SUCCEED - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor
- Graduate Program Director
Alexandra Coso Strong works and teaches at the intersection of engineering education, faculty development, and complex systems design. Strong completed her doctorate in aerospace engineering at Georgia Tech in spring, 2014. While a doctoral student, Strong was a National Science Foundation graduate research fellow and a member of the Cognitive Engineering Center. The goal of her doctorate research was to improve students' abilities to think more broadly about complex systems design and to take into account stakeholder-related considerations within their design projects. Prior to attending Georgia Tech, Strong received a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering from MIT (2007) and a master's degree in systems engineering from the University of Virginia (2010). For her master's degree work, she developed a mixed methods research design to examine undergraduate engineering students' prior knowledge about interdisciplinary approaches to design and problem-solving. Strong comes to FIU after completing a postdoctoral fellowship at Georgia Tech's Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL) and three years as a faculty member at Olin College of Engineering in Massachusetts. Strong's research aims to improve the design of educational experiences for students by critically examining the work and learning environments of practitioners. Specifically, she focuses on (1) how to design and change educational and work systems through studies of practicing engineers and educators and (2) how to help students transition into, through and out of educational and work systems.
Job Titles:
- Associate Director of Academic Services
Job Titles:
- Undergraduate Program Director
Dr. Bruk Berhane received his B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Maryland. He holds an M.S. in engineering management from the George Washington University and a Ph.D. in minority and urban education from the University of Maryland. In 2003, Bruk was hired by the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL), where he worked on nanotechnology and microsystems. In 2005 he left JHUAPL for a fellowship with the National Academies and researched methods of increasing the number of women in engineering. Later that year, he briefly served as a mathematics instructor in Baltimore City High Schools.
From 2005 through 2018, Dr. Berhane directed engineering recruitment and scholarship programs for the University of Maryland. He oversaw an increase in the admission of students of color and women during his tenure and supported initiatives that reduce the time to degree for transfers from Maryland community colleges. The broader implications of his research are informed by his comprehensive experiences as a college administrator. His areas of scholarly interest include:
Broadening participation in engineering through community college pathways
Entrepreneurship and the "entrepreneurial mindset" in the context of engineering
Experiences of first and second-generation Americans in engineering undergraduate programs
Biography
Dr. David A. Delaine is an Associate Professor within the School of Universal Computing, Construction & Engineering Education (SUCCEED) in the College of Engineering & Computing at Florida International University. After seven years at The Ohio State University's Department of Engineering Education, he will extend FIU's expertise through his Inclusive Community-based Learning (iCBL) Lab that advances knowledge on the ways in which community-based learning (service-learning, outreach, volunteerism) in engineering can impact local communities, students, and other participating stakeholders through reciprocal partnership. As an NSF CAREER award recipient, Dr. Delaine's research develops evidence-based approaches within CBL contexts that can support the formation of reflexive engineering professionals while promoting broadening participation outcomes in engineering. Dr. Delaine has obtained a bachelor's in electrical engineering from Northeastern University, a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Drexel University, and served as a Postdoctoral Fulbright Scholar at the Escola Politécnica da Universidade de São Paulo.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Administration & Staff
- Senior Program Coordinator
Biography
Ileana Lindsay obtained her BA in Public Administration from Florida International University in 2011 and is currently pursuing her Master's in Public Administration with a concentration in Nonprofit Organizations and Community Development with an anticipation graduation date of August 2019. As a native of Miami, Ileana has had the opportunity of working in higher education for over 11 years in administrative roles that support the academic success of students pursuing their graduate degrees. After the completion of her undergraduate degree, Ileana was the Graduate Senior Secretary for the Biology department at FIU where she worked directly with the Program Director and Dean for the College of Arts & Sciences in various areas including admissions, graduate school support, and student academic success. In 2014, Ileana transitioned into the medical education discipline, as the Assistant to the Vice Dean for Medical Education and Student Affairs at the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine at Florida Atlantic University. In this role, she coordinated the medical school's full accreditation process, curriculum development, faculty affairs, and Graduate Medical Education. Soon after, Ileana returned to FIU and began the role as Student Affairs Program Coordinator at the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine. In this position, she facilitated program planning and development for medical student wellness and academic support. After a year in that role, she was approached with the opportunity to become the Program Coordinator for the Office of Diversity & Inclusion at the medical school, developing and promoting programs and services designed to enhance the intersectionality of the medical schools' college community.
Throughout Ileana's service in academia, many of her successes include the program development of the pipeline program, the Florida Scientific Training and Research (STAR) program; a multi-year academic and social enrichment program developed to prepare undergraduate minority students for a career in medicine, and the facilitation of a fundraising event that raised over $10,000 in scholarship for students historically underrepresented in medicine. In addition, Ileana coordinated the National Pre-Faculty Career Development Conference for Trainees and Faculty, that brought together trainees, faculty, and senior leaders to share activities and best practices to better prepare college, graduate, and post-doctoral professionals to consider pursuing careers as educators and researchers in the STEM field.
Biography
Jingjing Liu is a Postdoctoral Associate in the School of Universal Computing, Construction, and Engineering Education (SUCCEED) at FIU. She works with Dr. Bruk Berhane for research projects facilitating 2-year to 4-year transfer pathways and supporting post-traditional students with a focus on broadening participation in engineering. She completed her PhD in Higher Education at William & Mary, where she was a Holmes Scholar and a Social Justice & Diversity Graduate Research Fellow. She is a recipient of the 2024 Bellwether College Consortium Outstanding Dissertation Award. Her research interests include college access and success, college student transitions, and STEM education.
Job Titles:
- Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education, College of Engineering and Computing
- Distinguished University Professor
Mark Allen Weiss is a Distinguished University Professor of Computer Science and Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education in the College of Engineering and Computing at Florida International University in Miami Florida. He also serves as Interim Founding Director of the School of Universal Computing, Construction, and Engineering Education (SUCCEED) having previously served for nine years as Associate Director of the School of Computing and Information Sciences.
He received his Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering from The Cooper Union in 1983, and his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Princeton University in 1987, working under Bob Sedgewick. He has been at FIU since 1987 and was promoted to Professor in 1996. His interests include data structures, algorithms, and education, and he is most well-known for his highly-acclaimed Data Structures textbooks, which have been used at hundreds of universities worldwide. From 1997-2004 he served as a member of the Advanced Placement Computer Science Development Committee, chairing the committee from 2000-2004. Dr. Weiss is an IEEE Fellow, AAAS Fellow, and ACM Distinguished Educator. He is the recipient of the 2015 SIGCSE Award for Outstanding Contribution to Computer Science Education, 2017 IEEE Computer Society Taylor Booth Education Award, and 2018 IEEE Education Society William Sayle Achievement in Education Award.
Honors and Awards
2018 IEEE Education Society William E. Sayle Achievement in Education Award
2018 Fellow IEEE
2017 IEEE Computer Society Taylor L. Booth Education Award
2017 IEEE Region 3 Professional Leadership Award
2017 FIU Faculty Torch Award
2015 ACM SIGCSE Award for Outstanding Contribution to Computer Science Education (awarded to a single individual worldwide annually since 1981)
2012 AAAS Fellow
2012 FIU Top Scholar
2011 ACM Distinguished Educator
2007 FIU SCIS Excellence in Service Award
2005 FIU SCIS Excellence in Teaching Award
2000 Data Structures and Algorithm Analysis textbook named one of the thirty most influential books of the twentieth century (ranked #13) by Dr. Dobbs
1999 FIU University Excellence in Teaching Award
1994 FIU University Excellence in Research Award
1994 FIU Teaching Incentive Program Award
1990 FIU Outstanding Achievement and Performance Award
1983 RCA Fellowship and Merit Prize to Princeton University
1981 New York City First Place Winner, Putnam Mathematics Contest
Job Titles:
- Member of the Administration & Staff
- Director of the School of Computing, Construction and Engineering [.]
Director of the School of Computing, Construction and Engineering Education (SUCCEED), Professor of Engineering and Computing Education, SUCCEED and STEM Transformation Institute Secondary Appointment, Professor, Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Graduate Program Director
Sabina Schill received her PhD in Environmental Engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder. Her dissertation research focused STEM identity development in the context of mentoring in K-12 STEM outreach programs. Schill's research interests in engineering education were formed during her time in the NSF-funded GK-12 Fellowship program. Prior to that, Schill received her BS in Physics from Westminster College in Salt Lake City, UT, and she spent a year tutoring K-12 students in math. At FIU, Schill works with Dr. Bruk Berhane for the e4usa project, which aims to broaden participation in engineering.
Research Interests
K-12 engineering education
Equity and access in STEM education
STEM identity development during informal education experiences
Stephanie Lunn is an Assistant Professor in the School of Universal Computing, Construction, and Engineering Education (SUCCEED) and the STEM Transformation Institute at Florida International University (FIU). Previously, Dr. Lunn served as a postdoctoral fellow at the Georgia Institute of Technology. She earned her doctoral degree in computer science from FIU, in addition to B.S. and M.S. degrees. She also holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Neuroscience from the University of Miami. Her research interests span the fields of computing and engineering education, human-computer interaction, data science, and machine learning.
Job Titles:
- Graduate Program Director
Stephen Secules uses critical qualitative methods to look at everyday educational settings in engineering and shift them towards equity and inclusion. Stephen founded the Equity, Culture, and Social Justice in Education Division of the American Society for Engineering Education. He also serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Engineering Education and the 2021 edition of the Cambridge Handbook for Engineering Education Research.
Research Interests
Critical, qualitative, discourse analysis, and ethnographic methodologies
Participatory and action research
Equity in everyday educational settings in engineering
Shifting dominant cultural norms that marginalize students
Education
PhD Curriculum and Instruction, University of Maryland (Dissertation co-chairs Ayush Gupta and Andrew Elby)
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor of Engineering and Computing Education
Trina Fletcher has an interdisciplinary background with both her education and full-time experiences. Fletcher holds a doctorate in engineering education from Purdue University and has industry experience, including roles with two Fortune 500 companies and serving as the director of pre-college initiatives for the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE).
Fletcher, Tina and Fletcher, Trina. National Problem, Local Solution: Addressing the school-to-prison pipeline with an increase in minority teachers. Yale State and Local Policy Review. 2019. https://yslpr.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/YSLPRWebPrint.
Fletcher, T. L., Green, A., Arrayo, E. & Quintero, R. (2020). "Intersectionality at minority-serving institutions (MSIs): A longitudinal analysis of female student participation within engineering and computing". 2020 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE), Virtual.
*Edwards, C. E., Lee, W.C., Knight, D.B., Reid, K.W., Fletcher, T.F., Meeropol, G. Maximizing Accessibility: Providing summer engineering experiences for racially, ethnically, and economically underrepresented youth. Paper presented at the 2018 ASEE Collaborative Network for Engineering and Computing Diversity (CoNECD) Conference, Arlington Lake, Virginia, April 29 - May 2, 2018.