Dr. Cynthia J. Atman
Director, Center for Engineering Learning and Teaching
Director of the Center for the Advancement of Engineering Education
Professor of Industrial Engineering
Mitchell T. Bowie and Lella Blanche Bowie Endowed Chair
Dr. Atman is the founding director of the Center for Engineering Learning and Teaching and joined the College of Engineering in September 1998. She is also the principal investigator and director of the NSF-funded, Center for the Advancement of Engineering Education.
Dr. Atman is a professor in Industrial Engineering. She came to the UW in 1998 after seven years on the faculty of the University of Pittsburgh. She completed her doctoral work in the Department of Engineering and Public Policy at Carnegie Mellon University. She has an MS in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Ohio State University and a BS in Industrial Engineering from West Virginia University. She also has five years of industrial experience.
Dr. Atman teaches courses in human factors and engineering education. Her research focuses on engineering education issues. Specifically, she investigates issues of engineering design learning and students as emerging engineering professionals. Dr. Atman received a National Science Foundation Young Investigator award to conduct this research. She was co-chair for the Frontiers in Education conference in 1997. Dr. Atman is the 2002 recipient of the ASEE Chester F. Carlson Award for Innovation in Engineering Education. Dr. Atman is a member of American Society for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), American Educational Research Association (AERA), American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES), Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (IEEE), Society of Women Engineers (SWE), and International Society for the Learning Sciences (ICLS).