metallurgical engineering at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (SD Mines). Between 2008-2013, he served as site director of the NSF I/UCRC Center for Friction Stir Processing (CFSP). Since then, he has been involved in a range of projects involving friction stir joining and alloy processing in a variety of metal alloys including aluminum alloys, ODS steels, titanium alloys, cast irons, and dissimilar metal alloys. He is also actively engaged in STEM-Ed projects and serves as the director for the NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) ”Back to the Future”, coordinator for the Army Educational Outreach REAP program for High school students at SD Mines, and PI for the S-STEM Culture and Attitude program
information science; her industry experience includes systems analysis and cognitive science applications. She is one of the Principal Investigators on two NSF S-STEM and one NSF ADVANCE-PAID grants. With a life-long interest in technology and its potential for enhancing human capabilities, her research includes advances in analytics, motivated system energetics, and other topics relative to knowledge-intensive systems.Dr. Karinna M Vernaza, Gannon University Dr. Karinna Vernaza joined Gannon University in 2003, and she is currently a Professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department and Associate Dean of the College of Engineering and Business. She earned her Ph.D. and M.S. in mechanical engineering from the University