2023 Annual Report
Our annual report is the best overview of our department's work for the past year, read on to see our:
From the Department Head
I’m delighted to be presenting our 2023 Annual Report! We started this tradition back in 2020, creating a space where each year’s achievements can be celebrated and documented for posterity. Life in this department is very fast-moving and it’s important to stop periodically and take stock of all we've accomplished. 2023 was a year in which we significantly sharpened our strategic focus and achieved a number of major milestones across all our programs:
Our General Engineering Program rolled out a new system of Change of Major requirements, allowing for our Academic and Career Advisors to support our students in making strategic and informed decisions about how to successfully navigate their transition to college. We also revamped our ENGE 1215 course to more intentionally build self-regulated learning strategies. After a highly successful pilot, we also deployed Undergraduate Teaching Assistants (UTAs) across all our first year courses. We recruited Dr. Hulya Dogan to round out our instructional faculty ranks, as well as Devin Erb and April Mullins as Academic and Career Advisors.
Our Interdisciplinary Programs saw the completion of our first year running the Interdisciplinary Capstone (IDC) course in the Spring, and in the Fall the launch of our new Interdisciplinary Project (IDPro) course, building out opportunities for College of Engineering students to meet the new Career Bridge Experience graduation requirement. We hired Robin Ott as our inaugural Interdisciplinary Programs Manager to build the industry sponsor relationships needed for these courses.
Our Ph.D. Program saw an impressive number of 11 graduates during 2023! Looking across the nation, we presently enroll about 25% of all the Ph.D. students in our field. Our Ph.D. students play a key role in supporting both our externally funded research and our undergraduate teaching.
During 2023, we also had a strong focus on supporting our faculty to achieve the high quality teaching, research and service at the heart of our reputation and impact. We rolled out our new Performance Review Standards guidelines, leading the way in the College of Engineering, especially in framing the requirements for the (still relatively new) Collegiate Faculty ranks. These requirements take shape in the individual meetings I hold with every single faculty member both in the Fall (formative planning meeting) and in the Spring (evaluation meeting following the Faculty Activity Report). Our energetic Promotion & Tenure Committee works closely with me in the annual fine-tuning of our Workload Guidelines, and also supports and evaluates faculty across major promotional milestones for each rank. During 2023, we also launched new Professional Development funding, to enable participation in external conferences and workshops for those faculty whose rank does not require them to source funding to support such activities.
We have also been working actively in building the resources we need for a high performing Department. In terms of space, we have been incredibly fortunate to get access to two major new developments on campus: one, The New Classroom Building, where our Frith First-Year Makerspace is now housed, and two, The Data & Decision Sciences Building, where we now have 5 faculty offices along with space for the faculty’s graduate advisees. In terms of financial resources, 2023 is the year where we pivoted from having to manage our COVID surplus through to a “new normal” involving tougher resource decisions. During 2023 we also had to manage a migration from Google to Microsoft, which we managed with relatively limited stress. We also undertook a major restructuring of our Business Operations team and supported the team with training by Virginia Tech’s Talent Performance team.
We have a strong culture of leadership and development. Our commitment to growth means we use our rotating leadership positions to develop leaders – and during 2023 it was exciting to continue to see our faculty go on to significant positions at Virginia Tech and beyond. A real highlight was the appointment of Dr. Bevlee Watford to the National Science Board! The last time a Virginia Tech faculty member served on the National Science Board was 1972. This is an extraordinary achievement.
We also take very seriously the annual calendar of traditions and events that keep our community connected. We run monthly faculty/staff meetings which feature high levels of engagement. We kick off the academic year with a tented picnic for faculty, staff and graduate students in front of Goodwin Hall. We run weekly seminars in our graduate program which are accompanied by informal coffee/pastries connections. In both Fall and Spring we celebrate the most important milestone for our graduate students and their families with a Commencement Celebration, and towards the end of Spring, we hold a celebratory social with our Advisory Board.
Thank you for all your interest in and support for our department. I hope you enjoy reading this record of our 2023 accomplishments.
Warm regards,
Jenni Case
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$349,957 | PI: Dr. Dayoung Kim
$81,089 | PI: Dr. Jake Grohs
$1,095,344 | PI: Dr. Walter Lee
Collaborating with Ohio State University and Vanderbilt University
$25,000 | PI: Dr. Diana Bairaktarova
Collaborating with University of Virginia
$699,706 | PI: Dr. Qin Zhu
$332,655 | PI: Dr. Andrew Katz and Dr. Marie Parietti
$197,016.00 | PI: Dr. Mark Huerta
Collaborating with University of Michigan
$944,231 | PI: Dr. Nicole Pitterson
Read more here.
Operationalizing, Validating, and Scaling Health Systems Citizenship Assessment in Undergraduate Medical Education
$69,843 | PI: Dr. Jake Grohs and Dr. Andrew Katz
Read more here.
Open Textbook, Problem Bank, and Assessment Environment for Mechanics of Materials
$49,750 | PI: Dr. Jake Grohs and Dr. Cassondra Wallwey
NOVA-VT ENGE Graduate Student Support Connection
$131,057 | PI: Dr. David Knight
Examination of Ethical Dilemmas Surrounding Generative AI and Public Discourse
$11,050 | PI: Dr. Andrew Katz
VT Sponsor: Institute for Society, Culture, and Environment (ISCE)
Teaching & Research in Undergraduate Engineering
$5,000 | PI: Dr. Clarke-Douglas and Dr. Ben Chambers
VT Sponsor: Office of Undergraduate Research
Medical Seed Pilot
$12,000 | PI: Dr. Jake Grohs
VT Sponsor: Industrial & Systems Engineering
Integrating Service Learning into Foundations of Engineering
$10,000 | PI: Matthew James
VT Sponsor: Office of General Education
Toward a Personalized, Cross-Cultural Learning Approach to Engineering Ethics Education in the First Year Engineering Classroom
$4,800 | PI: Dr. Qin Zhu
VT Sponsor: Center for Excellence in Teaching & Learning
Large Class Teaching Grant
$4,965 | PI: Dr. Tameka Clarke-Douglas, Dr. Cassondra Wallwey, and Dr. Michelle Soledad
VT Sponsor: Center for Excellence in Teaching & Learning
Artiles, M. S., Huggins, N., Matusovich, H. M., & Santiago, A. I. (2023). Exploring the Research Enterprise in a Hispanic-Serving Institution: A Systems Thinking-Informed Case Study of Graduate Advising in an Engineering College. International Journal of Engineering Education, 39(4), 976-985.
Artiles, M., Matusovich, H., & Knight, D. (2023). Doctoral Advisor Selection Processes in Science, Math, and Engineering Programs in the United States. International Journal of STEM Education, 10(1), 1-16.
Ashwin, P., Blackie, M., Pitterson, N., & Smit, R. (2023). Undergraduate students' knowledge outcomes and how these relate to their educational experiences: a longitudinal study of chemistry in two countries. Higher Education, 86(5), 1065-1080.
Basu, D., & Lohani, V. K. (2023). Learning and engagement with an online laboratory for environmental monitoring education. European Journal of Engineering Education, 48(5), 861-879.
Beauchamp, C., & Matusovich, H. M. (2023). A Mixed-Method Study Exploring Cyber Ranges and Educator Motivation. Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research and Practice, 2023(2), 7.
Blaney, J., Rodriguez, S.L., Stevens, A. (2023). Transfer Aspiring Community College Women in Computing: An Exploration of National Trends to Inform Efforts to Broaden Participation. Community College Review, 52(2).
Burleson, G., Lajoie, J., Mabey, C., Sours, P., Ventrella, J., Peiffer, E., ... Knight, D.B., & Aranda, I. (2023). Advancing Sustainable Development: Emerging Factors and Futures for the Engineering Field. Sustainability, 15(10), 7869.
Burmicky, J., Breeden, R.L., Lewis-Sessoms, M., Eddy, P.L., Rodriguez, S.L. (2023). Equity case studies on rural community colleges: A blueprint for campus change. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 1-17.
Camacho, L., Salinas, C., Vasquez, M., & Rodriguez, S.L. (2023). A Valued Based Leadership Approach to (Re)Defining Latino Manhood and Masculinity. International Journal of Leadership in Education.
Case, J. M., & Heydenrych, H. (2023). A New Chemical Engineering Curriculum for a New South Africa: Assessing the Impact of Duncan Fraser’s Three Decades of Educational Research and Reform. Process Integration and Optimization for Sustainability, 7(5), 957-970.
Clancy, R., & Zhu, Q. (2023). Why should ethical behaviors be the ultimate goal of engineering ethics education? Business and Professional Ethics, 42(1), 33-53.
Clancy, R., Bode, I., & Zhu, Q. (2023). The need for and nature of a normative, cultural psychology of weaponized AI (artificial intelligence). Ethics and Information Technology 25(1), 6 pages.
Coso Strong, A., Faber, C., Lee, W.C., Bodnar, C., Smith-Orr, C. & McCave, E. (2023). In Pursuit of Impact: Toward a contextualized theory of professional agency of engineering education scholars. Journal of Engineering Education. 112(1), 195-220.
Davis, K., Knight, D., Grohs, J., Grote, D., Mahmoudi, H., Perry, L., Triantis, K., Ghaffarzadegan, N., & Hosseinichimeh, N (2023). Comparing self-report instruments and scenario-based assessments of systems thinking competence. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 32, 793-813.
Davis, K. A., & Knight, D. B. (2023). Assessing learning processes rather than outcomes: using critical incidents to explore student learning abroad. Higher Education, 85(2), 341-357.
Davis, K. A., Jesiek, B. K., & Knight, D. B. (2023). Exploring scenario‐based assessment of students' global engineering competency: Building evidence of validity of a China‐based situational judgment test. Journal of Engineering Education, 112(4), 1032-1055.
Davis, K. A., Grote, D., Mahmoudi, H., Perry, L., Ghaffarzadegan, N., Grohs, J., ... & Triantis, K. (2023). Comparing self-report assessments and scenario-based assessments of systems thinking competence. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 32(6), 793-813.
Davis, K., Holloman, T., Deters, J., & Knight, D. (2023). Exploring Narratives of Researcher Development for Student Researchers Abroad. Studies in Engineering Education, 4(1): 1-25.
Deters, J. R., Holloman, T. K., Pearson, A., & Knight, D. B. (2023). Understanding Australian and United States Engineering Education Research (EER) contexts. Australasian Journal of Engineering Education, 28(1), 37-46.
Dogan, H. (2023). Displacement and the Politics of Identity: Reterritorialization of Ahıska Turk identity in the United States. Migration and Diversity, 2(1), 127-136.
Doran, E., & Hengesteg, P., Updegraff, A., Rodriguez, S.L., (2023). What You See Is What You Get: A Critical Analysis of Engineering Identity in Departmental Magazines. Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering, 30(5), 75-95.
Espino, M., Stevens, A., Rodriguez, S., & Le, B. D. (2024). Exploring How Socioeconomic Status and the S-STEM Scholarship Influence Engineering Identity Development for Community College Students. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 48(3), 175-180.
Fleming, G. C., Patrick, A. D., Grote, D., Denton, M., Knight, D., Lee, W., Borrego, M., & Murzi, H. (2023). The fallacy of “there are no candidates”: Institutional pathways of Black/African American and Hispanic/Latino doctorate earners. Journal of Engineering Education, 112(1), 170-194.
Gowen, G.H., Knight, K.E., Brooks, T.R., Ellis, C., Ogilvie, C.A., Perez, R.J., Rodriguez, S.L., Schweppe, N., Smith, L.L. and Smith, R.A. (2023). US Graduate Students’ Prevalence of Post-traumatic Stress Symptoms during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of Trauma Studies in Education, 2(1), 40-61.
Grote, D. M., Richardson, A. J., Lee, W. C., Knight, D. B., Hill, K., Glisson, H., & Watford, B. A. (2024). Lost in translation: Information asymmetry as a barrier to accrual of transfer student capital. Community College Review, 52(1), 3-29.
Hsing, H. -W., Bairaktarova, D., & Lau, N. (2023). Using eye gaze to reveal cognitive processes and strategies of engineering students when solving spatial rotation and mental cutting tasks. Journal of Engineering Education, 112(1), 125-146.
Ilbeigi, M., Bairaktarova, D., & Morteza, A. (2023). Gamification in Construction Engineering Education: A Scoping Review. Journal of Civil Engineering Education, 149(2), 13 pages.
Johri, A., Katz, A. S., Qadir, J., & Hingle, A. (2023). Generative artificial intelligence and engineering education. Journal of Engineering Education, 112(3), 572-577.
Katz, A., Main, J. B., Struck Jannini, A., & Knight, D. (2023). Special report: The research topics addressed and research methods applied in the Journal of Engineering Education (1993–2022). Journal of Engineering Education, 112(4), 852-860.
Kim, D., & Hess, J. L. (2023). A multi-layered illustration of exemplary business ethics practices with voices of the engineers in the health products industry. Journal of Business Ethics, 187(1), 169-183.
Kim, D., & Jesiek, B. K. (2023). Political ideologies and moral foundations of engineering professionals in the United States. Technology in Society, 75, 102379.
Lee, W. C., Hall, J. L., Josiam, M., & Pee, C. M. (2023). (Un) equal demands and opportunities: Conceptualizing student navigation in undergraduate engineering programs. Journal of Engineering Education, 112(4), 890-917.
Lutz, B., & Paretti, M. C. (2023). Examining the Setting of Significant Learning Events during the Engineering School-to-Work Transition. Education Sciences, 13(9): 871-890.
Martin, D. A., Clancy, R. F., Zhu, Q., & Bombaerts, G. (2023). Why do we need norm sensitive design? A weird critique of value sensitive approaches to design. Global Philosophy, 33(4), 40.
Mathieson, D., Cotrupi, C., Schilling, M., & Grohs, J. (2023). Resiliency through partnerships: Prioritizing STEM workforce pathways amid macro challenges. School Science and Mathematics, 123(3), 137-149.
Murzi, H., Torero, J., Sevilla, K., & Gattas, J. (2023) Impact of a Voluntary Extracurricular Research Program on Engineering Students' Sense of Belonging: An Exploratory Case Study. International Journal of Engineering Education, 39(2), 703-718.
Ogunseiju, O., Gonsalves, N., Akanmu, A., Bairaktarova, D., Agee, P., & Asfari, K. (2023). Sensing technologies in construction engineering education: industry experiences and expectations. Journal of Information Technology in Construction, 28, 482-499.
Ogunseiju, O. R., Akanmu, A. A., Bairaktarova, D., Bowman, D. A., & Jazizadeh, F. (2023). Assessment of Interactive Holographic Scenes in Learning Applications of Sensing Technologies in Construction Education. Journal of Civil Engineering Education, 149(4), 04023007.
Olayiwola, J., Akanmu, A., Gao, X., Murzi, H., & Afsari, K. (2023). Design and Usability Evaluation of an Annotated Video–Based Learning Environment for Construction Engineering Education. Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering, 37(6), 04023033.
Paretti, M. C., Case, J. M., Benson, L., Delaine, D. A., Jordan, S., Kajfez, R. L., . . . Zastavker, Y. V. (2023). Building capacity in engineering education research through collaborative secondary data analysis. Australasian Journal of Engineering Education, 28(1), 8-16.
Patrick, A. Y., Wisnioski, M. H., McNair, L., Ozkan, D. S., Reeping, D., Martin, T. L., ... & Haines, C. E. (2023). In it for the Long Haul: The Groundwork of Interdisciplinary Culture Change in Engineering Education Reform. Engineering Studies, 15(2), 144-167.
Pitterson, N. (2023). Teaching Complex Introductory Concepts in a Sophomore Circuits Course: A Descriptive Case Study. Education Sciences, 13(10), 1022.
Pitterson, N., Crimmins, S., Espera Jr., A., Hoffenson, S. (2023) Student reflections on the use of a market simulator in an engineering design course. International Journal of Engineering Education. 39(5), 1140 – 1153.
Perez, R.J., Motshubi, R., and Rodriguez, S.L. (2023). (Mis) Alignment of Challenges and Strategies in Promoting Inclusive Racial Climates in STEM Graduate Departments. AERA Open, 9. https://doi.org/10.1177/23328584231168639
Reeping, D., Lee, W.C., & London, J. (2023). Person-centered analyses in quantitative Studies about Broadening Participation for Black engineering and computer science students. Journal of Engineering Education, 112(3), 769-795.
Rodriguez, S.L., Ramirez, D., Lehman, K., Sax, L. (2023). Utilizing Community Cultural Wealth to Explore the Experiences of Latina Undergraduate Students in Computing. Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering, 29(3).
Schilling, M., Vicente, S., Johnson, T., Jefferson, N., & Matusovich, H. (2023). Considering leadership in engineering education: A call to action for research and practice. Journal of Engineering Education, 112(1), 18.
Soledad, M., Grohs, J., Murzi, H., & Knight, D. (2023). Instructors’ Beliefs on the Importance of Inter-Departmental Curriculum Planning for Engineering Student Learning. Studies in Engineering Education, 4(2), 122-143.
Wallwey, C., & Kajfez, R. L. (2023). Quantitative research artifacts as qualitative data collection techniques in a mixed methods research study. Methods in Psychology, 8, 100115.
Wen, R., Kim, B., Phillips, E., Zhu, Q., & Williams, T. (2023). Comparing norm-based and role-based strategies for robot communication of role-grounded moral norms. ACM Transactions on Human-Robot Interaction, 12(3), 1-25.
Wrobetz, A., Davis, K., Artiles, M. S., & Murzi, H. (2023). Engineering Students Learning Abroad: Experiences Captured via Longitudinal Video Reflections. IEEE Transactions on Education, 67(3), 423-433.
Zhu. Q., & Clancy, R. (2023). Constructing a role ethics approach to engineering ethics education. Ethics & Education, 18(2), 216-229.
Zhu, Q. (2023). Just hierarchy and the ethics of artificial intelligence: Two approaches to a relational ethic for artificial intelligence. Ethical Perspectives, 30(1), 59-76.
Alaa Abdalla - Bevlee Watford Outstanding Graduate Student award
Cheryl Beauchamp - Bevlee Watford Outstanding Dissertation Award
David Knight - promoted to Full Professor
Vinod Lohani - National Science Foundation Director’s Commendable Service Award
Nicole Pitterson - National Science Foundation CAREER award.
Susan Sajadi - Mara H. Wasburn Award, sponsored by the American Society for Engineering Education, Women in Engineering Division.
Lisa Schibelius - placed 2nd in Art, in the Virginia Tech Graduate School Art and Photo Contest.
Malle Schilling - recognized as an Emerging Engagement Scholar by the Engagement Scholarship Consortium.
Collaborative Honors and Awards
Best Paper Award Zone IV, American Society for Engineering Education
Rockwell Clancy
Qin Zhu
Best Paper Award from the Ethics Division, American Society for Engineering Education
Andrew Katz
Umair Shakir
Best Paper Award from the Student Division, American Society for Engineering Education
David Knight
Walter Lee
Hamid Taimoory
Undergraduate scholarship recipients:
2022-2023 recipients
H. Powell Chapman, Jr. Memorial Award - Zach Lowicki
Harry New Jones II Scholarship - Thomas Lu
2023-2024 recipients
H. Powell Chapman, Jr. Memorial Award - Jeremy West
Harry New Jones II Scholarship - Ivy Brundege
2023 fall cohort
Paul Bigby
Felicity Bilow
Katie Drinkwater
Mohammed El Kihal
Mitchell Gerhardt
Antarjot Kaur
Mayar Madboly
Bailey McOwen
Andres Nieto Leal
Fabiola Rosales Sanchez
Yi-Xing "Shawn" Sun
Passed Preliminary Exam
Abdulrahman Alsharif
Jeremy Brown
Yi Cao
Taylor Johnson
Malini Josiam
Stephen Moyer
Lisa Schibelius
Andrea Schuman
Hamidreza Taimoory
Received their Ph.D.
Alaa Abdalla
Yasi Gamieldien
Hannah Glisson
Benjamin Goldschneider
Qualla Ketchum
Taylor Lightner
Maya Menon
Amy Richardson
Umair Shakir
Sidd Sunil Kumar
Executive Team
Jenni Case, Department Head
Walter Lee, Assistant Department Head, Graduate Programs
David Gray, Assistant Department Head, Undergraduate Programs
Ben Chambers, Director of the Frith First-Year Makerspace
James Newcomber, Advising Coordinator
Monte Hager, Business Manager
Operations Team
Margo Currie, Senior Fiscal Technician
Tiffany Cunningham, HR & Operations Coordinator
Tamara Knott, Academic Programs Manager
Mariah Henderson, International Programs Administrator
Lucinda Shewchuk, Grant Support Specialist
John Tilton, IT Systems and Support Manager
Tenured and Tenure-Track Faculty
Dr. Diana Bairaktarova, Associate Professor
Dr. Jenni Case, Department Head
Dr. Jake Grohs, Associate Professor
Dr. Mark Huerta, Assistant Professor
Dr. Andrew Katz, Assistant Professor
Dr. Dayoung Kim, Assistant Professor
Dr. David Knight, Professor
Dr. Walter Lee, Associate Professor
Dr. Vinod Lohani, Professor
Dr. Holly Matusovich, Professor
Dr. Lisa McNair, Professor
Dr. Homero Murzi, Associate Professor
Dr. Marie Paretti, Professor
Dr. Nicole Pitterson, Associate Professor
Dr. Sarah Rodriguez, Associate Professor
Dr. Susan Sajadi, Assistant Professor
Dr. Bevlee Watford, Professor
Dr. Qin Zhu, Associate Professor
Instructional Faculty
Dr. Jennifer Benning, Instructor
Dr. Ben Chambers, Collegiate Assistant Professor
Dr. Tameka Clarke Douglas, Collegiate Assistant Professor
Dr. Hulya Dogan, Instructor
Dr. David Gray, Collegiate Assistant Professor
Matt James, Associate Professor of Practice
Dr. Jenny Lo, Senior Instructor
Dr. Juan David Ortega Alvarez, Collegiate Assistant Professor
Robin Ott, Professor of Practice
Dr. Michelle Soledad, Collegiate Assistant Professor
Catherine A. Twyman, Instructor
Dr. Natalie Van Tyne, Associate Professor of Practice
Dr. Cassondra Wallwey, Collegiate Assistant Professor
Undergraduate Advisors
Matt Cheatham
Jennifer Chin
Jessica Elmore
Devin Erb
Maia Greene-Havas
Alexis Miller
April Mullins
Daniel Newcomb
James Newcomer, Advising Coordinator
Alice Noble
Research Faculty
Hannah Glisson, Postdoctoral Associate
Tierra Holloman, Postdoctoral Associate
Rockwell Clancy, Research Scientist
Amy Richardson, Research Scientist
Natali Huggins de Murzi, Research Scientist
Our Mission
We offer a world-class education through exceptional advising, pedagogy, scholarship, and operational practices that empower informed career decisions and serve as a meaningful touch point for undergraduate and graduate engineering students at Virginia Tech.
We are a community of forward-thinking professionals who develop and disseminate knowledge, fostering cohesion between innovative research and practice.
Our Vision
We are a globally-recognized leader in preparing emerging engineers, educators, and scholars who work across technical, cultural and social boundaries to address contemporary challenges and serve the broader community.
We influence practice, advance knowledge, and shape careers in an environment that nurtures learning and growth within the field of engineering education.