Date: January 8
Time: 9:45 – 11:15 a.m.
Location: Room 410, Harker ISE Lab
Description: PBL traditionally works with realistic, but hypothetical, problems. Increasingly, faculty encourage teams of students to take on various problems of real import by designing solutions for clients and addressing real audiences. These faculty will discuss how they break down the walls of their classrooms and engage students with solving practical problems. The session will include opportunities to talk with other participants about how your classes might engage with real problems. (Part 2 of two related panel sessions)
Kim Bothi
Kim Bothi, Institute for Global Studies
Dr. Kim Bothi joined UD’s Institute for Global Studies (IGS) as Associate Director for Science and Engineering in fall 2014. Dr. Bothi brings a multidisciplinary background in engineering and social sciences, with research and consulting experience across a range of domestic and developing country contexts. She earned a Ph.D. in global community-based resource management from Cornell University (2012), and holds earlier degrees in environmental engineering from Cornell (MS, 2007) and McGill University (BSc.Eng., 2000). In her joint position between IGS and the College of Engineering, Dr. Bothi is responsible for expanding opportunities for students, staff and faculty to engage in cross-disciplinary, globally-minded research and academic programming. She co-advises the UD student chapter of Engineers Without Borders, which links student teams with community partners abroad to implement sustainable engineering projects. More at www.kimbothi.com.
Michele Lobo
Michele Lobo, Physical Therapy
Dr. Lobo received her Masters in Physical Therapy from the Medical College of Pennsylvania and Hahnemann University and her PhD in Biomechanics and Movement Science from the University of Delaware. She has been a visiting researcher at The Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam and the University of California in Berkeley. Dr. Lobo’s clinical focus is in the area of pediatric physical therapy and she has experience working with children and families across in-patient, out-patient, early intervention, and school-based settings. Her teaching focuses on pediatrics, learning, and the impact of physical activity from the level of physiology through mood and cognition. Her research program focuses on: 1) understanding typical developmental processes, 2) identifying how these processes differ for those at risk, and 3) designing effective early assessments, interventions, and devices to maximize participation, play, and learning. She leads an interdisciplinary research group that includes team members from a variety of fields including rehabilitation, developmental psychology, engineering, and fashion. She is also the founder of the Super Suits FUNctional Fashion & Wearable Technology Program that developed the first exoskeletal garment for rehabilitation. The Program is currently working closely with children with disabilities and their families to develop and test a range of low- to high-tech clothing aimed at increasing independence and function.
McKay Jenkins
McKay Jenkins, English and Environmental Humanities
McKay Jenkins has been writing about people and the natural world for 30 years. He the author of ContamiNation (Avery, 2016, previously published by Random House as What’s Gotten Into Us), which chronicles his investigation into the myriad synthetic chemicals we encounter in our daily lives, and the growing body of evidence about the harm these chemicals do to our bodies and the environment. He holds degrees from Amherst, Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism, and Princeton, where he received a PhD in English. A former staff writer for the Atlanta Constitution, he has also written for Outside, Orion, The New Republic, and many other publications. Jenkins is currently the Cornelius Tilghman Professor of English, Journalism and Environmental Humanities at the University of Delaware, where he has won the Excellence in Teaching Award. More line at: http://mckayjenkins.com/bio