Our Team

Kristen Wendell, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Education at Tufts University. A recipient of the NSF CAREER award, her research focuses on engineering design and discourse practices among all engineering learners, from PreK children to teachers to college students. Contact Kristen at kristen.wendell@tufts.edu or learn more about her work here.

Tejaswini Dalvi, Ph.D., is a Assistant Professor of Science Education in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at University of Massachusetts Boston. She holds a PhD in physics and was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow on the Community Based Engineering project.

Jessica Swenson, M.S., is Assistant Professor in the Department of Engineering and Computer Science Education at the University at Buffalo. She previously earned degrees at Northwestern University and Tufts University and was a research assistant on the Community Based Engineering project. She is interested in undergraduate students’ engagement in different engineering learning activity structures.

Chelsea Andrews, M.S., is Postdoctoral Researcher at the Tufts University Center for Engineering Education and Outreach. She previously earned degrees at Tufts University, MIT, and Texas A&M. She is interested in how students are apprenticed into disciplinary ways of doing engineering.

Contributing teachers:

We gratefully acknowledge the support of the BCYF Thomas M. Menino Community Center who hosted our Community Based Engineering Teacher Institute in the summers of 2015, 2016, and 2017. We also thank undergraduate interns Dana Levin, Annalisa DeBari, and Tom Petry for their contributions to the work.