Collaborations on Campus
Undergraduate Students Interested in Research Experience
The Product Design Lab provides students with experience in the lab, as well as an insight into various educational research methods. Students with good academic standing, who are motived, and who have an interest in pursuing engineering education research and design education research are encouraged to apply. As a lab, we are always engaged in several interesting and important research projects, which require dedication of motivated undergraduate students. Students should be able to work well independently and in team settings. I prefer to integrate undergraduate researchers onto well defined projects that have some clear match between available roles and students’ skills. Please make sure to be specific about why you are interested in a specific project and why you would be a good fit.
Graduate Students
Graduate student applications are reviewed after the formal admission deadline.
Current Graduate Students
Aiden Hall, MS Thesis Topic: Generative Design
Vanessa Blas, MS Thesis Topic: Broadening participation in engineering
Josh Katz, PhD Dissertation Topic: Collaboration in Engineering Design Teams
Jing Zhang, PhD Dissertation Topic: Persistence and participation in STEM
Lab Alumni
Alex Pagano, PhD 2024. Dissertation Title: Shared Understanding in Engineering Design Capstone Teams. (Currently a Post-doc at Siebel Center for Design).
Alex Brown, MS 2022. Thesis Title: Understanding the role of generative design in undergraduate students’ design thinking. (Currently at Accenture)
Taylor Tucker (Parker), MS 2021. Thesis Title: Exploring the nature of students’ collaborative interactions during a hands-on ill-structured engineering design task. (Currently at Siebel Center for Design)
Tianshi Fu, MS 2020. Thesis Title: Gauging student interests and comfort with robotics terms after participating in a soft robotics activity
Undergraduate Researcher Alumni
Lorena Escamilla, Jesus Zavilla, Michael Madiol, Oscar Zepeda, Briella Henderson, Angela Chan, Elizabeth Sanders, David Du, Sabin Gianelloni
Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Supervised
- Angela Chan Effectiveness of Social Good Hackathons Fall 2020
- Briella Henderson Understanding the effects of peer mentoring on broadening participation in engineering Fall 2020
- Michael Madiol Exploring surface vs. deep modeling in the mobile SHIELD COVID-19 Laboratory, Summer 2021
- Michael Madiol Generative Design Research, Summer 2022
- Connie Lu, Product Design and Feasibility Study of Utility Shopping Cards for the Elderly, Summer 2023
- Evan Rafol, Computer-Aided Project Realization – Customized Lego Build, Summer 2023
- Bernadette Wilk, CATIA for Vehicle Accessor Design, Fall 2023
- Bernadette Wilk, Autonomous Spacewalking Tool with Materials and Database Integration, Spring 2024