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Mayra S. Artiles is a Ph.D. Candidate in Engineering Education at Virginia Tech. She has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez and an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University with a focus on nanotechnology. Before her joining the Ph.D. program, she worked at Ford Motor Company as an Electrified Vehicles Thermal Engineer for four years. As a doctoral student, Mayra has collaborated in research projects on diversity in engineering, institutional support for minority students, intercultural competency development in engineering students, and doctoral student motivation. Her current research focuses on understanding the role of institutional policies in doctoral student persistence. Mayra is currently a research assistant for the Dissertation Institute where she studies the motivation of underrepresented minorities in doctoral engineering programs.

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Dr. Matusovich is an Associate Professor in Virginia Tech’s Department of Engineering Education. She has her doctorate in Engineering Education and her strengths include qualitative and mixed methods research study design and implementation. She is/was PI/Co-PI on 10 funded research projects including a CAREER grant. She has won several Virginia Tech awards including a Dean’s Award for Outstanding New Faculty. Her research expertise includes using motivation and related frameworks to study student engagement in learning, recruitment and retention in engineering programs and careers, faculty teaching practices and intersections of motivation and learning strategies.

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Dr. Stephanie G. Adams is the Department Head and Professor of Engineering Education at Virginia Tech. She previously served as Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies in the School of Engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University and was a faculty member and administrator at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). Her research interests include: Teamwork, International Collaborations, Faculty Development, Quality Control/Management and Broadening Participation. She is an honor graduate of North Carolina A&T State University, where she earned her BS in Mechanical Engineering, in 1988. In 1991 she was awarded the Master of Engineering degree in Systems Engineering from the University of Virginia. She received her Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Engineering from Texas A&M University in 1998. She is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the National Science Foundation's most prestigious, Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award. She is a Fellow of the American Society of Engineering Education, holds membership in a number of organizations and presently serves on the National Advisory Board of the National Society of Black Engineers.

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Coletta Bey is the Research Associate in the Batten College of Engineering and Technology at Old Dominion University. Ms. Bey is a summa claude graduate of Norfolk State University, where she earned her BS degree in Electronic Technology, in 1985. In 2000 she was awarded the Master of Science in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix. Her research focus is engaging PreK-12 graders in STEM. She is the founder and Executive Director of STEMulating Youth, Inc., a 501c3 organization that encourages and engages youth in hands-on project-based activities that promote the learning of science, technology, engineering and mathematics with everyday materials household materials.

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