Mary Besterfield-Sacre and Bopaya Bidanda to be recognized at 2012 ASEE Annual Conference

PITTSBURGH  (April 13, 2012) ... A member of the faculty and a department chair at the University of Pittsburgh's Swanson School of Engineering will be recognized for their academic accomplishments at the 2012 ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, June 10-13 in San Antonio, Texas.  Mary Besterfield-Sacre, PhD , associate professor of industrial engineering and director of the Engineering Education Resource Center, was named recipient of the 2012 ASEE Sharon Keillor Award for Women in Engineering Education; and  Bopaya Bidanda, PhD , Ernest E. Roth Professor and chair of industrial engineering,  will receive the 2012 ASEE John L. Imhoff Global Excellence Award for Industrial Engineering Education.

The ASEE Sharon Keillor Award for Women in Engineering Education recognizes and honors a woman engineering educator who has an outstanding record in teaching engineering students, and reasonable performance histories of research and service within an engineering school. Nominees hold an earned doctoral degree in an engineering discipline, or in an engineering related field of natural science, including mathematics, and have at least five years of teaching experience in an engineering school.

The John L. Imhoff Global Excellence Award for Industrial Engineering Education is presented annually to an individual who has made significant contributions to the industrial engineering discipline, who exemplifies the highest standards of the professorate in industrial engineering, and has demonstrated global cooperation and understanding through leadership and other initiatives.

These mark the second and third ASEE awards for Swanson School faculty in 2012. In March ASEE announced that Harvey S. Borovetz, Ph.D. will receive the 2012 Theo C. Pilkington Outstanding Educator Award from the American Society for Engineering Education. Dr. Borovetz is distinguished professor and chair of the Department of Bioengineering in the University of Pittsburgh's Swanson School of Engineering. The Theo Pilkington Outstanding Educator Award recognizes significant contributions to biomedical engineering education as evidenced by the development of successful undergraduate or graduate level programs, curricula, publications as well as by membership and activities in ASEE/BED and other biomedical engineering organizations.

About Mary Besterfield-Sacre, PhD
Dr. Sacre is an Associate Professor and Fulton C. Noss Faculty Fellow in Department of Industrial Engineering and a Center Associate for the Learning Research and Development Center. Her principal research is in engineering education assessment, which has been funded by the NSF, Department of Education, Sloan Foundation, Engineering Information Foundation, and the NCIIA. Dr. Sacre's current research focuses on three distinct but highly correlated areas - innovative product design, entrepreneurship, and how engineers model. She has served as an associate editor for the JEE and is currently associate editor for the AEE Journal. 

About Bopaya Bidanda, PhD
Professor Bidanda joined the department in 1987 upon completing his doctoral studies at Pennsylvania State University. Professor Bidanda is the Co-Director of the Manufacturing Assistance Center at the University of Pittsburgh. He has industrial experience in manufacturing systems, tools, and precision manufacturing. His research focus includes computer integrated manufacturing systems, time compression technologies such as rapid prototyping and reverse engineering, and global supply networks and product realization. He helped found the Swanson Center for Product Innovation and the Manufacturing Assistance Center.



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