Fellows Directory

Niveen AbiGhannam

Dr. Niveen AbiGhannam is a science communication researcher and educator whose work centers around the strategic and inclusive communication of technical knowledge. More specifically, her research seeks to understand individual, organizational, and social factors that can drive or hinder public engagement with STEM behaviors. She also examines the identities of publicly engaged scientists and engineers and the meanings that they associate with their engagement experiences. On the teaching front, Dr. AbiGhannam has taught Engineering Communication at UT since 2015.

Matthew Balhoff

Matthew is a professor in the Hildebrand Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering (PGE) Department. Matt’s work as a PTF includes a curriculum-wide design project that is presented to the students in their first petroleum engineering class, taught in the spring of their first year. In every PGE class they are assigned at least one homework assignment or project taken directly from the design project. The objective of this initiative is to use unique methods and tools to develop an integrated and synergistic program.

Tasha Beretvas

Tasha Beretvas is a professor in the Quantitative Methods program in the Department of Educational Psychology. She joined UT's faculty in 2000. Beretvas has served as the Quantitative Methods program chair and the College of Education's Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies. She is currently the Senior Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs. She is also a member of the board of directors for the college's Meadows Center for Preventing Educational Risk and a faculty associate of UT's Population Research Center.

Maura Borrego

Lori Holleran Steiker

Lori Holleran Steiker, PhD, is the Steve Hicks Professor of Addiction, Recovery and Substance Use Services at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work, a University Distinguished Teaching Professor, and the Director of Instruction, Engagement and Wellness at the School of Undergraduate Studies.

Krishna Kumar

Krishna Kumar is an Assistant Professor in the Civil, Architecture, and Environmental Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. Krishna’s work involves developing exascale micro and macro-scale numerical methods for modeling natural hazards. Krishna also develops Scientific Machine Learning algorithms: Graph Network Simulators and Differentiable programming to accelerate numerical methods and solve optimization, design, and inverse problems.

Fernanda Leite

Fernanda Leite is a Professor in the Cockrell School of Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. She holds the John A. Focht Centennial Teaching Fellowship in Civil Engineering. She is the past Chair of a University-wide Bridging Barriers research initiative called Planet Texas 2050. Her built environment research program sits at the interface of engineering and computing. She teaches courses on Building Information Modeling, Project Management and Economics, Construction Safety, and Sustainable Systems Engineering.

Filippo Mangolini

Filippo is an Assistant Professor in the Walker Department of Mechanical Engineering. His interdisciplinary research activities aim to develop a fundamental understanding of the chemical and physical processes occurring on material surfaces as well as at interfaces under extreme environments and far-from-equilibrium conditions. Filippo teaches courses on Materials Engineering, Enhancing Sustainability through Tribology, Phase Transformations, and Advanced Methods in Surface Analysis.

Rick Neptune

Project Title: Integrating Computational Techniques in the Engineering Curriculum 

Paola Passalacqua

D'Arcy Randall

Navid Saleh

Navid Saleh is a Professor at the Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering department. He is an environmental engineering faculty member with a passion for teaching. His mission as an educator and researcher has been to engage with the community and co-create knowledge. He has developed modules utilizing problem-based learning (PBL) pedagogy, conducted detailed and systematic evaluation, and devoted himself to student learning at UT.

Pedro Santacruz

Sarah Schoonhoven

Sarah Schoonhoven (she/her or they/them) is the Assistant Director for Strategic Events and Programs and Coordinator of the Provost’s Teaching Fellows at the UT Center for Teaching and Learning. Sarah completed her Masters of Music in Music Theory at the University of Texas at Austin and her dual Bachelors in Music and Theatre at North Central College. Her previous research endeavors included musical works by noted electronic music composer Wendy Carlos, and her current research interests include strategic event design and execution for higher education and faculty audiences.

Carolyn Seepersad

Project Title: Freshman Introduction to Research in Engineering (FIRE) 

Cathy Stacy

Nina Telang

Nina Telang is a Professor of Instruction in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department and a Kilby Faculty Fellow. She is passionate about student success and well-being and has implemented student success programs in her first and second-year courses.

Carlos Torres-Verdín

Carlos Torres-Verdín received a M.Sc. degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Ph.D. degree in Engineering Geoscience from the University of California at Berkeley in 1991. During 1991-1997, he held the position of Research Scientist with Schlumberger-Doll Research. From 1997-1999, he was Reservoir Specialist and Technology Champion with YPF (Buenos Aires, Argentina).

Michael Webber