Esparragoza, Jablokow, Miller, Parkinson, Tucker receive promotions

06/14/17

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The College of Engineering recently announced the promotion of five School of Engineering Design, Technology, and Professional Programs (SEDTAPP) faculty members.

Scarlett Miller and Conrad Tucker have been promoted to the rank of associate professor and Ivan Esparragoza, Kathryn Jablokow and Matthew Parkinson have been promoted to the rank of professor.

Miller came to Penn State as an assistant professor of engineering design and industrial engineering in 2011 after completing her doctoral degree in industrial engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Miller oversees the Bridging Research in Innovation, Technology, and Engineering Lab, where she explores ways to support the design process. Her research focuses on engineering design and human factors and ergonomics with thrusts in ergonomic product design, design cognition, and human-computer interaction. From 2011 to 2014, Miller held the James F. Will Career Development Professorship at Penn State. In 2013, she was awarded a $400,000 National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award for “From Risk Aversion to Innovation: Transforming the Concept Selection Process to Maximize Product Success,” a research project focused on developing a theoretical understanding of factors that influence the filtering and promotion of creative ideas through concept to selection process. Miller also holds an affiliate position in mechanical engineering.

Tucker joined SEDTAPP and the Harold and Inge Marcus Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering in 2011 after receiving his doctorate in industrial engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Currently, he oversees the Design Analysis Technology Advancement Laboratory and serves as the director of the Penn State site of the Center for Health Organization Transformation. Tucker’s research focuses are in engineering design and manufacturing, with interest areas in data mining-driven design, social network modeling, text mining, machine vision and systems design optimization. Tucker’s research and teaching recognitions include a 2016 IBM Faculty Award, U.S. Air Force Summer Faculty Fellowships in 2014 and 2015, serving as a member of the Distinguished Honors Faculty Program from 2012 to 2014, serving as an Innovative Early-Career Engineering Faculty Fellow with the National Academy of Engineering in October 2013 and holding the Hartz Family Career Development Professorship from August 2011 to May 2013. Tucker also holds an affiliate appointment in Computer Science and Engineering.

Esparragoza came to Penn State in 2001 after serving as a visiting assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Florida International University. He serves as the director of the Engineering Technology and Commonwealth Engineering program, overseeing engineering technology and engineering programs offered at Penn State commonwealth campuses. Esparragoza’s research interests include global engineering design and education. He has received numerous accolades for his commitment to engineering education, including the Penn State Teaching Fellow Award in 2009. Esparragoza received his doctorate in mechanical engineering from Florida International University.

Jablokow joined Penn State in 1990 after spending one year as an NSF-NATO Postdoctoral Fellow at RWTH Aachen in Germany. Jablokow oversees the multidisciplinary engineering design option of Penn State’s Bachelor of Science in General Engineering, a program she was instrumental in developing. Her current research interests include cognition-based design, ideation flexibility, engineering innovativeness and high-performance design teams. Jablokow received Pi Tau Sigma’s New Teacher of the Year Award and the Teacher of the Year Award in 1991 and 1992, respectively. In 1994, Jablokow was honored with the W.M Keck Foundation Engineering Teaching Excellence Award and the Penn State Engineering Alumni Society Outstanding Teaching Award. In 2008, she was named a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. In 2016, she was awarded the American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ Ruth and Joel Spira Outstanding Design Educator Award. Jablokow holds appointments in engineering design and mechanical engineering. She earned her doctorate in electrical engineering from The Ohio State University.

Parkinson came to Penn State in 2005 after completing his doctoral degree in biomedical engineering at the University of Michigan in 2004. He serves as the director of The Bernard M. Gordon Learning Factory, the director of the Engineering Design program and the director of the Center for Research in Design and Innovation. Parkinson also oversees the OPEN Design Lab, where research is conducted in the application of design methods to the design of objects and environments. Parkinson’s research focuses on biomechanics and bioengineering, design and manufacturing, engineering design, human factors and ergonomics and mechanical sciences. Parkinson has been recognized as SAE International’s 2008 Lloyd L. Withrow Distinguished Speaker Award, SAE International’s 2009 Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award, the 2009 recipient of a NSF CAREER Award, and numerous internal Penn State awards including the Penn State Engineering Alumni Society’s Outstanding Teaching Award and Premier Teaching Award and the Penn State Schreyer Honors College Excellence in Teaching Award. Parkinson holds appointments in engineering design and mechanical engineering, with an affiliate appointment in industrial engineering.

These promotions in academic rank will take effect July 1, 2017.

 

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The School of Engineering Design and Innovation delivers effective engineering education and unrivaled research opportunities through active, collaborative, project-based, and professionally oriented classroom experiences. The school offers a variety of programs that partner faculty, students, and industry in the study of real-life engineering problems. Our programs teach students to solve real-life problems with innovative solutions. 

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The Pennsylvania State University

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Phone: 814-865-2952