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Dr. Homero Murzi (he/él/his) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Engineering Education at Virginia Tech with honorary appointments at the University of Queensland (Australia) and University of Los Andes (Venezuela). Homero is the leader of the Engineering Competencies, Learning, and Inclusive Practices for Success (ECLIPS) Lab where he leads a team focused on doing research on contemporary, culturally relevant, and inclusive pedagogical practices, emotions in engineering, competency development, and understanding the experiences of traditionally marginalized people (e.g., Latinx, international students, Indigenous students) in engineering from an asset-based perspective. Homero is interested in understanding how to develop effective and culturally relevant learning environments that can promote the sustainable competencies engineering students require to succeed in the contemporary workforce. His goal is to develop engineering education practices that value the capital that traditionally marginalized students, bring into the field. Homero aspires to change discourses around broadening participation in engineering and promoting action to change. Homero has been recognized as a Diggs Teaching Scholar, a Graduate Academy for Teaching Excellence Fellow, a Global Perspectives Fellow, a Diversity Scholar, a Fulbright Scholar, an inductee into the Bouchet Honor Society, and received the prestigious NSF CAREER award. Homero serves as the VT Engineering Education Chair for Equity and Inclusion, and the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Incoming Chair for the Commission on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (CDEI). He holds degrees in Industrial Engineering (BS, MS) from the National Experimental University of Táchira, Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Temple University, and Engineering Education (PhD) from Virginia Tech.

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Tahsin Chowdhury is an Engineering Education Doctoral candidate who focuses on engineering in the 21st century. He is passionate about enhancing professional competencies for engineering workforce development in academia and beyond. He is trained in Industrial and Systems Engineering and has a combined 6 years experience spanning both academia as well as lean manufacturing at Fortune 500 companies. Tahsin’s long term goal is to bridge the engineering competency gap between industry demand and academic fulfillment. A global engineer and researcher, Tahsin is an advocate and ally for better inclusion in STEM and beyond.

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Lloyd Morris is a professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering at the Catholic University of Pereira - Colombia. He has engineering and master's degrees from the National Experimental University of Táchira in Venezuela, a master's degree from the University of Alcala, and a doctorate in Management Sciences from the University of the Armed Forces. Before coming to Colombia, he was a professor of industrial engineering at the National Experimental University of Táchira in Venezuela, where he taught production courses. In addition, he held different administrative positions such as Head of the Treasury and Director of the Master in Business Management, and President of the UNET savings bank. Morris has 22 years of experience in higher education in Colombia and Venezuela. In addition, Dr. Morris has several years of experience in the manufacturing engineering industry, for example at LAFARGE as a chief manufacturing officer. Dr. Morris's goal is to improve processes in engineering operations by incorporating techniques or mathematical tools into decision-making processes to increase manufacturing productivity.

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