TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) – Two professors at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology have been named 2023 Engineering Unleashed Fellows.

Among 30 total faculty members across 23 institutions throughout the country, professors Adel Alhalawani, Ph.D., and Michelle Marincel Payne, Ph.D., have been chosen for their contributions to engineering education, specifically in entrepreneurial engineering.

These professors were awarded the 2023 Engineering Unleashed Fellows so they could create classroom and laboratory experiences that also teach students to approach problems with an entrepreneurial mindset.

Each Engineering Unleashed Fellow receives $10,000 in grant funding from the Kern Family Foundation. The money will be used by each fellow to support their engineering projects, lessons, and more.

Alhalawani, assistant professor of biology and biomedical engineering, will use the funding to begin a Design Your Rose Life training workshop. The workshop is anticipated to help students design a life that works for them and also get access to professors and other professionals who can help them make connections and offer any needed mentorship throughout their careers. 

Over the course of the last eight months, Alhalawani also developed and implemented a new curriculum module in his Mechanics of Materials class by integrating an entrepreneurial mindset, bio-inspired design, and art concepts into the class. 

Meanwhile, Marincel Payne, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, will use the grant funding to continue her efforts to utilize storytelling to enhance connection and learning in her classes. Marincel Payne shares stories from her professional experiences with her students to add authenticity to her teaching and teaches using a framework to help students learn to craft and tell their own stories as they head to events and opportunities like career fairs and internships. 

Marincel Payne will also use the grant to teach students how to resolve conflict in teams and foster psychological safety using storytelling as the framework. This approach will allow students to connect and promote psychological safety while also encouraging students to communicate outcomes. Using storytelling in this way is a tool for students to practice leveraging in the classroom and further. 

Engineering Unleashed is made up of a community of over 3,500 engineering faculty and staff from various universities across the United States, including Rose-Hulman, all with a shared mission to graduate engineers with an entrepreneurial mindset.