KEEN+ Ambassadors
Leadership. Impact. Value.
Congratulations to the inaugural cohort of KEEN+ Ambassadors!
KEEN+ Ambassadors are members of KEEN Partner institutions who hold leadership roles in their professional societies at the regional or national level. This is a new program that will help spread the word about the entrepreneurial mindset (EM) and how it can impact student learning and faculty teaching.
The KEEN+ Ambassadors will serve as liaisons to their professional societies and promote EM and KEEN to society members. They will perform the following:
- Attend a virtual training in the fall of 2020 in order to identify shared vision & value between professional societies and KEEN.
- Create collaborative activities around EM for both KEEN and the professional societies.
- Map the value structures between the societies and KEEN and leverage activities that will further develop partnerships.
- Work with representatives of professional societies in order to establish connections that promote EM and KEEN.
- Attend the KEEN National Conference to share their efforts with attendees.
Meet the KEEN+ Ambassadors
Jean Andino, Associate Professor, Arizona State University
Jean is passionate about teaching students, whether in a classroom setting or through mentorship in research activities. Her goal as a professor is to help to train and inspire the next generation of innovators.
Louis DiBerardino, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Ohio Northern University
Louis is focused on building faculty-student relationships, promoting engagement in the classroom, providing undergraduate research experiences, and promoting the entrepreneurial mindset throughout the engineering curriculum.
Nadiye Erdil, Associate Professor, University of New Haven
Nadiye serves as the program coordinator for the BS industrial and systems engineering. Prior to joining academia, she worked as an engineer in sheet metal manufacturing and pipe fabrication industry for five years.
John Estell, Professor of Computer Engineering and Computer Science, Ohio Northern University
John believes that effective learning occurs when students are provided with active, hands-on experiences that tie real-world practice with theory. Much of his current research involves design education pedagogy. John is an ASEE Fellow, a senior member of IEEE, a member of ACM, and winner of the inaugural ASEE Best Card Competition.
Sandy Furterer, Associate Professor, University of Dayton
Sandy has over 25 years of experience in business process and quality improvements with multiple service industries, including healthcare, retail, consulting, information systems, and financial services. She is an ASQ Certified Six Sigma Black Belt, a Certified Quality Engineer, an ASQ fellow, and a certified Master Black Belt.
Glenn Gaudette, Professor, Worcester Polytechnic Institute
Glenn teaches design, biomechanics and physiology. He promotes development of the entrepreneurial mindset through support provided by the Kern Family Foundation and was named 2015 KEEN Faculty Member of the Year. His research aims to develop a treatment for heart and CV diseases. Glenn's work has been featured throughout the world including the BBC, National Geographic and Fox News.
Sidaard Gunasekaran (Sid G), Assistant Professor, University of Dayton
Sid is an aerospace engineer with a passion to make flying better and efficient (not just for airplanes) through applied and fundamental research. He develops pedagogical practices that train students to find opportunities using concepts learned in class, to have long term retention, to develop confidence in technical communication, and to make a tangible impact on society.
Eric Liguori, Executive Director and Rohrer Chair of Entrepreneurship, Rowan University
Eric sits at the global forefront of entrepreneurship education. In 2019 he became the youngest person ever elected to serve as President of the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship. Liguori is the Executive Editor of Entrepreneurship Education and Pedagogy and the Annals of Entrepreneurship Education and Pedagogy. His work has been published in Journal of Management, Journal of Small Business Management, Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, and featured in Forbes, USA Today, and BuzzFeed.
Yifei Ma, Assistant Professor, Lawrence Technological University
Yifei earned his BS and MS degrees in Structural Engineering from Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, and Tongji University, Shanghai, China, respectively. Prior to joining Lawrence Tech, Yifei worked for two years as a postdoc in the School of Civil and Construction Engineering at the Oregon State University in Corvallis. He has a strong research interest in the development of numerical techniques and computational models for geotechnical engineering applications.
Robert Nagel, Associate Professor, James Madison University
Robert is a proponent of experiential and hands-on learning coordinating and teaching the sophomore design experience where students design human-powered vehicles for community members with disabilities. Robert teaches the Innovation Exchange: A course that injects students into the culture of the Silicon Valley to meet innovators, entrepreneurs, and investors.
Bill Schell, Associate Professor, Montana State University
Bill's professional passion is finding ways to make engineers better leaders and organizations better at change. His research is supported by the NSF, private foundations, and industry, and has received numerous national and international awards. Bill is an elected Fellow of the American Society for Engineering Management and serves as an Associate Editor for the Engineering Management Journal.
Scott Segalewitz, Associate Dean for Experiential Learning and Student Success; Professor, University of Dayton
Scott's areas of interest include using technology to enhance the learning environment, developing global technical professionals, developing engineering professional with an entrepreneurial mindset, distance and asynchronous learning, and technical communication.
Timothy Takahashi, Professor of Practice, Arizona State University
Timothy teaches aircraft performance, aerodynamics, aerospace structures & materials, as well as coordinating senior undergraduate capstone projects in fixed wing aircraft design. Prior to joining ASU, he worked at NASA/Ames, Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, and Northrop Grumman. Timothy is an associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, a member of the Multi-Disciplinary-Optimization and Aircraft Design Technical Committees, and a prolific author and co-author of AIAA conference papers.
Wujie Zhang, Associate Professor, Milwaukee School of Engineering
Wujie truly believes the focus should be on each individual student: Strengthening the student experience through interaction, encouragement, and engagement. He has been an eager participant in various engineering education workshops and programs. Wujie was recently named "20 under 40" by ASEE's Prism magazine.