MinerAlert
MinerAlert
When Meagan Kendall, mechanical engineering doctoral candidate at UT Austin, first heard about the idea of teaching engineers how to teach engineering to the next generation of students, she thought, “engineering education and biomechanics, why not?” As a graduate student, Kendall was specifically looking for opportunities to continue doing engineering research in biomechanics.
Meagan Kendall, has been an associate professor in the Department of Engineering, Education and Leadership (E-LEAD) at The University of Texas at El Paso for the past seven years. She grew up outside of Dallas, TX and attended LeTourneau University for her undergraduate degree and continued her master’s and Ph.D. studies at The University of Texas at Austin. Kendall, originally wanted to become a teacher, but her interest in mechanical engineering with biomechanics concentration were solid.
“I liked the connection between engineering and the impact that it had on people. I didn't just like sitting and playing with equations for the sake of playing with equations and theory, but I wanted to know the ‘why’ behind the work that I was doing,” said Kendall.
The engineering landscape is recurrently evolving and universities have the responsibility to design curricula that address the growing demands of different industry sectors. Leadership and innovation are among the most widely sought-after skills in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) industries. While engineering students' technical expertise are considered extraordinary, some may lack the essential leadership training needed to excel in industry.
E-LEAD, led by Roger Gonzalez, Ph.D., hopes to change this through a better understanding of engineering leadership by offering programs that support a mission of access and excellence in engineering and leadership education, as concurrently fostering both the engineering and leadership aspirations and educational attainment of the residents of our binational region and beyond.
Kendall hopes to use her skills to improve the way engineering students are taught. Her plan is to introduce more hands-on learning in teaching the next generation of engineers. She wants to give students the opportunity to do more project-based learning where they get to design models in order to better understand why engineering is vital to the real world. “How can you better teach engineers in a way that is interesting and exciting for them? This snowballed into engineering education, which I implement into my research as a faculty member at UTEP,” said Dr. Kendall.
Kendall has made many important contributions to the university during her time here. One of them being a $2 million collaborative grant from the National Science Foundation was awarded to her in April 2020. The grant is designed to develop engineering leadership academies aimed at promoting undergraduate education in STEM fields at Hispanic Servicing Institutions.
As an engineering education researcher, Kendall’s work focuses on enhancing engineering students' motivation, developing integrated course sequences, engineering faculty development, exploring engineering identity formation, and methods for involving students in curriculum development while teaching through Peer Designed Instruction.
When she is not teaching or doing research, Kendall spends time at her home studio mastering the art of quilting and enjoys hiking the Franklin Mountains and playing video games.