Mojdeh Bahar
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
Managing Director, Technical Activities

Mojdeh Bahar is the Managing Director for Technical Activities at IEEE, world’s largest technical professional organization. Mojdeh joined IEEE after over two decades of Federal Service. In her last post at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), she served as the Associate Director for Innovation and Industry Services, the principal executive responsible for federal partnerships with industry on key strategic initiatives. At NIST, her portfolio included the Manufacturing Extension Partnership, Manufacturing USA, the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program, and Technology Transfer. She also worked on the implementation of the CHIPS Act. Mojdeh has led technology transfer and intellectual property management at USDA, served as a branch chief at NIH, an examiner at the USPTO and the elected chair of Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer. 

Keith A. Blanks
Space Dynamics Laboratory
Distinguished Scientist

Keith A. Blanks is Distinguished Scientist at the Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL), leading development efforts for Photonic Capabilities for the Space Environment. Prior to joining SDL, Dr. Blanks was the Senior Project Lead for active multispectral sensor phenomenology assessment and standards development at the Aerospace Corporation, and was previously a Chief Scientist at Booz Allen Hamilton, where he led design, development, test, and evaluation optical satellite communications technology. Dr. Blanks holds 6 patents related to his developmental work for frequency agile optical satellite communications. 

Daniel J. Bodony
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
Professor and Associate Dean

Daniel J. Bodony is a Donald Biggar Willett Faculty Scholar, Blue Waters Professor of Aerospace Engineering, Associate Dean for Research, and Associate Dean for Graduate, Professional, and Online Programs in the Grainger College of Engineering. He holds courtesy appointments in the Materials Research Laboratory (MRL), National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), and Mechanical Science and Engineering (MechSE), and co-directs the Center for Hypersonics and Entry System Studies (CHESS).

George Bollas
University of Connecticut
Professor, Director, Associate Dean

George Bollas is the Pratt & Whitney Endowed Chair Professor of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Director of the Institute for Advanced Systems Engineering, and Associate Dean for Research at the University of Connecticut. His research spans process systems engineering, AI for smart manufacturing, and sustainable energy technologies. He has partnered with over 100 industry professionals, including strategic industry sponsored programs for the University of Connecticut.

David Brennan
Trane Technologies
Vice President of Innovation and Product Management

David Brennan is the vice president of innovation and product management excellence at Trane Technologies, driving growth and development in product management and innovation for sustainability. With 9 years at the company, he has held various leadership roles, including global project management director and plant manager. Previously, he worked at General Electric and served as a US Navy SEAL officer. David holds a bachelor’s degree from the United States Naval Academy and a master’s degree from Georgetown University.

Harley Brigman
Boeing
University Partnerships Program Leader

Harley Brigman leads the University Partnerships Program within the Boeing Enterprise Technology Office overseeing strategic university relationships and sponsored doctoral research. This program is responsible for establishing and maintaining strategic alliances with university partners around the globe ensuring that enterprise R&D investments with universities enable a strong pipeline of talent and technology that supports Boeing’s long-term growth. 

Leonard Cassuto
Fordham  University / Chronicle of Higher Ed
Professor

Leonard Cassuto is a professor of English at Fordham University.  He has been a columnist on graduate education for the Chronicle of Higher Education since 2010.  He has written and edited ten books, including The Graduate School Mess (Harvard, 2015), The New PhD: How to Build a Better Graduate Education (Johns Hopkins, 2021), and most recently, Academic Writing as if Readers Matter (Princeton, 2024). 

Katrien Daemen-de Gelder
University of Ghent, Belgium
Policy Advisor

Dr. Katrien Daemen-de Gelder is a policy advisor at Ghent University, Belgium, with a focus on the employability of PhD graduates. Her work centres on the transition of PhD holders to the knowledge economy. In this capacity, she represents Ghent University in the PhD Talent Coordination team, an interuniversity initiative dedicated to facilitating and enhancing the integration of doctoral graduates into knowledge-intensive sectors. Katrien holds a PhD in English literature, which she obtained from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

Rian Lund Dahlberg
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Director, Board on Higher Education and Workforce 

Rian Lund Dahlberg is the Director of the Board on Higher Education and Workforce at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, where they focus on transforming STEMM career development pathways; expanding postsecondary education opportunities; and enhancing recruitment, retention, and innovation in STEMM. They joined the National Academies by way of a Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Fellowship, which they received while working on their doctorate in physics at Pennsylvania State University. 

Marla Dowell
EDGE Consortium and Dartmouth College
Executive Director

Marla L. Dowell is Executive Director of the EDGE Consortium, a national initiative led by Dartmouth and Indiana University to strengthen academic-industry partnerships in semiconductor workforce development. A recipient of the Presidential Rank Award, she previously held senior leadership roles at NIST. With a Ph.D. in physics from MIT and an MBA from the University of Colorado Boulder, she brings deep expertise in measurement science, cross-sector collaboration, and partnering with industry to advance innovation in critical sectors.

Nandika Anne DSouza
University of Texas at Dallas
Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives

Nandika Anne D’Souza is Professor (2024-present) of Mechanical Engineering and Associate Dean of Strategic Initiatives (ADSI) at the University of Texas at Dallas. She received her doctorate from Texas A&M University, College Station and her M.S. from Auburn University in Mechanical Engineering.  In her role as ADSI she develops flexible options  for workforce development for future and current learners for innovative technologies with undergraduate, graduate and experiential learning.  She was recognized as a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) in 2023 and Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) in 2013. She received the 2015 Distinguished Engineering Educator Award by the Society of Women Engineers (SWE).  

William Eberle
Tennessee Tech University
Assistant Dean of Graduate Education for the College of Engineering

William (Bill) Eberle previously worked for 18 years at General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, and MCI (Verizon), designing, developing, and managing diverse applications such as flight simulator, decision support, and fraud detection systems, and is currently doing research and teaching at Tennessee Tech University. Bill is also currently Co-Director of the Machine Intelligence and Data Science (MInDS) Center, and Assistant Dean of Graduate Education for the College of Engineering.

Kathleen Flint Ehm
National Science Foundation
Program Director

Kathleen Flint Ehm is a Program Director in the U.S. National Science Foundation Division of Graduate Education where she helps manage the NSF Research Traineeship and Innovations in Graduate Education programs. As a rotator, she is currently on loan from her home institution of Stony Brook University where she is Assistant Dean for Professional Development and Postdoctoral Affairs in the Graduate School. She specializes in postdoctoral policy, doctoral career development, and research mentoring. 

Thomas "Tom" English
Evonik
Director of Asset Management and Process Improvement

Tom Evonik is Director of Asset Management and Process Improvement at Evonik.  He leads a global team of asset managers and engineers responsible for strategic capital planning and optimizing manufacturing network utilization. Tom holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania where he is an inaugural member of the department’s External Advisory Board and an undergraduate chemical engineering degree from the University of Delaware.  He is an inventor on six US patents.

Mario Epler
Carpenter Technology Corporation
Global Director

Mario Epler is a global director in the R&D department of Carpenter Technology Corporation with responsibilities for Computational Modeling, Alloy Design, Characterization, and Process Technology. He holds a BS, MS, and PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from Lehigh University. His research interests include alloy design, melting, deformation processing, workability, heavy manufacturing, and ICME with an emphasis on practical applications of tools and theories in the metals industry. 

Eric R. Fossum
Dartmouth College
Vice Provost for Entrepreneurship and Technology Transfer, Director of PhD Innovation Program

Eric R. Fossum is the Krehbiel Professor for Emerging Technologies at Dartmouth’s Thayer School of Engineering. As Vice Provost for Entrepreneurship and Technology Transfer and Director of the PhD Innovation Program, he guides cutting‑edge imaging research and startup ventures. A Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering and National Medal of Technology and Innovation laureate and Emmy‑winning engineer, he invented the CMOS active‑pixel image sensor, used in six billion cameras each year. He has founded and led multiple tech firms.

Brady Gibbons
Oregon State University
Associate Dean for Research, Professor in the School of Mechanical, Industrial, & Manufacturing Eng.

Dr. Brady Gibbons is the Associate Dean for Research in the College of Engineering at Oregon State University. In this role his primary responsibility is to promote and support research programs and faculty. The overall mission of the office is to build new bridges between faculty, external stakeholders and collaborators, help faculty find and apply for funding opportunities, boost the College’s reputation for research, and grow industry funding.

Sudhir Gowda
IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center
Director of Academic Research Programs

Sudhir Gowda is Director of Academic Research Programs, based at the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center in Yorktown Heights, New York. Through its Academic Research Programs, IBM Research collaborates with leading faculty at institutions across the world to advance the frontiers of computing. Dr. Gowda has held various technical and leadership roles at IBM including Director of the IBM Research Frontiers Institute, a global collaboration of companies seeking to find breakthroughs in information technologies that could transform industries.

René Haak
German Embassy
Head of the Science & Technology Department

Prof. Dr.-Ing. René Haak has been the Head of the Science and Technology Department of the German Embassy in Washington DC since April 2021. Prior to coming to Washington DC he was the Head of the Unit Climate Research, Biodiversity Research and Global Change at the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

Peter J. Harries
NC State University
Dean of the Graduate School

Peter Harries, Dean of The Graduate School at NC State University, received his BS in Geology and Geophysics from Yale University and his PhD from the University of Colorado, Boulder in Geological Sciences with a concentration in Paleontology. He started his academic career at USF-Tampa and has been at NC State since 2015. He regularly presents on a range of aspects related to graduate education at various state, regional, and national conferences. 

Paul S. Idell
The Boeing Company
Senior Technical Fellow

Paul Idell is a Senior Technical Fellow at The Boeing Company with over 30 years’ industrial sector experience in electro-optical sensor system research, development, test, and verification. He received his B.S.E.E. from Lehigh University and a Ph.D. from Stanford and served as an officer in the U.S. Air Force. He takes pride in coaching and mentoring technical talent at Boeing and in the broader aerospace community. He resides in Southern California with his family. 

Teddy Ivanitzki
American Society for Engineering Education
Dir. Fellowship and Research

Teddy Ivanitzki is one of the Fellowship and Research Program Directors at the ASEE, where he manages various graduate and postgraduate fellowship grants. Before joining ASEE, he managed the Ethiopian Institute of Technology, implemented multiple, industry sponsored graduate programs, and served as dean of Engineering at DeVry University in Houston, TX.  Besides academia, he spent over 20 years in the industry, managing commercialization technologies in Europe, and the US, and was the CTO/CEO of a few high-tech startups. 

Himanshu Jain
Lehigh University
PI, NSF-IGE P3 Project

Himanshu Jain is the PI of the P3 project and T.L. Diamond Distinguished Chair Professor of Engineering and Applied Science at Lehigh University. In recent years, he has advocated for use-inspired research, and led the development of a new STEM doctoral workforce training model: Pasteur Partners PhD (P3) based on Industry-University partnerships. During 2024-2025 he served as an Intermittent Expert within the Division of Graduate Education at NSF. He is an author/editor of 12 patents, 10 books and over 420 research publications on glass science, technology and education.

Sean Jones
Argonne National Laboratory
Deputy Laboratory Director for Science and Technology

Sean L. Jones is deputy laboratory director for S &T for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory. Prior to Argonne, Dr. Jones worked for 15-years at NSF, serving as an NSF program director for Centers, National Facilities, instrumentation, iCorps liaison for MPS, sustainability efforts, and broadening participation initiatives.  He completed his time at NSF serving as the Assistant Director for the Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS).  

Nimmi Kannankutty
Elsevier
Vice President for Academic Relations (North America)

Nimmi Kannankutty recently completed 28 years of service at the National Science Foundation. Her most recent position was as the Director’s Senior Advisor for Strategy and Executive Liaison to the National Science Board. Previously, she was the Deputy Division Director of the NSF Division of Graduate Education, where she led NSF investments in interventions to improve the graduate experience.  She is currently the Vice President for Academic Relations (North America) for Elsevier.  

Mayuresh Kothare
Lehigh University
Assoc. Dean, P.C. Rossin School of Eng. and Appl. Science

Vinod Lohani
Virginia Tech
Professor

Dr. Lohani is a Professor of Engineering Education and adjunct faculty in Civil & Environmental Engineering at Virginia Tech. His research spans engineering and graduate STEM education, hydrology, and international/interdisciplinary collaboration. He served as a Director (Education and Global Initiatives) at an interdisciplinary research institute at VT, was an NSF Program Director (2020–2024) in Graduate Education, managing programs like NRT and IGE, and contributed to NSF-wide working groups on Quantum Information Science and Semiconductors.

Rainer Martini
Schaefer School of Engineering & Sciences
Associate Dean for Graduate Studies & Associate Professor of Physics

James L. Moore
National Science Foundation
Assistant Director

Dr. James L. Moore III is the Assistant Director at NSF for the Directorate for STEM Education (EDU), which supports science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) projects focusing on K-12 education, undergraduate and graduate education, workforce and human resource development, as well as learning in formal and informal settings. Dr. Moore comes to NSF from the Ohio State University, where he has served on the faculty since 2002. He is the first executive director for the Todd Anthony Bell National Resource Center on the African American Male and is the inaugural EHE Distinguished Professor of Urban Education at The Ohio State University. His research ranges from school counseling to gifted education to urban education to STEM education. A widely published and recognized scholar, Dr. Moore has secured nearly $50 million in funding and delivered presentations across the U.S. and internationally. 

Stephen Moysey
East Carolina University
Professor / Director

Stephen Moysey is the Director of the Water Resources Center at East Carolina University, a Professor of Geological Sciences, PI of a NSF NRT award, and founder of an AI-based technology company. He is an interdisciplinary researcher and academic leader who thrives on creative approaches to team-building and program innovation. Guided by a collaborative, team-based mindset, he focuses on strategies for launching new initiatives that bridge diverse disciplines and drive institutional growth. 

Vijaykrishnan Narayanan
The Pennsylvania State University
Evan Pugh University Professor and Associate Dean of Innovation for College of Engineering

Vijaykrishnan Narayanan is an Evan Pugh University Professor and Robert A Noll Chair of Computer Science and Engineering at The Pennsylvania State University. He also serves as Associate Dean for Innovation for the college of engineering. His research and teaching interests include computer architecture, design with emerging technologies and embedded systems. He is a fellow of National Academy of inventors, Association of Computing Machinery, IEEE and AAAS.

Dorit Nevo
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Professor of Management Information Systems at the Lally School of Management, Vice Provost and Dean, Graduate Education

Dorit Nevo is a Professor of Management Information Systems at the Lally School of Management and the Vice Provost and Dean for Graduate Education at RPI. She obtained her BA and MS in Economics and PhD in Management Information Systems. Previously, she held various program director roles as well as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the Lally School of Management. Dorit’s research focuses on interactions between computers and their users within the business environment, in the context of IS implementations. She also examines how individuals receive the advice of news algorithms, and the ethical implications of algorithmic errors in the news space.

Chevelle Newsome
Council of Graduate Schools
President

Chevelle Newsome became the seventh president of the Council of Graduate Schools in 2025, bringing deep expertise in graduate education leadership, policy development, and cross-sector collaboration. Formerly Dean of Graduate Studies at CSU Sacramento, she advanced over 50 programs and led transformative initiatives, including expanding doctoral education and supporting student success. She has held influential advisory roles and currently chairs the ETS Graduate Education Advisory Council. 

Steven Ogunwumi
Corning Incorporated
Program Director - Government and Academia

Steven Ogunwumi, Academia and Government Program Director at Corning Incorporated, earned his B.S. in chemistry from Lock Haven University and a Ph.D. in inorganic material chemistry from Purdue. Joining Corning in 1997, he led the Aluminum Titanate research, resulting in the DuraTrap AT product. A recipient of the 2006 Karl Schwartzwalder Award, Steven holds 39 U.S. patents and numerous publications. He is active in several professional groups, including ACERS and CGIF.

Arturo Pizano
Siemens Corporation
Program Manager, University Collaboration

Arturo Pizano is Program Manager, Siemens Research and Innovation Ecosystems in the US.  In this capacity he is responsible for establishing and maintaining relationships with US universities of strategic importance to Siemens R&D organization across the globe.  Arturo joined Siemens Technology as a Member of the Technical Staff in the Imaging and Visualization Department.  He became Program Manager in Multimedia Communications and Collaboration and later Head of the Multimedia and Video Technology Department.  Prior to joining Siemens, he worked as a Staff Scientist in the Software Research Center of Ricoh Corporation in Santa Clara, California.  Arturo holds a B.Sc. in Actuarial Science from the National Autonomous University of Mexico and a M.S. and PhD in Computer Science from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Laura Ray
Dartmouth College
Myron Tribus Professor of Engineering Innovation

Laura Ray is the Myron Tribus Professor of Engineering Innovation at Dartmouth College.  Her research focuses on system dynamics, control theory, and signal processing with application to robot mobility in unstructured terrain, machine intelligence, and sensor systems.  She is currently a faculty lead for the Interior Northeast I-Corps Hub and co-leads an NSF-funded National Research Traineeship focused on innovation in sensor technologies. Professor Ray received her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Stanford University and Princeton University, respectively.

Gerhard Schembecker
TU Dortmund University
Vice President Finance

Gerhard Schembecker holds the office of Vice President Finance at TU Dortmund University, Germany. As chemical engineer he has performed numerous joint PhD projects in cooperation with industry. Moreover, he co-founded the consultancy firm Process Design Center and the venture capital company b-value. He is a member of several advisory boards, among others of invite GmbH, a public private partnership with Bayer AG focusing on chemical production technology and drug delivery. 

Suzanne Shontz
University of Kansas
Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Programs, School of Engineering; Professor, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science; Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering

Dr. Suzanne M. Shontz is the Associate Dean for Graduate and Online Education in the School of Engineering and a Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Kansas (KU).  She is the Director of the Mathematical Methods for Interdisciplinary Computing Center within the Information Sciences Institute at KU.  In addition, she is a member of the ASEE Engineering Research Council Board of Directors.  

Keivan G. Stassun
Vanderbilt University
Director, Frist Center for Autism & Innovation

Keivan Stassun holds the Stevenson chair in Astrophysics, and holds secondary appointments in Computer Science and in Management, at Vanderbilt University. A MacArthur Fellow and 2025 recipient of the National Medal of Science, he has led major NASA missions (UVEX, AXIS, TESS) and contributed to national science policy through service on the National Science Board and multiple National Academy of Sciences committees. A prolific researcher with over 600 publications, he has mentored over 50 diverse PhD and postdoctoral scholars and founded programs like the Fisk-Vanderbilt Bridge and the Frist Center for Autism & Innovation. 

Christian Strowa
DAAD and DWIH New York
Director

Christian Strowa assumed the roles of Director of the DWIH New York and Director of the DAAD Regional Office New York in September 2024. Before his appointment in New York, he served as Head of the Division “Knowledge and Network” at the DAAD’s headquarters in Bonn, where he was responsible for the DAAD’s network of overseas offices, the international DAAD Academy iDA, third party funding and the Centre for International Academic Cooperation KIWi. Prior to this, he led the Section “Scholarship Programmes Asia and the Pacific” and served as Deputy Director of the DAAD’s London Office. He studies at University of Bonn, Germany, as well as NYU and UCL and held teaching positions at DCU in Dublin and UCL in London. 

Geanie Umberger
NSF Regional Innovation Engines
Program Director

Geanie Umberger is a Program Director in the NSF Regional Innovation Engines program with Cognizant oversight of multiple Engines, and advisor for the Engine’s partnership activities.  Previously she worked at Penn State as the Associate VP for Research, focusing on industry-government-PSU partnerships, and was Associate Dean for Engagement and Assistant VP for Industry Research at Purdue University.  Her expertise is in strategic research partnerships, and innovation -driven economic and workforce development. 

Nathan Urban
Lehigh University
Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs

Nathan Urban is Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs at Lehigh University, where he leads academic strategy and the university’s "Inspiring the Future Makers" plan. A neuroscientist and former leader at the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon, Urban focuses on enhancing research, student outcomes, entrepreneurship, and interdisciplinary education. A Rhodes Scholar and NIH-funded researcher, his scientific work explores neural circuits and sensory processing. He also serves on the Board of Ben Franklin Technology Partners. 

Vasu Venkateshwaran
W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.
Research Scientist

Vasu Venkateshwaran received his Ph.D. in chemical engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He is currently a Research Scientist at W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. and Adjunct Faculty in Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Delaware. Vasu was an Alan Tayler Visiting Lecturer at the Mathematical Institute, University of Oxford in 2021 and 2022. He has led a number of Industry - Academic collaborations including supervision of 2 doctoral thesis, 5 masters thesis, and serving on a post-doctoral advisory panel.