Engineering education excellence

Sep 11, 2025

Four people stand side by side and smile at the camera in front of a wall covered with colorful drawings, words and university logos.

University of Delaware faculty members Haritha Malladi, Julie Karand, Alex De Rosa and Sarah Rooney at the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Annual Conference & Exposition, held June 22–25, 2025, in Montréal, Canada. UD faculty, students and alumni presented award-winning research and innovative teaching practices at the event.

Faculty, students and alumni recognized for award-winning research, innovative teaching and global learning initiatives

The University of Delaware College of Engineering made a strong showing at the 2025 Annual Conference & Exposition of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), held June 22–25 in Montréal, Canada. Faculty, students, and alumni presented award-winning research and innovative teaching practices spanning pre-college outreach, generative AI in engineering education, diversity in makerspaces, international service learning and more.

Award-winning research

UD faculty were recognized for excellence in engineering education research. Ashutosh Khandha, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, co-authored Assessing the Impact of the Use of Generative AI in Developing and Using Assessment Grading Rubrics for Engineering Courses, which earned first place for overall best paper in the Industrial Engineering Division. Although Khandha did not attend in person, the paper’s recognition underscores UD’s growing leadership in exploring AI’s role in engineering pedagogy.

Assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering Haritha Malladi co-presented the 2024 Best Overall Professional Interest Council Paper Winner alongside Pam Lottero-Perdue, professor of science and engineering at Towson University, and Gail Headley, data scientist in UD’s Center for Research in Education and Social Policy, during the plenary session.

Spotlight on broadening participation

Several UD-led sessions focused on broadening participation in engineering and improving learning environments for women and underrepresented minorities. In the session Women and URM Experiences in Makerspaces, professor of mechanical engineering Jenni Buckley and associate professor of mechanical engineering Alex De Rosa presented research co-authored with Amy Trauth, a researcher with American Institutes of Research, highlighting the experiences of underrepresented groups in collaborative engineering spaces.

First-year program excellence

Malladi also co-presented Novice versus Experienced Near-Peer Mentors’ Facilitation of a Discussion with a Student Avatar Facing Logistical Challenges on a Design Team in the First-Year Programs Division’s Best Paper session, where the work was in contention for the FPD Best Paper Award.

Innovations in engineering curriculum

Buckley gave multiple presentations, including Knowledge Transfer from a First-Year, Stand-Alone Technical Communications Course into Second-Year Laboratory and Design-Focused Courses and Development of a Unique Bioengineering Laboratory Curriculum Focused on Material Characterization of Musculoskeletal Tissues.

Global and experiential learning

UD also brought international service learning to the forefront. One Week in Cape Town Clinics: Reflections from an Undergraduate Engineering Experiential Learning Trip was presented by Julie Karand, associate professor of biomedical engineering, with UD students as co-authors, showcasing the impact of hands-on humanitarian engineering experiences.

Poster highlights

The NSF Grantees Poster Session featured multiple UD contributions.

  • An Investigation of Team Conflicts Among First-Year Engineering Students, presented by De Rosa.
  • Facilitating Knowledge Transfer within Engineering Curricula, presented by Malladi.

De Rosa also delivered A Comparison of Novice and Expert Approaches to Problem Solving in the Mechanics Division, offering insights into how problem-solving skills develop in engineering students.

Two women stand and smile in front of a research poster. The woman on the left wears a blue patterned top and black pants, and the woman on the right wears glasses, a pink shirt and white pants. The poster behind them includes text, charts and a QR code.

University of Delaware faculty member Haritha Malladi (left) and Towson University professor Pam Lottero-Perdue stand beside their poster presentation on team conflicts among first-year engineering students at ASEE 2025.

Pre-college outreach

Kristin Chisholm, a doctoral student in education and human development, presented Engaging Pre-College Students in Electrical Engineering: Role-Playing and Model-Building to Foster Engineering Identity and Values in the Pre-College Engineering Education Division, emphasizing UD’s commitment to inspiring the next generation of engineers.

From award-winning papers to impactful presentations, UD’s strong presence at ASEE 2025 reflects its dedication to shaping the future of engineering education in the classroom and beyond. That commitment will continue close to home next spring, when UD hosts the ASEE Mid-Atlantic Section Meeting on March 27–28, 2026. Organized by De Rosa, the meeting will bring together educators, researchers and students from across the region to share new ideas and advance the practice of engineering education.

Reflecting on the ASEE annual conference, De Rosa said, “I always leave ASEE conferences feeling reinvigorated and with new ideas and best practices to incorporate into my own courses. I also appreciate the opportunity to share my own work with others and receive their feedback and suggestions. I leave every conference having learned something and with interesting suggestions on how to improve either my teaching or research.”

Editor’s note: UD had an outstanding presence at ASEE 2025, and this story highlights just a portion of that activity. If we missed your contribution, please let us know. Contact Stephanie Mabee for inclusion in this article.