Dr. Stella Quiñones is an Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) where she has been a faculty member for the past 13 years. She is the Forest O. and Henrietta Lewis Professor in Electrical Engineering and is a 2010 UT Regents' Outstanding Teaching Award recipient. Dr. Quinones was also selected as an innovative early-career engineering faculty to participate in the Frontiers of Engineering Education (FOEE) symposium in Dec. 2010. Her current research areas include planar and nano-scale selective CdTe deposition on patterned CdTe(111), Si(100), Si(211) and SOI substrates using a conventional close-spaced sublimation (CSS) technique for applications related to solar cells and infrared detectors. Her educational activities include an NSF funded Course Curriculum Laboratory Improvement grant to develop an Applied Quantum Mechanics Course for Electrical Engineers in addition to collaborations with Purdue University on an NSF Network for Computational Nanotechnology grant to develop educational materials associated with the simulation of semiconductor devices using the NanoHUB.org website.
Dr. Benjamin C. Flores joined the faculty of the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) in 1990 after receiving his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Arizona State University. He is Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Acting Dean of the Graduate School. He has held several administrative positions including Associate Dean for Graduate Studies for the College of Engineering, Chair of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, and Interim Chair of the Computer Science Department.
Dr. Flores is an expert in retention strategies for non-traditional undergraduate and graduate students in the STEM disciplines. From 1999 to 2007 he was the Project Director of the NSF supported Model Institutions for Excellence Initiative. Currently he is Director of two NSF funded programs: the UT System Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation, the Bridge to the Doctorate Program. Through his work on student retention issues, he has gained international recognition as an expert in the effectiveness and impact of strategies for access to higher education. He regularly consults with other institutions, nationally and abroad, on these issues.
Gabriel Della-Piana is Professor Emeritus in Educational Psychology from the University of Utah. He is currently a consultant on program design, development and evaluation in educational programs and projects. Most recently (Jan 2003 to Jan 2007) he was Program Director at the National Science Foundation in the Directorate of Education and Human Resources on an IPA (Interagency Personnel Agreement). From 1992 to 2003 he was Director of Curriculum Development and Evaluation with the El Paso Collaborative for Academic Excellence at the University of Texas at El Paso evaluating science, technology, and mathematics initiatives geared to getting more minority students into the pipeline for college. He has taught mathematics in grades 7 & 8; taught instructional design and evaluation at the University of Utah; was visiting professor in these areas at UCLA, Harvard, University of lllinois, and Miami University of Ohio. Recently was consultant to BBC World Trust on evaluation workshop for field workers in India. Has over 85 refereed publications and 75+ reports and presentations. Conducted evaluation and program development in language literacy (across subject disciplines); various forms of mediated instruction across subject disciplines in science, mathematics, and literacy; mathematics, science, and technology; parenting (mothers and underachieving middle school female students); homeless education; a planetarium production; training of teachers of teachers; and writing assessment.
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