engineering education.