Sanchez-Pena receives ASEE Apprentice Faculty Grant

By Sarah D'Iorio

Published June 21, 2021

Matilde Sanchez-Pena, assistant professor in the Department of Engineering Education, is one of four engineering education educators to receive a 2021 Apprentice Faculty Grant Award from the Educational Research and Methods (ERM) Division of the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE).

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“Matilde's selection to receive an ERM Apprentice Faculty Grant is a great honor and recognizes her potential to effect meaningful changes in engineering education. ”
Carl Lund, SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor and Chair
Department of Engineering Education

Matilde Sanchez-Pena

The grant encourages and honors promising emerging engineering education scholars who have the potential for substantial contributions to the community. Grant winners are recognized at the ASEE annual conference and paired with a mentor from the division for a year. 

“Matilde's selection to receive an ERM Apprentice Faculty Grant is a great honor and recognizes her potential to effect meaningful changes in engineering education,” said Carl Lund, SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor and chair of the Department of Engineering Education. “One of Matilde's research interests is catalyzing student success. Importantly, she does not limit student success to academics, instead favoring a holistic definition. I am excited to watch as she develops programs in this arena here at UB.”

Lund said he is also very proud that Sanchez-Pena is the second Department of Engineering Education professor to be selected for an ERM Apprentice Faculty Grant in two years, joining Jessica Swenson who received one last year.

Sanchez-Pena, who will be mentored by Dr. Jeremi London from the Department of Engineering Education at Virginia Tech, has been a member of ASEE since 2014. She has written a number of conference proceedings for the ERM division of the ASEE annual conference and the Frontiers in Education Conference (co-sponsored by the ASEE-ERM division) and has served as a reviewer for both conferences.

"It is such an honor to be awarded the Apprentice Faculty Grant this year. The ERM division of ASEE sets the pace for innovation in the topics tackled and methods used in engineering education research," said Sanchez Pena. "This award means that the division sees potential in my research areas, the methods I use and my capacity for innovation, and the contributions I can make to the division...it encourages me to keep engaging in the research I am passionate about and take risks."

Sanchez-Pena’s research interests include cultures of wellbeing, institutional diversity, faculty advancement, equity and inclusion assessment, Data Science teaching and learning, social responsibility, social justice.

Before joining the University at Buffalo in January 2021, she was a Visiting Assistant Professor in the School of Engineering Education at Purdue University where she earned her PhD.