Andrew Katz, Ph.D.

Research Statement

Engineers make a lot of decisions that affect myriad people. I think there are better and worse ways to make these decisions, and we should do what we can to push the balance more toward the better and away from the worse. To this end, I am interested in (a) understanding and (b) improving the societal impacts of engineering and engineering education. At the moment, I do this by looking at how engineers, students, and faculty members make normative decisions within their specific organizational and institutional contexts. The goal is for this work to inform intelligent mechanism and institutional designs within the broader engineering ecosystem.

Biography

Andrew Katz is an assistant professor in the Department of Engineering Education at Virginia Tech. He received his Ph.D. in engineering education from Purdue University, has a master’s degree in environmental engineering from Texas A&M University and a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Tulane University. His research focuses on engineering ethics, decision-making, and system development. To do this, he examines topics such as faculty mental models of engineering ethics and education, processes of change in ethics education, and students’ views of ethics and social responsibility.

Dr. Katz has taught in both higher and basic education learning environments. He served as faculty apprentice for an advanced research methods graduate course at Virginia Tech, and developed and served as Instructor of Record for the graduate course Environmental Engineering Ethics and Society at Purdue University. Prior to pursuing doctoral studies, he taught AP Physics at the Jesuit College Preparatory School in Dallas, Texas.

Dr. Katz completed his doctoral studies through a Graduate Research Fellowship from the National Science Foundation. He received the 2019 K. Patricia Cross Future Leaders Award, which “recognizes graduate students who show exemplary promise as future leaders of higher education; who demonstrate a commitment to developing academic and civic responsibility in themselves and in others; and whose work reflects a strong emphasis on teaching and learning,” one of seven recipients of this honor.

Dr. Katz strives to look for ways to make the world a little better by helping others make the world a little better through their work.

Awards & Honors

• K. Patricia Cross Future Leaders Award, 2019
• Graduate Research Fellowship, National Science Foundation, 2016-19
• PGSG Travel Grant Award, Purdue University, 2018
• Citizen Scholar Engagement Award, Virginia Tech, 2016
• NSF Water Scholarship, Texas A&M University, 2010-12
• Terracon Fellowship, Texas A&M University, 2010-12
• Dean’s Honor Scholarship, Tulane University, 2005-09
• Member, Tau Beta Pi, Engineering Honor Society
• Member, Omega Chi Epsilon, National Chemical Engineering Honor Society

Selected Publications

• Katz, A., & Riley, D. (2018). Learning from failures: Engineering education in an age of academic capitalism. Paper presented at the American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference, Salt Lake City, UT.

• Nittala, S., Zephirin, T., Howland, S. M. J., Kim, D., Katz, A., & Jesiek, B. K. (2018). Investigating influences on first-year engineering students’ views of ethics and social responsibility. Paper presented at the American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference, Salt Lake City, UT.

• Katz, A. & Knight, D. (2017). Factors related to faculty views of undergraduate engineering ethics education. Paper presented at the American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference, Columbus, OH.

• Davis, M., Herkert, J., Loui, M., Nair, I., Pfatteicher, S., Pritchard, M., & Katz, A. (2017). Telling it like it was: Histories of change in engineering ethics education. Panel Session at the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics Annual Conference, Dallas, TX.

• Katz, A. (2016). Addressing the state of higher education in State of the Union Addresses. Paper presented at the Association for the Study of Higher Education Annual Conference, Columbus, OH.

• Katz, A. (2016). The revealing effects of disaster: A case study from Tulane University. Paper presented at the American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference, New Orleans, LA.

• Katz, A., Lambrinidou, Y., Riley, D.M. (2016). Shadow codes of engineering ethics: An experiment in ethics imaginaries. Paper presented at the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics Annual Conference, Reston, VA.

• Riley, D.M. & Katz, A. (2015). Educating for a revolution: Discerning together the Highlander idea and its lessons for ESJP’s work. Paper presented at the Engineering, Social Justice, and Peace Annual Conference, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico.