AIMBE Fellowship, Emmy-Winning Alumnus, Seen and Heard

February 25, 2021

A Message from the Associate Dean

I am pleased to announce that Drexel has joined the National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity (NCFDD) as an Institutional Member. A nationally recognized, independent organization, the NCFDD provides online career development and mentoring resources for faculty, post-docs and graduate students. Please read below about how to activate your membership and take advantage of the many resources and opportunities this provides.

As always, we are also here for you, so please reach out with your ideas, thoughts, and concerns.

Caroline Schauer, PhD

Associate Dean, Research and Faculty Affairs

Announcements

National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity Information

As mentioned above, Drexel has joined the NCFDD as an Institutional Member. The organization provides a variety of virtual programs and resources including a weekly Monday Motivator, monthly Core Curriculum Webinars and Guest Expert Webinars, access to Multi-Week Courses, a private discussion forum for peer-mentoring, problem-solving, & moderated writing challenges and more. To take advantage of these resources, it’s important to activate your free Institutional Membership as soon as possible. To do so, please complete the following steps:

Go to http://www.facultydiversity.org/join
Choose your institution from the drop-down menu.
Select “Activate my Membership”
Complete the registration form using your institutional email address (i.e. @drexel.edu)
Go to your institution email to find a confirmation/welcome email. Click “Activate Account” in the email.

“Picture a Scientist” Film Screening and Moderated Discussion

As part of Pennoni Womxn’s Week, Drexel SWE, WICS, Graduate Women in Science and Engineering and Her Campus will host a screening of “Picture a Scientist,” a 93-minute documentary film chronicling the groundswell of researchers who are writing a new chapter for women scientists, on Thursday, March 4 at 6:30 p.m. From cramped laboratories to spectacular field sites, viewers will encounter scientific luminaries who provide new perspectives on how to make science itself more diverse, equitable, and open to all. A post-screening discussion will be moderated by Jui Hanamshet, a senior studying Computer Engineering, and Dean Sharon L. Walker, PhD, will serve as a panelist. RSVP to attend the screening.

REU Supplements to Support Research Co-ops

Uncertainty in securing placements for our undergraduate students seeking co-op employment persists during this academic year. The University and the college are both looking for ways to increase the number of potential research co-op opportunities here at Drexel for our students. Thank you to those faculty members who have already created and hosted such co-op positions. We continue to seek more volunteers to create and supervise research co-op positions.

While it is possible for students to undertake research co-ops without pay, being able to provide compensation for our students' work is preferred. If you are willing and able to support our students by creating research co-op positions and you have a current research grant with the National Science Foundation (NSF), please consider applying for supplementary funding from the NSF via the Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Program. These grant supplements can help you to achieve and enhance your research goals while also providing funded research co-op placements for our students.

If you have any questions or need assistance with applying for supplements, please contact Chad Morris. If you have any questions or need assistance with creating or recruiting for research co-op opportunities in your lab or research group, please contact John Doherty or your department's SCDC co-op representative.

From Engineering to Emmy-Winning Filmmaker

While his career followed an unusual path, Drexel Engineering alumnus Robert Bahar uses his skills to tell the stories that the world needs to hear. Read more.

Schauer Elected Fellow Of AIMBE

Associate Dean Caroline Schauer has been elected to the 2021 Class of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. Read more.

Seen and Heard

Introducing a new feature highlighting the expertise shared by our faculty through the media.

Charles Haas, PhD, LD Betz professor of environmental engineering, was quoted in a February 16 Reuters story about cleanup and environmental remediation efforts at the former site of the Philadelphia Energy Solutions refinery. The piece was picked up by Business Insider, Yahoo! News, The Guardian and a number of other U.S. and international outlets.

Amir Yaghoob Farnam, PhD, assistant professor of civil, architectural and environmental engineering, was noted for his research on how road salt contributes to degrading road surfaces in a WAVE-TV (NBC – Louisville, Kentucky) story on February 19.

Antonios Kontsos, PhD, associate professor of mechanical engineering and mechanics, provided context on February 23 for The Washington Post on what the FAA and NTSB will do to improve inspections after a United Airlines flight suffered engine failure and was forced to return to Denver International Airport last week.