Elizabethtown College Faculty Present Research at Summer Conferences

The Elizabethtown College School of Engineering and Computer Science (ECS) faculty shared their knowledge with peers from around the world this summer by presenting research at several notable conferences throughout the U.S. and abroad.

Several faculty presented work with undergraduate researcher at national and international conferences.

Brinton and Robert Midura ’25 traveled to the Myoelectric Control Symposium in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada to present their paper, “Effect of Biomimicry on Perceived Intensity, Naturalness, and Pleasantness using Non-Invasive Electrical Stimulation.” Midura received a Summer Enrichment Grant from the Prestigious Scholarships and Fellowships program at Etown for his travel.

DeGoede and Sarah Martson ’24 presented their study “Analysis of Compression on Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS)- A Pilot Study” at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of BioMechanics. The research was part of the 2023 Summer Creative Arts and Research Program (SCARP) that examined the use of water-based compression therapy as a potential treatment for POTS.

A highlight of the summer also included Etown faculty presenting seven peer-reviewed papers at the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) Annual Conference in Portland, Ore. in June. Research presented at the conference included:

Dean of the School of Engineering and Computer Science Sara Atwood presented, the collaborative paper, “Initial Findings of Engineering Faculties’ Perceptions of Mastery Assessment in a Project-Based Engineering Program,” which was co-authored by Kelsey Scalaro from the University of Utah and Greenway Institute Co-founder Rebecca Holcombe.

Atwood also co-authored a paper with Scalaro and Holcombe, “Work-in-Progress: Seizing Failure as an Opportunity to Learn: Undergraduate Engineering Students’ Conceptions of Failure and Iteration,” which was presented by Scalaro.

Physics Secondary Education alumna Meghan Williams ’23 presented a paper coauthored by Assistant Professor of Engineering Mark Brinton, Professor of Engineering and Physics Kurt DeGoede, and Associate Professor of Psychology Elizabeth Dalton, titled “Student Anxiety and Belonging in a Mastery-Based Learning Course.”

DeGoede, Associate Professor of Engineering and Physics and Brenda Read-Daily, Professor of Engineering presented their paper, “Impacts of Social and Equity-Centered Instruction on Students’ Ability to Navigate Related Tradeoffs in Systems-Level Design.” The pair of Etown faculty collaborated with Rachel Koh from Greenway Institute on the publication.

DeGoede and Read-Daily also presented the paper, “MBL (Mastery-Based Learning) Supports a Normalization of Failure as an Essential Part of Learning,” which was also co-authored by Koh.

Associate Professor of Engineering Jean Batista Abreu coauthored the paper “Impact of Graphical Reasoning in Elementary Vector Analysis: A Case Study from Statics” which was presented by co-author Christopher Papadopoulos from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus.

New Assistant Professor of Engineering Shannon Clancy presented the paper, “Barriers and Supports to Divergent Thinking in Engineering Problem-Solving: An Engineering Student Project Experience” which was co-authored by Shanna Daly and Colleen Seifert from the University of Michigan.

Additional summer engagements include: 

Associate Professor of Computer Science Peilong Li was invited back to his alma mater Qingdao University of Science and Technology in China to lead its AI, Informatics and Society Forum on June 24. Li spoke on the topic “AI and Informatics in Smart Health – Applications and Implementations,” and exchanged ideas on the future of AI in modern society, focusing particularly on its applications in elderly care environments in both the U.S. and China.

Atwood was also installed in her second term on the ASEE Engineering Dean’s Council Executive Board this summer