Elise enjoys working with diverse teams on multi-disciplinary projects related to infrastructure systems, spatial justice, and sustainability. As the founder and CEO (Chief Everything Officer) of DfX Consulting LLC, she currently provides research and consulting services for the education and transportation sectors and teaches design thinking. She is also active nationally through the American Society of Engineering Education, NASEM Transportation Research Board, and the Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network. In addition to research and consulting, she supports local non-profits engaged in redesigning the built environment. Elise earned her BS in Civil Engineering from Bucknell University and a Master of City and Regional Planning and PhD in Civil Engineering from Georgia Tech.

Dr. Cheryl Bodnar is an Associate Professor in the Experiential Engineering Education Department at Rowan University. Currently, her research is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Kern Family Foundation. 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. Dr. Bodnar has received several awards for her work in engineering education. These include the AIChE Education Division Award for Excellence in Engineering Education Research in 2021, the KEEN Rising Star Award in 2020 for early-career leadership in engineering entrepreneurship education and the Raymond W. Fahien Award for Outstanding Teaching Effectiveness and Educational Scholarship by the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Chemical Engineering Division in 2017.

Maria-Isabel is Associate Dean of Graduate Studies and Research. Prior to joining Merrimack, she was Assistant Provost for Assessment & Faculty Development and Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of New Haven. She was also visiting faculty in Mechanical Engineering at the Georgia Tech – Lorraine campus in Metz, France. As a post-doctoral fellow at the Center for Enhancement of Teaching & Learning at Georgia Tech – Atlanta campus, she developed skills and interests in engineering education research and program assessment methods. She received her Ph.D. from Georgia Tech in 2008 specializing in the area of thermal-fluid sciences. While at M.I.T., from where she received her B.S. in Engineering in 2000, she developed a deep belief in the value and impact of undergraduate research. She carries this passion into the classroom and actively seeks to involve students in all aspects of research.

Juan is an assistant professor in the Experiential Engineering Education Department (ExEED) at Rowan University. He has a Ph.D. in Engineering Education from Virginia Tech and a Master on Education from the Universidad Javeriana in Colombia. My research aims to understand from a systems perspective how the academy influences faculty motivation to change, undergraduate students’ motivation to learn, and retention and persistence of doctoral students (with special attention to underrepresented minority (URM) students). During his 20 years of faculty experience in Academia, he has been a professor, a electronics laboratory manager, a head of the ECE undergraduate program, and a leader of Faculty Development Programs.

Heather is Professor and Chair of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Washington Tacoma, where her research team is working on renewable energy systems, solid-state lighting, energy efficiency in buildings, fundamental heat transfer studies, and engineering education. She holds a joint appointment with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory working on both energy efficiency and renewable energy systems.

She recently served as the Chair of the Council on Undergraduate Research Engineering Division and 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, where she received the US Department of Energy Office of Science Outstanding Mentor Award.

Alexandra is a second year PhD student at Rowan University seeking a specialization in Engineering Education. She began her research in Rowan's Experiential Engineering Education Department in the Fall of 2019, and has developed interests in entrepreneurial mindset and student development. In particular, she is interested in assessment of entrepreneurial mindset through both quantitative and qualitative methods, and is currently working in both survey and concept map assessment. She was awarded an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship in April 2022, and hopes to continue her research in entrepreneurial mindset assessment using narrative inquiry.

Krista is an Associate Professor of Practice in the Department of Engineering Education at The Ohio State University and the Director of the Fundamentals of Engineering for Honors Program. Krista received her B.S. in Aerospace Engineering at The Ohio State University in 2006 and received her M.S. from Ohio State in 2007. In 2012, Krista completed her Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering at Ohio State. Her engineering education research interests include investigating first-year engineering student experiences, faculty experiences, and the research to practice cycle within first-year engineering.

Elif is an early-career engineering education scholar and educator. She holds a B.S. in Chemical Engineering (with Genetics minor) from Iowa State University, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from The Ohio State University. Her early Ph.D. work focused on the development of bacterial biosensors capable of screening pesticides for specifically targeting the malaria vector mosquito, Anopheles gambiae. As a result, her diverse background also includes experience in infectious disease and epidemiology, providing crucial exposure to the broader context of engineering problems and their subsequent solutions. 

These diverse experiences and a growing passion for improving engineering education prompted her to change career paths and become a scholar of engineering education. As an educator, she challenges students to uncover new perspectives and dig deeper into the context of the societal problems engineering is intended to solve. As a scholar, she seeks to not only contribute original theoretical research to the field, but work to bridge the theory-to-practice gap in engineering education by serving as an ambassador for empirically driven educational practices.

Eduardo Rodríguez Mejía, Scout and professional Electronic Engineer. Originally from Colombia, Eduardo received a bachelors and M.Sc. in Electronics Engineering from Javeriana University in Bogotá, were he's also worked as an adjunct professor since 2017 at the Electronics Engineer Department. At the moment Eduardo is pursuing a Ph.D. in Engineering Education at Rowan University.

Martha L. Cano Morales is an Engineering Education Ph.D. student at Rowan University, AAUW International fellow and Faculty at Universidad Javeriana. She began her career as an Electronic Engineer in the automotive industry and obtained a master's degree in Critical and dependable Systems from Université Paul Sabatier in Toulouse, France. She ran her own company that provided electronic solutions for marketing and art exhibitions, at the same time that she worked as a University Instructor. After 6 years as an entrepreneur, she switched her roles to became a full-time Professor and continued as a consultant for projects with the industry.