The iCollaborate MSE Project

Abstract

Professor Kitto has served WWU for more than 20 years and has played a number of roles within the university including eight years as Chair of the Engineering Technology Department. She has been actively involved in the creation of an Advanced Materials Science and Engineering Center (AMSEC) and their new minor in Materials Science at Western. She recently became the Director of AMSEC. She is also plays a role in the college's efforts to establish a technology and innovation center (TDC) in Bellingham. She was awarded an NSF ADVANCE Catalyst grant (along with co-PIs Norman and Guenter-Schlesinger) to promote the advancement, retention, recruitment of women in STEM disciplines at Western. In 2010, she received Western Washington University's Diversity Achievement Award, the highest honor for diversity achievements at WWU. Also in 2010, PIs Kitto and Jusak were awarded a CCLI grant to develop applications and modules for materials engineering and science education. She has published more than 50 papers and given presentations at numerous conferences, co-authored three text books, written an invited book chapter and several lab manuals. She is a member of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the American Society of Engineering Educators, the Materials Research Society and ASM International. Her primary research interests are in finite element analysis, acoustic properties of materials, and curriculum design for materials education.