Dr. Funmi Atilola

Funmi Atilola completed her doctorate degree in Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech in May 2014. She previously completed her undergraduate studies in Mechanical Engineering also at Georgia Tech in May 2007. She earned a Master’s degree, also in Mechanical Engineering, from the University of South Carolina, in Columbia, SC, in December 2008. At USC, she performed research on reducing noise and vibration in epicyclic spur gear trains in a research project sponsored by Apex Tool Group (formerly Cooper Power Tools). She published a thesis titled "Design and Noise Reduction of Spur Gear Systems". After receiving her Master's degree, she worked as an Associate Engineer in the Operations Engineering department of the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control until August 2010.

Funmi's doctoral research involved understanding how various design and engineering representations (such as drawings and 3D models) can improve the idea generation process and make engineers more creative as they design. She has also worked on the Mechanix project (http://www.sketchmechanix.com), which is a sketch recognition tutoring program developed to teach engineering students statics concepts and how to solve free body diagrams.

PhD Dissertation

The Effects of Representation and Analogy on Engineering Idea Generation

Graduation

Spring 2014

Publications:

Refereed Journal Papers:

1. Atilola, O., Tomko, M., Linsey J. (2016). "The Effects of Representation on Idea Generation and Design Fixation: A Study Comparing Sketches and Function Trees". Design Studies.
2. Atilola, O., Linsey, J., (2015). “Representing Analogies: A study comparing CAD, photographs, and sketches.”. Artificial Intelligence for Engineering Design, Analysis & Manufacturing (AI EDAM).
3. Atilola, O., Valentine, S., Kim, H., McTigue, E., Hammond., Linsey, J., (2014). 'Mechanix: A Natural Sketch Interface Tool for Teaching Truss Analysis and Free-Body Diagrams”. Artificial Intelligence for Engineering Design, Analysis & Manufacturing (AI EDAM).
4. Viswanathan, V., Atilola,. O., Esposito, N. and Linsey, J., (2014). “A Study on the Role of Physical Models in the Mitigation of Design Fixation,” Journal of Engineering Design.
5. Tsenn, J., Atilola, O., Linsey, J., McAdams, D., (2014). “The Effects of Time Incubation on Design Concept Generation”. Design Studies.

Refereed Conference Papers:

1. Atilola, O., Goodman, J., Nagel, K., and Linsey, J. "A Biologically Inspired Design Approach for Low Cost Solar Panel System", Proceedings of the 2014 ASME IDETC/CIE Conference, Paper Number DETC2014-35275, August 2014.
2. Atilola, O., Hammond, T., McTigue, E., and Linsey, J., “Mechanix: Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Sketch Recognition Truss Tutoring Program against other Truss Programs”, Proceedings of the 2013 ASEE Annual Conference, June 2013.
3. Atilola, O., Viswanathan, V. and Linsey, J., “A Study on the Representation of Examples in Learning Engineering Concepts”, Proceedings of the 2012 ASME IDETC/CIE Conference, Paper Number DETC2012-71262, August 2012.
4. Atilola, O., Vides, F., McTigue, E., Linsey J., Hammond, T., “Automatic Identification of Student Misconceptions and Errors for Truss Analysis”, Proceedings of the 2012 ASEE Annual Conference, June 2012.
5. Atilola, O., Osterman, C., Vides, F., McTigue, E., Linsey J., Hammond, T., “Mechanix: The Development of a Sketch Recognition Truss Tutoring System”, Proceedings of the 2012 ASEE Annual Conference, June 2012.
6. Atilola, O., Field M., Linsey, J., McTigue, E., Hammond, T., “Evaluation of a Natural Sketch Interface for Truss FBDs and Analysis”, Proceedings of the 2011 ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, October 2011
7. Atilola, O., Field M., Linsey, J., Hammond, T., McTigue, E., “Mechanix: A Sketch Recognition Truss Tutoring System”, Proceedings of the 2011 ASME IDETC/CIE Conference, Paper Number DETC2011-48439, August 2011.

Posters:

1. Atilola, O., Vides, F., McTigue E., Linsey, J., and Hammond, T., “MECHANIX: The Development of a Sketch Recognition Truss Tutoring System”, ASEE 2012 NSF Grantees Poster Session, ASEE Annual Conference, San Antonio, TX, June 10-13, 2012
2. Atilola, O., Osterman, C., Hammond, T., McTigue E., Green, M., and Linsey, J., “Mechanix: A Learning Tool for Trusses and Free-Body Diagrams”, Fifth Design, Computing and Cognition (DCC) Conference 2012, College Station, TX, June 5-9, 2012
3. Linsey, J., Hammond, T., McTigue, E., Atilola, O., and Osterman, C., “Collaborative Research: Enabling Instructors to Teach Statics Actively”, NSF 2012 EEC PI Poster Session, Arlington, VA, March 4-6, 2012
4. Atilola, O., “The Role of Human Cognitive Science in Engineering Design and Decision Making Processes”, ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conference, Washington, DC, August 29-31, 2011
5. Linsey, J., McTigue, E., Hammond, T., Field, M., and Atilola, O., “Sketched-truss recognition tutoring system: Improved student learning through active learning and immediate student feedback”, NSF 2011 CCLI-TUES Conference Poster Session, Washington, DC, January 26-28, 2011

Awards and Achievements:

• Georgia Tech Tower Award, 2014
• Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowship, Honorable Mention, 2013
• NSBE Graduate Student Scholarship, 2012
• NSBE Graduate Student Professional Conference Travel Scholarship, 2012
• Pinnacle Honor Society, Inducted April 2012
• Ford Foundation Pre-doctoral Fellowship, Honorable Mention, 2011
• ASME CIE CAPPD Graduate Research Poster Award and NIST Travel Grant Award, 2011
• Texas A&M University Regents’ Fellowship, 2010 – 2011
• Mechanical Engineering Departmental Fellowship, Texas A&M University, 2010 – 2011
• Texas Public Education Grant, State of Texas, 2010 – 2011
• Cause for Applause Award, SC Dept. Health & Env. Control – Reward and Recognition Program, 2010
• Apex Tool Group Fellowship, University of South Carolina, 2007
• Academic Pyramid of Excellence Honors & Torchbearer, NSBE, 2005, 2008
• Tower Academic Award, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2005
• University Leadership/Service Award, 2004
• HOPE Scholarship Recipient, State of Georgia, 2002 – 2006
• Dean’s List, Georgia Southern University & Georgia Institute of Technology, 2002 – 2006
• University Honors Program Scholarship, Georgia Southern University, 2002 – 2004

Leadership and Activities:

• Co-President, Georgia Tech Woodruff School Graduate Women, 2013 - 2014
• Judge, Student Research Week, Texas A&M University, 2011, 2012
• Judge, 9th Annual Pathways Student Research Symposium, 2011
• Music Director, GOFAMINT Summer Youth Camps, 2007 – 2010
• National Society of Black Engineers, Member (Honors), 2004 – Present

Contact: funmiatilola (at) gmail.com