Measuring innovation is key to realizing innovation in practice. One of the primary reasons why measurement is important stems from the fundamental principle that what is measured is, in turn, what garners attention and action. Systematic measurement of innovation can enable researchers and practitioners to propose and undertake strategic…

Engineering education research can benefit from comprehensive tools for assessing student self-concept and its relationship to identity development. This research addresses this gap by introducing a novel framework for evaluating engineering self-concept and exploring its influence on identity status transitions among first-year students. Key…

The concept of computational thinking (CT) has become more prevalent across the engineering education research and teaching landscape. Yet much of the research to date has been more definitional and has not offered many ways to convert CT theory to practice. One prominent set of tools used across engineering disciplines is modeling and simulation,…

Research has shown that most STEM doctoral students are not prepared for their future careers. To address this gap, this dissertation explored and made sense of engineering doctoral student experiences related to their development as early career professionals with a variety of future career interests. One consideration embedded throughout the…

As the engineering education system continuously evolves to meet the demands of modern industry and society, there is a need for a methodology that would manage and resolve the complexities inherent in engineering educational systems. Model-based Systems Engineering (MBSE) is a structured approach to system design that utilizes models across all…

The literature is sparse for studies on the leadership behaviors of engineers. Traditionally, organizations generally view engineers as problem-solvers, and their career advancement is more often along a technical track rather than a leadership track. Because today's organizations are seeking employees who can think creatively in order to find…

The ability to efficiently optimize or re-optimize an algorithm for high performance on a particular processor architecture is crucial in a wide spectrum of engineering and scientific applications. To help bridge the gap between fully automated optimization, which does not reliably produce optimal code, and fully manual optimization, which is…

To meet the national and international call for creative and innovative engineers, many engineering departments and classrooms are striving to create more authentic learning spaces where students are actively engaging with design and innovation activities. For example, one model for teaching innovation is Innovation-Based Learning (IBL) where…

Humans are arguably the most interesting subjects in computer vision. Modeling human 3D geometry from images captured by highly sophisticated production level cameras (10-100 cameras with precise calibration) enable a number of applications, e.g. telepresence, virtual try-on, motion analysis, etc. Despite its production level quality, the…

Engineering higher education is growing rapidly across the world, especially in the Global South. For many of these countries, the dominant engineering university models were imported and established by colonial European empires. These imported systems of higher education and engineering evolved to meet the local contexts of Europe and the United…

This thesis contains two areas of research. The first part contributes to the field of engineering mechanics. This research investigates the thermomechanical shape memory behavior of shape memory alloy (SMA) springs. As SMA springs undergo stress- and/or temperature-induced phase transformation, they experience varying combinations of axial,…

This thesis is an article-based (3-paper format) dissertation. In the first article, the research team adapted an input-process-outcome (IPO) model of group-level processes in the classroom, as a theoretical framework, to examine students' experiences regarding pre-college engineering curricula, classroom environments, and their experiences with…

Much research on how curriculum reform occurs in higher education has focused on top-down models that deemphasize individual agency and overlook bottom-up processes of innovation. This case study, in contrast, described and analyzed the process by which an engineering instructor used the strategies and tools of entrepreneurship, honed through his…

This study investigates how students can use "interactive example models" in inquiry activities to develop their conceptual knowledge about an engineering phenomenon like electromagnetic fields and waves. An interactive model, for example a computational model, could be used to develop and teach principles of dynamic complex systems, and…

This dissertation study explores the experiences of 11 undergraduate women in a variety of engineering majors graduating from a Southern, research, predominately White institution and the use of theory to understand those experiences. While narrative inquiry is used throughout, this dissertation study is organized into three separate papers. The…