EESD Affiliates
Current Students
Ieshya Anderson
Focus:
- Exploring culturally responsive education in STEM
- Participatory engineering
- Curricular design and instructional strategies for engineering education
- Perceptions of engineering in communities
Lili Castillo
Lili Castillo
Focus
- Engineering identity formation
- Latino/a/x and first-generation college student pathways through engineering
- Sense of belonging and persistence through engineering
- First-year engineering experience programs
Fantasi Nicole (Curry)
Focus:
- Scholar-activism and acts of resistance as empowerment among Scholars of Color in engineering
- Race and gender studies in engineering graduate programs
- Experiences of Black doctoral students in engineering
Rachel Figard
Focus:
- Learning-based technologies
- STEM education policy
- Accessibility in STEM fields for students with disabilities
Ulises Trujillo Garcia
Ulises Trujillo Garcia
Focus
- Increase retention in engineering through mentorship
- Increase sense of belonging and engineering identity
- Develop instructional strategies for a more inclusive curriculum
- Experiences of Latino/x students with migrant and farm working backgrounds
Michael Greene

Focus:
- Broadening participation in engineering
- Black engineering graduate student experience
- Novel instructional strategies/pedagogy
Jemal Halkiyo
Focus:
- Exploring barriers to quality international engineering education
- Theory to practice disconnect in engineering teaching and learning in Ethiopia
- Diversifying engineering education in Ethiopia, specifically gender diversity
Madeleine Jennings
Madeleine Jennings
Focus:
- Critical theory in engineering education
- LGBTQIA+ engineers and engineering students
- Human systems engineering
- General education research
Sanjeev Kavale
Focus:
- First-year engineering education
- Problem and project-based learning
- Cooperative learning
- Engineering design
Javeed Kittur
Javeed Kittur
Focus:
- Persistence of students in online undergraduate engineering courses
- Data analytics in engineering education
- Engagement of novice engineering education researchers in conducting engineering education research
- Engineering faculty preparedness in cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains of learning
Cecilia La Place
Cecilia La Place
Focus:
- Hackathons
- Lifelong learning
- Self-regulated learning
- Knowledge Transfer
- Diversity and Inclusion in STEAM
Yue Liu
Marcus Vinicius Melo de Lyra
Focus:
- Teaching methods to improve effective undergraduate learning
- Curricular experiences for engineering faculty training at the undergraduate level
- Encouraging entrepreneurship and innovation mindset in engineering classroom
Christopher Mar
Carlos Perez
Focus:
-
mastery-based learning
-
learning interventions
-
alternative pedagogy
-
student sense of belonging and identity
Hadley Perkins
Focus:
- Curriculum design
- Virtual instruction and distance learning
- Faculty development
Eric Prosser
Diego Reyes

Diego Reyes
Focus:
- Creating and strengthening pathways to engineering
- Breaking down barriers that exist in engineering
- Building pathways between community colleges and universities
Abimelec Mercado-Rivera
Susan Sajadi
Focus:
- Adaptability of the engineering workforce
- Broadening participation in engineering through diversity, equity and inclusion
Himani Sharma
Focus:
- Defining and developing frameworks to improve education for future engineers
- Design-based learning methodologies
- Student experiences in undergraduate and graduate engineering education
Bala Vignesh Sundaram
Bala Vignesh Sundaram
Focus:
- Teacher empathy within the field of engineering education
Thien Ta
Katreena Thomas
Katreena Thomas
Focus:
- Broadening participation in engineering, engineering leadership, and graduate student experiences in engineering
- Read more about Thomas’s goals to make engineering more diverse and inclusive
Amy Trowbridge
Focus:
- Curricular and co-curricular experiences to broaden and enhance student perspectives
- Grand Challenge Scholars Program
Amy.Trowbridge@asu.edu
(480) 965-4830
Zhen Zhao
Focus:
- Engineering graduate student professional skills development, specifically the interconnection between leadership and mentorship
- Evaluation of engineering education and outreach program processes, outcomes and impacts
- Engineering graduate student attrition
Alumni
Rohini Abhyankar
Rohini Abhyankar
Postdoctoral Fellow
Penn State Leonard Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Education
Focus:
- Acculturation dynamics and outcomes in engineering workplaces
- Faculty development: Risk-taking and additive innovation
- Professional pathways for graduating engineers: Socializer influence
Hadi Ali

Hadi Ali
Assistant Professor of Aerospace Engineering
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Focus:
- Adaptability, risk-taking and value making
- Design and performance of higher education actors and institutions
- Work of the future
“I found the Poly campus to be unique from first sight. Dr. McKenna was the director at the time of my first visit. I knew I was going to be back to this campus to pursue my doctoral studies in engineering education systems and design—a program that was still in the making when I first visited. I found a unique niche in this program, being one that is focused on the “systems and design” of the educational enterprise—an area that appeals to me. In my prior graduate studies, I met with Norm Augustine, a well-known figure in aerospace who has shaped the innovation policy of science and technology in the U.S. When I explained my interests and background to him, he immediately encouraged me to study education as a system. There was no other place for me to pursue my ideas other than ASU, and no other Ph.D. advisor who could harness my diverse interests other than Dr. McKenna. I’m thankful for great times with the faculty, friends and colleagues in EESD, The Polytechnic School, the Graduate and Professional Students Association, Changemaker Central, the Decision Theater and the ASU Karate Club.”
Wen Huang

Wen Huang
Postdoctoral fellow at Southern Methodist University – Simmons School of Education and Human Development
Focus:
- Multimodal learning
- Embodied cognition
- Advanced pedagogy in education, particularly in STEM education
“ASU’s EESD program is the place where I started my research dream. Thanks to the faculty, course instruction and research guidance for helping me find my research interests and conduct meaningful studies during my PhD education. In general, I have formed two research directions: the pedagogy of engineering course instruction and the interactive learning environment. I will explore the potential of integrating the interactive learning environment into the engineering/STEM course instruction during my post-doctoral period.”
Mark Huerta
Mark Huerta
Assistant professor
Department of Engineering Education, Virginia Tech
Focus:
- authentic and experiential learning
- project-based learning in first-year design courses
- service learning in engineering education
- humanitarian engineering
- professional development and mentorship
- mindfulness in engineering education
“Through the EESD program, I was able to connect with outstanding faculty that are passionate about improving engineering education. I developed a systems-level view of engineering education and learned the best practices for conducting effective research within the field. The EESD program also helped shape my teaching perspective and prepared me well to be a successful faculty member.”
Eunsil Lee
Eunsil Lee
Assistant Professor
University of Buffalo
Focus:
- sense of belonging & Inclusion
- interpersonal interactions
- underrepresented
- underserved students
“Every experience in the EESD program was learning that prepared me as an educator and researcher in engineering education. I learned how to conduct research while being involved in the rigorous research processes within the community of faculty and peers who respect and value different perspectives. I learned how to teach and mentor students through my first-hand experience of being supported by my advisors and other faculty members in the EESD program who truly care about their students. And now, I am witnessing how my learning in the EESD community is translating into practice in my current position – Thank you, EESD!”
Michael Sheppard
Michael Sheppard
Adjunct Faculty
Colorado School of Mines
Engineer
Certa Scientia Consulting
Focus:
- Multidisciplinary engineering curriculum design
- Strengths-based research
- Military veterans in engineering
- Transitions of survivors of trauma
“Never have I felt more supported in my academic pursuits than during my time as a student of the engineering education systems and design program at ASU. The faculty fostered my development as a researcher of engineering education and adjacent fields such as healthcare, quality and social justice. Through my studies and experiences, I have gained a better understanding of research-based teaching practices which continue to inform my decisions as a practitioner of engineering instruction and operational efficiency in industry.”
Other affiliates
Imane Aboutajedyne
Imane Aboutajedyne
Fulbright Scholar
Arizona State University
Focus
- Learning experience design
- Systemic design and learning environments
- Context-centered design and faculty development
Medha Dalal
Medha Dalal
Postdoctoral research scholar
Arizona State University
Focus:
- Pre-college engineering education
- Ways of thinking
- Engineering curiosity
Debalina Maitra
Debalina Maitra
Postdoctoral research scholar
Arizona State University
Focus:
- Anti-racist pedagogy
- Culturally responsive pedagogy
- Funds of knowledge
- Doctoral experiences of women of color in engineering
- Engineering experiences of under-represented groups of students
- Faculty development – recognizing implicit biases
- Role strain of immigrant scholars and faculties
- Qualitative research methods
Jeane Sanders
Jeanne Sanders
Postdoctoral research scholar
Arizona State University
Focus:
- GRSM equity and inclusion
- Advocacy development
- Power analysis