Who We Are

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. 

From the Department Head

Although many of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are still with us and will be for a long time, 2022 was the year where we really managed to return to a “new normal.” As the Spring semester progressed, bringing with it the welcomed warmer weather and longer days, we also saw the end of the classroom mask mandate. There was much celebration at the end of this academic year, with first-year students busily in the Frith Makerspace finalizing their design projects, and our new cohort of Interdisciplinary Capstone students presenting their work to industry sponsors in an expo — see these projects in the article on page 22 in this report. We had a massive celebration when many of our Ph.D. graduates finally got the opportunity to “walk” in the commencement ceremony, and we were able to congratulate our Watford award winners in-person — read more about them on page 42. We were also delighted to resume traveling in our Rising Sophomore Abroad Program (RSAP) — read more about this on page 15 in this report!

During the Fall, we saw the fruits of an exceptional hiring season, welcoming five new tenured and tenure-track faculty (bringing that total to 19), two new collegiate faculty (bringing that total to six), and two new advisors (bringing that total to 10) — go to page 46 to read more about them. Our Department now has a full time complement of 50 faculty and staff, having grown by nearly a third over the last five years. This level of resource enables us to offer high quality education to close on 3,000 first year students and more than 50 PhD. All of this is underpinned by a vibrant and externally funded program in Engineering Education Research. During this same 5-year period, our tenure-track and tenured faculty have doubled their levels of funding and publications. During 2022, we celebrated a $3 million grant awarded from the NSF to a team of our faculty who will take the lead on a new multi-institutional partnership to support low-income students in engineering programs across the country — read more about it on page 12! This report also showcases the many awards and recognition that our faculty and students.

During this year, I have been served by an exceptional leadership team in the Department, with two new Assistant Department Heads, and an enlarged structure for my Executive Committee, bringing a greater diversity of voices into Departmental decision-making.

2022 also saw the first in-person Advisory Board Spring meeting since the pandemic, and following that the election of a new Chair and Vice-Chair to our Departmental Advisory Board, and the recruitment of three new energetic and skilled members. This group continues to be important external advocates for our work while also bringing fresh external perspectives on strategic priorities. You can get a sense of the value of this work by reading the article on page 18 highlighting their collective perspectives on the future priorities for the preparation of engineers.

Going forward, we have updated our Strategic Plan to guide the next five years of work. A key focus continues to be creating a space for focused development of talent — building a community where everyone can flourish. We have a renewed focus on strategic deployment of our resources — looking especially at space and finances, as well as improving our processes for graduate student funding. We are excited to be centrally involved in the planning of the new Frith Lab and adjacent classroom space in Mitchell Hall (the replacement for Randolph Hall). Inspired by the College Strategic Plan, we are having a relook at our undergraduate courses to make sure we have the best possible alignment with the outcomes that students will need for employment in a rapidly changing world. This runs alongside our work to more closely integrate our research and teaching as well as the operations that support these. Finally, we aim to lift the bar on building our reputation nationally and internationally, by smarter communication of the distinct set of niches in which we are making an impact.

This was really a very productive year with significant developments and achievements. The “new normal” is looking like a great place to be — after the worst of this pandemic we will certainly never again take for granted the joy of working together and interacting with our students. We are proud to present a documentation of the year’s highlights in this annual report. Thank you for your interest in and support for our work.

Warm regards,
Jenni Case

From early career faculty transitions to logic models to equity and inclusion in the engineering classroom, our faculty have published a wide variety of journal articles this year.

Artiles, M., & Matusovich, H. (2022). Doctoral Advisor Selection in Chemical Engineering: Evaluating Two Programs through Principal Agent Theory. Studies in Engineering Education, 2(2), pp. 120–140.

Artiles, M.S., & Matusovich, H.M. (2022) Choosing a Doctoral Advisor: A Study of Chemical Engineering Students? Perspectives Using Basic Needs Theory. International Journal of Engineering Education 38(5), 1212-1222

Benning, J., Shearer, C., Kellogg, S., & Oakes, W. (2022). Impact of Service Learning on Engineering Student Development. International Journal of Engineering Education 38(1), 253-263.

Boyd-Sinkler, K. E., Holloman, T. K., Pee, C. M., Lee, W. C., & London, J. S. (2022). Black Students in Undergraduate Engineering Programs: A Qualitative Systematic Review. Journal of Negro Education, 91(1), 112-124.

Case, J., & Blackie, M. (2022). Engineering Education Research for educational change: the possibilities of critical realism for conceptualising causal mechanisms in education. Southern Journal of Engineering Education, 1, 61-74.

Case, J. M., & Heydenrych, H. (2022). 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, 1-14.

Case, J. M., & Marshall, D. (2022). Knowledge-building in higher education research: analysing the work of a South African scholar, Suellen Shay. Teaching in Higher Education, 27(8), 962-978.

Clancy III, R. F., & Zhu, Q. (2022). Global Engineering Ethics: What? Why? How? and When?. Journal of International Engineering Education, 4(1), 4.

Davis, K., Deters, J., Ozkan, D., Davis, J., & Murzi, H. (2022). Exploring the Process and Outcomes of Leading a Study Abroad Program Using Real-Time Perspectives. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 34(2), 351-381.

Davis, K., Sanderlin, N., & Knight, D. (2022). Applying Organizational Lenses to Understand the Potential for International Research Experiences for Students to Catalyze Broader Internationalization. The Internationalisation of Higher Education and Research, 3, A.2.1-10.

Deem, R., Case, J. M., & Nokkala, T. (2022). Researching inequality in higher education: tracing changing conceptions and approaches over fifty years. Higher Education, 84(6), 1245-1265.

Denton, M., Borrego, M., & Knight, D. B. (2022). US postdoctoral careers in life sciences, physical sciences and engineering: Government, industry, and academia. Plos one, 17(2), e0263185.

Deters, J., Holloman, T. K., Grote, D., Taylor, A. R., & Knight, D. (2022). Critically Examining the Role of Habitus for Minoritized Students in a Global Engineering Program. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 34(4), 172-205.

Espino, M. L., Rodriguez, S. L., & Le, B. D. (2022). A systematic review of literature: Engineering identity and students with financial need in community colleges. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 46(5), 352-363.

Francis, R. A., Paretti, M.C., & Riedner, R. (2022). Theorizing Engineering Judgment at the Intersection of Decision-Making and Identity. Studies in Engineering Education, 3(1), 79–98.

Froehle, K., Dickman, L., Phillips, A. R., Murzi, H., & Paretti, M. (2022). Understanding Lifelong Learning and Skills Development: Lessons Learned from Practicing Civil Engineers. Journal of Civil Engineering Education, 148(4).

Grote, D. M., Richardson, A. J., Glisson, H. E., Knight, D. B., Lee, W. C., & Watford, B. A. (2022). Engineering community college transfer pathways through pre‐transfer programs. New Directions for Community Colleges, 2022(198), 77-91.

Howland, S. J., Kim, D., & Jesiek, B. K. (2022). Senior engineering students’ Reflection on their learning of ethics and morality: A qualitative investigation of influences and lessons learned. International Journal of Ethics Education, 7(1), 171-199.

Huang, W., London, J.S., Perry, L.A. (2022). Project-based Learning Promotes Students’ Perceived Relevance in an Engineering Statistics Course: A Comparison of Learning in Synchronous and Asynchronous Learning Environments. Journal of Statistics and Data Science Education, 00(0), 1-9.

Huerta, M., London, J., & Mckenna, A. (2022). Engineering Deans’ Perspectives on the Current State of Faculty Development Programs in Engineering Education. International Journal of Engineering Education, 38(4), 1073-1091.

Jalali, Y., Matheis, C., & Lohani, V. K. (2022). Imagination and Moral Deliberation: A Case Study of an Ethics Discussion Session. International Journal of Engineering Education, 38(3), 709-718.

Katz, A., & Main, J. (2022). Applying Concepts from Political Science and Economics to Advance the Study of Engineering Education. Studies in Engineering Education, 3(1), 28–52.

Kim, D., Jesiek, B. K., & Mazzurco, A. (2022). Development and validation of the sojourn readiness assessment (SRA): Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis and translation to Chinese. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 88, 95-105.

Klassen, M., & Case, J. M. (2022). Productive tensions? Analyzing the arguments made about the field of engineering education research. Journal of Engineering Education, 111(1), 214-231.

Lee, W. C., Hall, J. L., Godwin, A., Knight, D. B., & Verdín, D. (2022). Operationalizing and monitoring student support in undergraduate engineering education. Journal of Engineering Education, 111(1), 82-110.

Lee, W. C., & Rodriguez, S. L. (2022). Reimagining STEM Higher Education Research: Part 1. Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering, 28(2), v-ix.

Lim, T. C., Wilson, B., Grohs, J. R., & Pingel, T. J. (2022). Community-engaged heat resilience planning: Lessons from a youth smart city STEM program. Landscape and Urban Planning, 226, 104497.

London, J.S., Douglas, E.P., Loui, M.C. (2022). Guest Editorial: Introduction to the Special Themed Section on Engineering Education and the COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of Engineering Education, 111(2), 275-276.Accessible at: http://doi.org/10.1002/jee.20457

London, J. S., Lee, W. C., Watford, B. A., Ash, C. H., Holloman, T., Pee, C. M., & Hampton, C. (2022). Climbing Uphill: Toward a Common Agenda for the Advancement of Black Americans in Engineering. Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering, 28(3), 101-118.

McArthur, J., Blackie, M., Pitterson, N., & Rosewell, K. (2022). Student perspectives on assessment: connections between self and society. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 47(5), 698-711.

McCord, K. H., Ayer, S. K., Perry, L. A., Patil, K. R., London, J. S., Khoury, V., & Wu, W. (2022). Student Approaches and Performance in Element Sequencing Tasks Using 2D and Augmented Reality Formats. Education Sciences, 12(4), 247.

Miska, J. W., Mathews, L., Driscoll, J., Hoffenson, S., Crimmins, S., Espera Jr, A., & Pitterson, N. (2022). How do undergraduate engineering students conceptualize product design? An analysis of two third‐year design courses. Journal of Engineering Education, 111(3), 616-641.

Mogashana, D., Case, J. M., & Williams, K. (2022). How ADP students navigate enablements and constraints of the programme: an exploration of structure and agency. South African Journal of Higher Education, 36(2), 204-221.

Norris, M. B., Grohs, J. R., & Knight, D. B. (2022). Investigating student approaches to scenario-based assessments of systems thinking. Frontiers in Education, 7. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2022.1055403

Novoselich, B. J., & Knight, D. B. (2022). Measuring a moving target: Techniques for engineering leadership evaluation and assessment. New Directions for Student Leadership, 2022(173), 63-71.

Ogunseiju, O. R., Gonsalves, N., Akanmu, A. A., Bairaktarova, D., Bowman, D. A., & Jazizadeh, F. (2022). Mixed reality environment for learning sensing technology applications in Construction: A usability study. Advanced Engineering Informatics, 53, 101637.

Paradise, T., Chowdhury, T., Davis, K., Murzi, H., & Soledad, M. (2022). Developing Global Competency Virtually: Student Experiences in a Global Program That Transitioned Online due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Study Abroad, 34(2), 56-80.

Paradise, T., Schilling, M. R., Grohs, J., & Laney, J. L. (2022). Teacher Experiences in a Community-Based Rural Partnership: Recognizing Community Assets. Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research (J-PEER), 12(1), 3.

Perez, R. J., Motshubi, R., & Rodriguez, S. L. (2022). “We are a huge source of labor”: Exploring STEM Graduate Students’ Roles in Changing Departmental Climate. The Review of Higher Education, 46(1), 33-66.

Rodriguez, S. L., Doran, E. E., Sissel, M., & Estes, N. (2022). Becoming la ingeniera: Examining the engineering identity development of undergraduate Latina students. Journal of Latinos and Education, 21(2), 181-200.

Rodriguez, S. L., & Lee, W. C. (2022). Reimagining STEM Higher Education Research: Part 2. Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering, 28(3), v-viii.

Rodriguez, S. L., Perez, R. J., & Schulz, J. M. (2022). How STEM lab settings influence graduate school socialization and climate for students of color. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 15(1), 58-72.

Smith, N. L., Grohs, J. R., & Van Aken, E. M. (2022). Comparison of transfer shock and graduation rates across engineering transfer student populations. Journal of Engineering Education, 111(1), 65-81.

Szöke, M., Katz, A., Borgoltz, A., & Devenport, W. (2022). Development of Hybrid Laboratory Sessions during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Advances in Engineering Education, 10(2), 80-100.

Tan, L., Bradburn, I. S., Knight, D. B., Kinoshita, T., & Grohs, J. (2022). SAT patterns and engineering and computer science college majors: an intersectional, state-level study. International Journal of STEM Education, 9(1), 68.

Wallwey, C., Longmeier, M. M., Hayde, D., Armstrong, J., Kajfez, R., & Pelan, R. (2022). Consider “HACKS” when designing hackathon challenges: Hook, action, collaborative knowledge sharing. Frontiers in Education, 7. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2022.954044

West, P., Paige, F., Lee, W., Watts, N., & Scales, G. (2022). Using Learning Analytics and Student Perceptions to Explore Student Interactions in an Online Construction Management Course. Journal of Civil Engineering Education, 148(4), 05022001.

Younes, R., & Bairaktarova, D. (2022). ViTA: A flexible CAD-tool-independent automatic grading platform for two-dimensional CAD drawings. International Journal of Mechanical Engineering Education, 50(1), 135-157.

ENGE Graduate Students who Passed the Preliminary Exam
Amy Richardson, Qualla Ketchum, Yasir Gamieldien, Maya Menon*, Carol Geary, Isil Anakok, Karen Martinez Soto, Jazmin Jurkiewicz, Sidd Kumar & Julia Brisbane

*In the printed annual report, Malini Josiam's photo was accidentally printed instead of Maya Menon. This has been corrected in the web version of the report.

Undergraduate Scholarship Recipients

Dr. Diana Bairaktarova

Named to editorial advisory board for the International Journal of Engineering Education

Dr. David Gray

Undergraduate Research Advisor Award 

Lynn Nystrom Award (incl. his undergraduate Research Team)

Dr. Jeremi London

Promoted to Associate Professor with tenure 

Dr. Ben Chambers

Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching

Dr. Homero Murzi

Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching

Dr. David Knight    

COE Outstanding Mentor Award, VT Graduate School

Named Co-Editor of the Journal of Engineering Education

Wickenden Honorable Mention

Dr. Marie Paretti

2022 Ronald S. Blicq Award for Distinction in Technical Communication Education

Co-recipient of the Rudolph J. Joenk Jr. Award for Best Paper in the IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication

Dr. Holly Matusovich

2022 Alumni Award for Excellence in Graduate Academic Advising at Virginia Tech

Appointed as Associate Dean for Graduate and Professional Studies, College of Engineering

Dr. Bevlee Watford

The Student Engineers’ Council at Virginia Tech endowed a $100,000 scholarship named the Bevlee Watford Inclusion Scholarship for incoming engineering students.

Dr. Lisa McNair

Alumni Award for Outreach Excellence (Team Achievement)

Dr. Chelsea Lyles

Alumni Award for Outreach Excellence (Team Achievement)

Dean Julie Ross

2022 Outstanding Woman Leader in Virginia Higher Education

Isil Anakok

Edward A. Bouchet Graduate Honor Society Inductee

Lisa Schibelius

Named new associate members of VT Graduate Academy for Teaching Excellence

Karen Martinez-Soto

Named new associate members of VT Graduate Academy for Teaching Excellence

Dr. Sarah Blackowski

Virginia Tech Graduate School’s Teaching Excellence Award, Graduate Instructor of Record

Dr. Kai Jun Chew

Dr. Bevlee A. Watford Outstanding Doctoral Student

Dr. Janice Hall

Dr. Bevlee A. Watford Outstanding Dissertation Award

Dr. David Reeping

2022 Wickenden Honorable Mention

Dr. Cassandra McCall

2022 Wickenden Award

Adam Masters

2022 Wickenden Award

2022 was an exciting year for our department! Whether team members transitioned to new roles at Virginia Tech, outside the institution, or just joined Engineering Education, we've had tremendous growth. Read about our 2022 transitions and new arrivals, or see how department looks right now in the directory.