Officers

Philip Tan is Associate Professor of Engineering at Messiah University in Grantham, PA, and directs the Christian Engineering Society’s pilot program to establish local CES chapters. Philip and his ten younger siblings grew up in Norfolk, VA. After studying mechanical engineering at Grove City and teaching anatomy to physical therapy students for several years, he combined his engineering and physiology interests through biomedical research at the University of Virginia. There, he investigated the protein signaling networks underlying hypertrophic cardiac remodeling using a systems approach integrating experiments and computational modeling. He also developed automated image processing algorithms analyzing genome-wide fluorescence microscopy RNAi screens to identify genes affecting heart failure. At Messiah, Philip teaches a range of mechanical and biomedical engineering courses, and advises student teams on projects such as egg incubators, well drilling, and prosthetic knees in partnership with villagers in sub-Saharan Africa. Philip is passionate about motivating students to examine the theological and philosophical presuppositions undergirding their engineering endeavors. He is also an avid pianist and organist. Philip, his wife Julia, and their children Joel (4) and Eliana (1) live in Carlisle, PA and are members of Carlisle Reformed Presbyterian Church. Together, they enjoy music, reading, hiking, bird watching, and traveling.  

Kristine Johnson is a Senior Advanced Systems Engineer at Honeywell Aerospace Technologies leading the hardware team and qualification testing on the GPAHRS (GPS-Aided High-Integrity Attitude and Heading Reference System), a next-generation navigation system for commercial aircraft, helicopters, and urban air mobility vehicles. She is also the systems lead engineer on multiple programs for Boeing products. She was part of the design team for the first FAA-certified (SDA) Precision Landing System installed at many airports worldwide. In her 25+ years at Honeywell, she has gained extensive experience with Air Data Inertial Reference Units (ADIRUs), navigation systems for commercial aircraft which integrate data from GPS, inertial sensors, and air pressure inputs, and for which she received the Honeywell Technical Achievement Award. Outside work, 

Kristine enjoys time with family, leading a small group Bible study, reading, cooking, moderating several science-faith groups on social media, volunteering in her community, and exercising. Kristine is a Fellow of the American Scientific Affiliation (ASA), President of the North Star Chapter of the ASA, and oversees the Christian Women in Science (CWiS) Facebook page. She is on the Industry Advisory Board for the University of Northwestern’s Engineering program and the Vice President of the board for the Christian Engineering Society. She is a member of the Society of Women Engineers and is also a professional face painter.  

Justin Vander Werff serves as professor of engineering and engineering department chair at Dordt University in Sioux Center, Iowa. Justin joined the Dordt engineering faculty in 2008, after serving in Chicagoland as a structural engineer for several years, working primarily in heavy industry. In addition to his department chair duties, Justin currently teaches the sophomore-level mechanics of materials course and a number of upper level civil and structural courses including soil mechanics and foundation design, structural analysis, structural steel design, and reinforced concrete design. Justin graduated from Dordt in 2000 with an engineering mechanical-emphasis degree and then completed a Master’s degree in civil-structural engineering at Iowa State University. He completed a PhD in civil-structural engineering, again at Iowa State University, after returning to academia to teach at Dordt.

Justin’s involvement with the Christian Engineering Society began in 2009, when he had the opportunity to attend the Christian Engineering Education Conference (the predecessor to the Christian Engineering Conference) hosted at Baylor University. He has continued to be involved ever since, presenting at many of the following conferences, serving as program chair for the conference hosted at Cedarville in 2017, and serving as general chair for the conference hosted at Dordt in 2019. Justin began serving as a CES officer in 2019, serving initially as treasurer and then as membership coordinator before now transitioning into the president’s role. 

Justin and his wife Miranda have five children and love to spend time as a family swimming, paddle boarding, road-tripping, watching movies, and watching football. Justin loves to play piano and serves his church regularly in this capacity. 

Brian Swartz joined Messiah University in the Fall 2013 and began serving as Engineering chairperson in Fall 2015. He has previously been on faculty at the University of Hartford, Bucknell University, and Penn State.

Brian grew up on a small dairy farm in central Pennsylvania. He received his degrees from Penn State University with a primary emphasis in Structural Engineering. Brian practiced briefly as a bridge design consultant before completing his graduate studies. His research has centered on the design and behavior of concrete bridges. Brian currently advises student teams through Messiah’s Collaboratory that design and construct bridges for missions partners.  He teaches coursework in the Engineering Core and Civil Engineering areas.

Brian and his wife, Tawnee, have six children and worship at West Shore Evangelical Free Church in Mechanicsburg. Brian enjoys spending time with his kids and their various activities, including coaching their sports teams. He also enjoys running, cycling and carpentry projects. 

Chuck Baukal is the Director of Engineering at Oklahoma Baptist University where he has been since 2022. Prior to that he worked in industry for over 40 years as a mechanical engineer with particular emphasis on industrial combustion, air pollution emissions, and heat transfer.  He has been an adjunct for nearly 40 years at many universities. He has a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering and an Ed.D. in Applied Educational Studies. He is a licensed Professional Engineer, an inventor on 11 U.S. patents, serves on many advisory boards, and has authored/edited 17 books on the subjects of industrial combustion and engineering education.  He has over 300 publications and presentations, is very active in the American Society for Engineering Education, and serves as a Program Evaluator for ABET.  

Kimberly (Kim) Cornett received her B.S.E with concentration in electrical engineering from John Brown University in 2007 and earned her MSEE from the University of Arkansas in 2009. Her master’s research was integrated circuit design for extreme environment applications and worked for Texas Instruments developing application-specific integrated circuits. Kim has been teaching with the John Brown University Engineering Department since 2015. She was the recipient of the JBU 2024 Faculty Excellence Award and has served as the advisor for the JBU Chapter of the Society of Women Engineers since 2017. She currently working on her PhD in Engineering with a concentration in Engineering Education from Mississippi State University.  

Kim views the practice of engineering as reflecting our God’s characteristics as Creator and Redeemer; bringing order to chaos, creating purpose where there was once purposelessness, and redeeming what is broken for the good of humanity. She believes that when Christian engineers embrace and integrate their faith into their practice of engineering, they will find a deeper purpose and richness in their work.  

Kim and her husband Nick have one daughter and two sons. They are active in the local church and enjoys spending time with family and various outdoor activities. 

Laurel Dovich, PhD, PE, FACI, is in the process of retiring. She has spent 20+ years teaching in higher education and many years in structural engineering consulting work. Most of her teaching career was spent at Walla Walla University, a Christian undergraduate engineering program, where she was intentional about integrating faith into the classroom. Her publications and presentations span across engineering pedagogy, historic structures and the integration of faith and engineering. Based on her publications, she was invited to be the featured speaker for the technology disciplines at the week-long Biblical Foundations for the Academic Disciplines Conference at Montemorelos University.

Dr. Dovich’s focus in life has been humanitarian work. Her seismic structural engineering graduate school focus at University of Michigan was chosen to reduce death rates in natural disasters. She has responded to the earthquakes at Loma Prieta (1989), Kobe (1995) and Haiti (2010), and her research has led to changes to seismic building codes and more affordable seismic retrofit schemes. Throughout her career, she has spent many volunteer hours on building designs and renovations for 3rd world mission work and was an invitee to the Cement Trust Symposium where a focus group was gathered to address ways to improve concrete structures in 3rd world countries.

Dr. Dovich has held leadership roles in academic, professional and church settings. While in the academic setting, she was elected to chair the campus-wide Faculty Senate, chaired many other campus committees and was awarded “Engineering Faculty of the Year” numerous times. She also oversaw construction, development and implementation of a structural engineering lab. For her professional leadership, she was awarded fellow status by the American Concrete Institute and was recently honored as Alumna of the Year in recognition of lifetime professional achievements. 

Lisa A. Zidek, Ph.D. is the Dean of Engineering at Anderson University (SC), where she has led the College of Engineering since 2023. Anderson University is primarily an undergraduate institution, and Dr. Zidek is deeply committed to ensuring that student experience remains at the center of everything the college does. Under her leadership, faculty have pursued and secured significant NSF funding — notable for a teaching-focused institution — with awards that have meaningfully expanded hands-on research and learning opportunities for undergraduate students. She also oversaw the innovative renovation of a historic bank building into AU's new engineering facility. She holds a Ph.D. and M.S. in Industrial Engineering (Health Care Management) from the University of Wisconsin, an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering, and a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Marquette University. A recognized leader in engineering education, Dr. Zidek has been honored as Engineer of the Year Under 40 by the Milwaukee Senior Chapter of IIE and has served in leadership roles with the Institute of Industrial Engineers, ABET, and the American Society of Engineering Education.

Having spent the majority of her 30 + year academic career at private non-religious and state institutions before joining Anderson University, Dr. Zidek brings a distinctive perspective to CES — one shaped by navigating faith and professional purpose in secular academic environments. She is passionate about expanding CES's reach to Christian engineers and educators in non-Christian institutions, and she sees board service as an opportunity to actively contribute to the meaningful work of integrating faith and engineering. Dr. Zidek is also deeply committed to STEM outreach, engineering entrepreneurship, and service learning — values that align closely with CES's mission.