KARL EN
• First female engineering dean at Gonzaga BTHS major: college prep First career: chemical engineer (Exxon, DuPont) Second career: academic curriculum vitae of 23 pages, with more than 65 published peer-reviewed articles Areas of expertise: dynamical system theory, artificial intelligence/ machine learning, supervisory and modelbased control synthesis, and fault identification and monitoring. In other words… “I was interested in big data long before it became popular.”
Student athlete: Tech swimming and volleyball teams: “It disciplined me about studying.” Tech taught her: “I entered college a disciplined learner. My roommate did not know how to compete or study. I had already learned that. Tech put me a year ahead of my college peers.” On women in engineering… “We are advancing in environmental, chemical, and biological, but not so much in mechanical and electrical.” …And in engineering academia (where 65 out of 1,074 accredited engineering schools have female deans): “I don’t see myself as a trailblazer. But the people I hire will grow up under a different kind of dean.” PHOTOS: GONZAGA UNIVERSITY, FRAMINGHAM MAYOR’S OFFICE
• Former visiting scientist at NASA and Sandia National Laboratories
It started at Tech: “Engineering seemed to be the converging point of pure mathematics and pure science.”
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• Three chemical engineering degrees (bachelor’s, master’s, doctorate)
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Dean, School of Engineering and Applied Science, Gonzaga University
The engineer as dean: “I use data to develop analytical trends and inform such matters as enrollment and funding projections.”
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