Meet the GLIDE Research Group

Kirsten A. Davis, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator

Dr. Kirsten Davis is an Assistant Professor of Engineering Education at Purdue University. Her research explores the design and assessment of global engineering programs, student development through experiential learning, and approaches for teaching and assessing systems thinking skills. Dr. Davis's research is informed by her professional experiences working as an engineer at General Electric and as a study abroad program leader. Across her research projects, Dr. Davis seeks to connect educational research to educational practice and employs a variety of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods approaches. Dr. Davis holds a B.S. in Engineering & Management from Clarkson University and an M.A.Ed. in Higher Education, M.S. in Systems Engineering, and Ph.D. in Engineering Education, all from Virginia Tech.  For her leadership and research of international programs, Dr. Davis received the 2019 Harold Josephson award for professional promise in international education from the Association of International Education Administrators.

GLIDE Research Group Members

Lexy Arinze
Ph.D. Candidate
Linked In, Google Scholar
Research Interests: Lexy’s research interests surround global engineering impacts, early career engineers and developing competencies to bridge the academia-industry gap.
David Czerwonky
Ph.D. Student
Linked In, Google Scholar
Research Interests: David's current research interests include undergraduate research experiences, model-based reasoning in electromagnetics, teaching sociotechnical aspects of electronic circuits, and computational bioelectromagnetics.
Caleb Head
Ph.D. Student
Linked In
Frederick (Rick) Dunn
Ph.D. Student
Linked In
Research Interests: Caleb’s research interests include industrial collaboration and technical writing in the engineering curriculum, global competencies in engineering, and study-abroad experiences for engineering students.
Research Interests: Frederick’s research explores English for Specific Purposes in engineering contexts, focusing on technical communication between international teaching assistants and students, and the use of virtual reality to enhance language learning and intercultural competence in STEM.
Aya Ahmed
Ph.D. Student
​Linked In
Research Interests:  Aya's Research interests focus on the responsible integration of artificial intelligence, particularly generative AI and large language models, into engineering education to strengthen students’ conceptual understanding, critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, and engagement.
Adelyn Karst
Undergraduate Researcher
Linked In
Research Interests: Adelyn's research interests focus on employee satisfaction, career development, and improvement to educational systems, including both K-12 and higher education. She is a senior at Purdue studying psychology and is looking to farther her perspectives with different opportunities. 
Maxine Elloian
Undergraduate Researcher
Linked In
Research Interests: Maxine's research interests focus on intercultural engineering experiences. She is a senior at Purdue studying civil engineering with interests in the construction and water treatment. She is seeking to broaden her exposure to projects related to water, structures, and global experience research. 

GLIDE Alumni

Picture
Cloris Chen
M.S. in Engineering Education
Global Operations Specialist
Easy Healthcare Corporation
Linked In, Google Scholar
Picture
​ Amanda Wolf
Undergraduate Researcher 
Ph.D. Student
University of Colorado Boulder
Linked In
 Picture
Harry Gomez-Donato
Undergraduate Researcher
Electrical Engineering Student
Oregon State University
​Linked In
Picture
​Dr. Siddhant (Sid) Joshi
Ph.D. in Engineering Education
Visiting Assistant Professor
Boston College
Linked In, Google Scholar
Picture
Anne Wrobetz
Coming soon!
Dr. Davis's Advising Approach
Challenge and Support – I will support you in finding the resources you need and to challenging you to grow as an educator and a researcher.
Feedback – One of the biggest ways we can challenge and support each other is through detailed and growth-focused feedback.
Growth Mindset – I view every experience as an opportunity to learn and encourage  students working with me to do this as well. As a mentor, I will work to build in opportunities for reflection.
Apprenticeship – In a Ph.D., you learn by doing, where you start with more support and gradually over time shift to having more responsibility.