Associate Dean of Engineering Dr. Michele Miller has been named 2020 Engineering Unleashed Fellow — one of only 29 people across the nation. Engineering Unleashed is a community of more than 2,500 engineering faculty and staff dedicated to graduating engineers with an entrepreneurial mindset so they can create personal, economic and societal value through a lifetime of meaningful work.
The designation as Engineering Unleashed Fellow recognizes leadership in education. Miller, who joined Campbell’s School of Engineering in 2017 after spending 22 years as a mechanical engineering professor at Michigan Technological University, certainly fits the bill.
“We are delighted that Dr. Miller has received this prestigious honor as a national leader in engineering education,” said Dean of Engineering Jenna Carpenter. “Campbell’s innovative engineering degree program is the perfect platform for creating a unique undergraduate experience that does an outstanding job of preparing graduates for a 21st century career and gives them the flexibility to be successful, even in these challenging times. Campbell’s status as an Engineering Unleashed partner institution is just one of the national-level recognitions of the work that Dr. Miller and our other faculty do.”
Miller’s fellowship status brings the opportunity to further advance and create new projects through Engineering Unleashed, participate in conferences and promote her work nationwide. Fellows are awarded a $10,000 grant that can be used to advance their project/module, pay for part of their salary, develop a new product/module, support undergraduate student assistants and more.
The nomination and naming process began with Miller’s initiative to participate in one of the many Engineering Unleashed Faculty Development workshops. These workshops are designed and delivered by a collaborative group of subject matter experts who serve as faculty members at more than 25 institutions. They attract faculty participants from across the country, focusing on the development and application of an entrepreneurial mindset whether in teaching and learning, research, industry or leadership.
Working with peer coaches for up to a year, the Fellow completed the work and contributed to the Engineering Unleashed Community through an online publication, sharing within the platform known as EngineeringUnleashed.com. The workshop’s peer coaches nominated Miller. Her subsequent application was recognized by an independent review committee.
“The Engineering Unleashed community and workshops have been a source of inspiration for me for new classroom learning activities,” said Miller. “I look forward to engaging even more deeply with the community for the benefit of engineering students at Campbell and elsewhere.”