FIU’s College of Engineering and Computing has named Monica E. Cardella director of its School of Computing, Construction, and Engineering Education (SUCCEED). Cardella, who currently serves as a professor of engineering education at Purdue University, will officially join FIU at the start of the Fall 2021 semester.
In this role, Cardella will oversee SUCCEED, which will be housed at the college’s new engineering building, set to break ground at FIU’s main campus in the summer of 2021. Established in 2018, SUCCEED is dedicated to engineering and computing education research and curricular transformation. The school offers two new degree programs: A Bachelor of Science in interdisciplinary engineering and a doctorate in engineering and computing education.
“Dr. Cardella is a nationally recognized expert in engineering education and has extensive experience as an engineering professor,” said John L. Volakis, dean of FIU’s College of Engineering and Computing. “With Dr. Cardella onboard, SUCCEED will continue its development into national prominence, while attracting new faculty focused on engineering education research.”
Cardella has worked as a principal investigator (PI), co-principal investigator (Co-PI) or senior personnel on research grants totaling more than $15 million. Her research has been supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Institutes of Health, the National Academy of Engineering, among others. She is also the recipient of an NSF CAREER Award. Cardella has published more than 175 journals and conference papers, 11 book chapters, and edited two books in her field of expertise. She is a Fellow of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), and served as chair of ASEE’s Educational Research and Methods (ERM) Division.
While at Purdue University, Cardella served as the co-director of Education and Workforce Development for a Purdue-led Engineering Research Center, as editor in chief of the Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research and is currently a rotating program officer at the NSF. She participated in two different year-long academic leadership programs: The Executive Leadership Program for Academic Technology and Engineering (ELATE) offered by Drexel University, and the Big Ten Academic Alliance Academic Leadership Program.
“I am thrilled to work with the entire SUCCEED community – the brilliant and creative faculty, staff, undergraduate and graduate students. I look forward to working collaboratively with this team to advance the School’s mission. I also want to acknowledge that being able to do this at the nation’s first engineering and computing education department at a minority-serving institution is an unparalleled opportunity to advance engineering and computing education while centering equity, diversity, and inclusion,” said Cardella.