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Nolgie Oquendo is a Graduate Student (MS) in the Department of Industrial Engineering at the University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez. He holds a BS in Industrial Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez. He is seeking to pursue a PhD in Engineering Education. Research interests include Diversity and Inclusion, Design and Evaluation, and Data Analytics.  

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Dr. Lourdes A. Medina earned her B.S. in Industrial Engineering in 2006 from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez, where she graduated Summa Cum Laude and obtained the highest recognitions in the graduation commencements: Luis Stefani Rafucci Award, College of Engineering Award and Frederick M. Taylor Industrial Engineering Award. In 2007, she was admitted at The Harold and Inge Marcus Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering at The Pennsylvania State University, where she received her M.S. degree in Industrial Engineering in 2009 and Ph.D. degree in Industrial Engineering in 2012. While at The Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Medina is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez in the Department of Industrial Engineering. She teaches courses in Automation Processes, Project Management and Linear Programming; and is conducting research in the areas of Systems and Product Design Methods, Medical Devices, Regulations, Complexity Assessment, Decision Support Systems, Manufacturing, Automation, Real-Time Process Control and Engineering Education. Dr. Medina is the IⱭDEAS (Improving Design Decisions in Engineering and Applied Systems) Research Group Leader. This group is dedicated to innovating the development process of products and processes. Dr. Medina has been the recipient of several fellowships such as the GEM Ph.D. Engineering Fellowship, NASA Harriet Jenkins Pre-doctoral Fellowship, Alfred P. Sloan Dissertation Fellowship, Graham Endowed Fellowship, Marie Underhill Noll Graduate Fellowship, and General Electric Fellowship, while also becoming a scholar of the Center for Integrated Health Delivery Systems at Penn State. She is member of Alpha Pi Mu Industrial Engineering honor society, Tau Beta Pi Engineering honor society, and Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE). Currently, she holds the position of Media Director of the Manufacturing and Design Division of IIE and track co-chair of the education track for 2015 Industrial and Systems Engineering Research Conference (ISERC).

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Dr. Velazquez is the Director of Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in the Norm Absjornson College of Engineering at Montana State University. She is also a faculty member at the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department. In her role, she supports underrepresented minority students in STEM fields. Dr. Velazquez has a PhD. in Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering from The Pennsylvania State University. She is interested in research related to recruitment, retention, and success of minority students in STEM. She is passionate about topics related to increasing the participation of women in Engineering.

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David Claudio (he/his/him), PhD, PE, CPIM, is an Associate Professor of Industrial and Management Systems Engineering in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at Montana State University. He received his B.S. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus, his M.S. in Industrial and Management Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and his PhD in Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering from The Pennsylvania State University. He has accumulated over four years of work experience in different manufacturing and service industries. His research interests include Human Factors, Service Systems, Healthcare Engineering, Operations Management, and Decision Making. He is also a strong advocate for diversity and inclusion. Dr. Claudio is currently an active member of the MSU IChange Network Team and the College of Engineering Diversity and Inclusion Committee. He is also the advisor of the IISE student chapter and co-advisor to the SHPE and SACNAS student chapters at MSU.

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Dr. Aidsa I. Santiago-Román is a Professor and Chair in the Engineering Sciences and Materials (CIIM) Department at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus (UPRM). Dr. Santiago earned a BS and MS in Industrial Engineering from UPRM and Ph.D. in Engineering Education from Purdue University. Dr. Santiago has over 20 years of experience in academia and has been successful in obtaining funding and publishing for various research projects. She's also the founder and advisor of the first ASEE student chapter in Puerto Rico.

Her research interests include investigating students' understanding of difficult concepts in engineering sciences, especially for underrepresented populations (Hispanic students). She has studied the effectiveness engineering concept inventories (Statics Concept Inventory - CATS and the Thermal and Transport Concept Inventory - TTCI) for diagnostic assessment and cultural differences among bilingual students. She has also contributed to the training and development of faculty in developing and evaluating various engineering curriculum and courses at UPRM, applying the outcome-based educational framework.

She has also incorporated theories on social cognitive career choices and student attrition mitigation to investigate the effectiveness of institutional interventions in increasing the retention and academic success of talented engineering students from economically disadvantaged families. She's also involved in a project that explores the relationship between the institutional policies at UPRM and faculty and graduate students' motivation to create good relationships between advisors and advisees.

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