2005-06 Leadership Development Program Participants

Dr. Amy Bell, Associate Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Dr. Amy Bell is an Associate Professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Virginia Tech and Director of the Digital Signal Processing and Communications Lab. She received her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan in 1997. Bell conducts research in wavelet image compression, embedded systems, signal and image processing for systems biology applications, and engineering education. Bell’s research sponsors include NSF, NIH,
and the Sloan Foundation. Her work has been recognized with a 1999 NSF CAREER award and a 2003 VBI Faculty Fellow award. Bell is also the recipient of two awards for teaching excellence.

Dr. Virginia Buechner-Maxwell, Associate Professor, Large Animal Clinical Sciences

Dr. Virginia Buechner-Maxwell received her DVM degree from the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine in 1987. Simultaneously, she received a Masters of Science in Cell and Molecular Biology from the University of Pennsylvania. After graduating from Veterinary College, Dr. Maxwell completed a one year internship at the Chino Valley Equine Hospital in Chino, California, followed by a three year Residency and Masters Program in Large Animal Internal Medicine at the Marion DuPont Scott Equine Medical Center in Leesburg VA. She is a board certified specialist in Large Animal Internal Medicine, and serves as a clinician in the Large Animal Veterinary Teaching Hospital. Her clinical interests and expertise include equine neonatal medicine, respiratory disease and clinical nutrition.

Dr. Elizabeth Grabau, Associate Professor, Plant Pathology, Physiology & Weed Science

Dr. Elizabeth A. Grabau is an Associate Professor in the Department of Plant Pathology, Physiology and Weed Science at Virginia Tech. She conducts research in the area of plant biotechnology, with particular interests in crop improvement. Current research projects include modifying soybean for improved phosphorus and nutrient availability. Another area of research in Dr. Grabau's laboratory includes using biotechnology approaches to enhance disease resistance in peanuts. Dr. Grabau teaches lecture and laboratory courses in molecular biology and biotechnology at the undergraduate and graduate level.

Prior to joining the faculty at Virginia Tech, Dr. Grabau was a research associate at the University of Minnesota in the Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics. She conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Utah, received her Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of California in San Diego, and graduated with an undergraduate degree in biology at Purdue University.

Dr. Valerie Hardcastle , Professor, Science & Technology in Society

Dr. Mary Kasarda , Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering

Dr. Mary Kasarda is an associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Virginia Tech.  She specializes in magnetic bearing, rotor dynamic, and health monitoring research topics.  She has six years of professional engineering experience and her background is in various aspects of turbomachinery engineering.  She is a member of the Virginia Tech Rotor Dynamics Laboratory and the Virginia Tech Center for Intelligent Materials and Smart Structures.  In 2003-2004, she acted as an education consultant through Virginia Tech to Sweet Briar College to help facilitate a new engineering program at this all-women liberal arts college.  She received an NSF CAREER award in 1998 and the Virginia Tech College of Engineering Outstanding New Assistant Professor Award in 2000.

Dr. Janis Terpenny, Associate Professor, Engineering Education

Dr. Janis Terpenny is an Associate Professor in the Department of Engineering Education with affiliate faculty positions in Mechanical Engineering and Industrial & Systems Engineering at Virginia Tech. Dr. Terpenny is the site director at Virginia Tech of the NSF Center for e-Design, a multi-university NSF industry-university cooperative research center. She is also the director of the Systems Modeling and Realizations Technologies Lab at Virginia Tech. Dr. Terpenny’s research interests focus on the early stages of engineering design, including: design process and methodology, enabling technologies, representations, and knowledge systems that lead to reduced costs, improved quality and satisfaction, and reduced time to market of innovative high value products and systems. Dr. Terpenny is also interested in the effects of interdisciplinary design teams, human-centered design and industry collaboration on student learning, motivation, recruitment and retention in engineering.