Entrepreneurially Minded Learning & Student Research

Dr. Dillon is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Portland where her research team is currently working on renewable energy systems, solid-state lighting, energy efficiency in buildings, fundamental heat transfer studies and engineering education. She is currently the Vice Chair of the Council on Undergraduate Research Engineering Division. Before joining the university, Heather worked for the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) as a senior research engineer working on both energy efficiency and renewable energy systems. She has received awards for mentoring undergraduate students including the US Department of Energy Office of Science Outstanding Mentor Award, and the Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Research Faculty Member from the University of Portland Provost. Dr. Dillon recently served as the Fulbright Canada Research Chair in STEM Education at the University of Calgary, Alberta.

Shane is an associate professor of environmental engineering at Clarkson University, owner of an environmental consulting firm, and indie rock artist with the band Bee Children. His research and development programs are driven by an exigency to improve access to life-bearing resources, achieve environmental sustainability, promote social and environmental justice, and develop healthy, vibrant global communities. He brings to the workshop experience designing and directing a long-running NSF-REU Site (ASSETs to Serve Humanity), an NSF-S-STEM program (ASPIRE: Academic Success Program to Improve Retention and Education for Underrepresented Students in STEM), immersive field-based programs (River University and the Adirondack Semester), academic year and summer camp programs for high-achieving high school students (MythOlympics and Young Scholars), and agricultural extension programs for farm waste to energy technologies. He also brings 12 years of experience directing international research and sustainable development programs including Clarkson’s Peace Corps Master’s International Program and chapters of Engineers Without Borders and Engineers for a Sustainable World, with water development and food security projects in Ethiopia, Uganda, and Ecuador.

A national expert women in STEM and innovative STEM education, Dr. Carpenter is Founding Dean and Professor of Engineering at Campbell University. She has over $4.3 million in federal funding and 130 publications/presentations. Jenna is past president of WEPAN, past Vice President of ASEE, and past First Vice-President of the MAA. For seven years she chaired the Steering Committee for the National Academy of Engineering Grand Challenge Scholars Program. She attended the White House 2011 Champions of Change Roundtable Event on Girls and Women in STEM. She is an ABET Program Evaluator, Co-Chair of the Joint Committee on Women (mathematical societies), Chair of the MAA Council on the Profession and on the Executive Committee of the Global Engineering Deans Council and the Executive Committee of Engineering Deans Council. She chairs the Pilot Ad Hoc Committee for the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine on the Gulf Scholars Program. In 2015 DreamBox Learning selected her as one of 10 Women in STEM Who Rock! for her advocacy work and TEDx talk, “Engineering: Where are the Girls and Why aren’t They Here?” Jenna received the WEPAN Service Award, WEPAN Founders Award and ASEE Sharon Keillor Award for Women in Engineering Education.

Rachel is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Engineering Education at The Ohio State University. She earned her B.S. and M.S. degrees in Civil Engineering from Ohio State and earned her Ph.D. in Engineering Education from Virginia Tech. Her research interests focus on the intersection between motivation and identity of undergraduate and graduate students, first-year engineering programs, mixed methods research, and innovative approaches to teaching. Dr. Kajfez is the faculty lead for the Research on Identity and Motivation in Engineering (RIME) Collaborative and co-director of the Toy Adaptation Program (TAP).

Ben teaches Computer Science at the University of Portland where his research focuses on applications of machine learning spanning from robotics to bioinformatics. He has also taught undergraduate and graduate students at Seattle University. His interest in entrepreneurial education stems from his experience as a cofounder of a robotics and automation company. He believes that an entrepreneurial mindset is a critical component of a well rounded liberal arts education.

Brooke is an Associate Professor in Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering at Marquette University. Her teaching and research interests focus on physical-chemical treatment processes for water and wastewater applications, including the mitigation of harmful pollutants such as pathogens, nutrients, and disinfection byproducts. For her work in these areas, Brooke was awarded a NSF CAREER grant, Marquette University’s Opus College of Engineering Outstanding Researcher Award, Marquette University’s Way Klingler Young Scholar Award, and Arizona State University’s College of Engineering Teaching Award. She currently holds the Opus College of Engineering Lafferty Professorship, through which she co-leads programming for improving engineering instruction, including KEEN EML elements, at Marquette University.

For an entrepreneurial mindset to be effective, creativity is paramount. The purpose of this tool is to aid participants in realizing their own creative capabilities through the intentional connection of making with art - demonstrating intrinsic value in personal creativity. Over the course of this project's implementation, participants will explore making throughout history, seek personal inspiration, and make a creative representation of a STEM principle.

This course introduces students to the use and design of measurement systems for engineering practice. The goal is to encourage students to engage with the material through their curiosity while balancing the feasibility of student generated ideas with available lab equipment.