Elena Rodriguez-Falcon

Elena Rodriguez-Falcon PFHEA (born 1972) is President and Chief Executive Officer at the New Model in Technology and Engineering having briefly served as its Provost and Chief Academic Officer. Until January 2018, Elena was Professor of Enterprise and Engineering Education at the University of Sheffield[1][2][3] and is principal fellow at the Higher Education Academy and fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology.

Professor Elena Rodriguez-Falcon, 2017

Early life and education

Rodriguez-Falcon was born in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico, in 1972.[4] She studied mechanical engineering at the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León in Mexico, graduating with a first class degree in 1994, followed by a master's degree in mechanical engineering and industrial relations at the same university. In 2000, Rodriguez-Falcon was awarded a master's degree in mechanical engineering and industrial management at Sheffield Hallam University in the UK, and in 2005, she trained in learning and teaching for higher education professionals at The University of Sheffield.

Career

Rodriguez-Falcon worked in industry in Mexico from 1993 as a design and logistics engineer and later as a project and quality manager. In 2002 she joined the University of Sheffield in the UK, where initially she designed and directed degree programmes in mechanical engineering with business and enterprise. She began her academic career teaching business planning to engineers in several of the Faculty of Engineering's departments; her students worked with clients to develop engineering solutions which could later become commercial products.[5][6] A number of items designed during this course were produced and marketed. One example is the speaking glove which allows people who have suffered a stroke and can not speak to communicate.[7] She also studied cultural differences in workplace expectations among engineering students.[8]

In 2011, Rodriguez-Falcon was appointed to the post of director of enterprise education at the University of Sheffield,[9][10] and in 2012 she became a full professor.[11] In 2014 was also appointed faculty director of communications and external relations in the Faculty of Engineering.

From 2011 to 2014, Rodriguez-Falcon held the role of director of women in engineering.[12] In this role she wrote and spoke about the need for more women to become engineers and how this could be accomplished.[13][14][15] For her work in this field she was presented with a Women into Science and Engineering award in 2014.[16]

In January 2018, Rodriguez-Falcon left Sheffield to join the newly founded New Model in Technology and Engineering University in Hereford in the role of inaugural provost and chief academic officer, and holds a distinguished chair in engineering education.

Honours and awards

Rodriguez-Falcon has been recognised by the Higher Education Academy as a Principal Fellow, by the Royal Academy of Engineering[17] in 2007 and was named the most inspirational academic at The University of Sheffield.[18] In 2015, she received a doctorate of engineering honoris causa by her alma mater, the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León in México.[19] In 2019, she was selected as a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology.[20] And in 2020, Rodriguez-Falcon was named Woman of the Year in Technology by FDM Everywoman .

References
  1. "‘National approach needed to boost women in engineering’". Yorkshire Post, 10 August 2015.
  2. "New University hopes to provide a pipeline of 'industry-ready' engineers". The Engineer, 21 May 2015 | By Stephen Harris
  3. international students who bring £429m to Yorkshire’. Yorkshire Post, March 10, 2017.
  4. "‘Protect international students who bring £429m to Yorkshire’ - Universities’ Brexit plea to Government". The Yorkshire Post, 10 March 2017
  5. Colin Jones (27 December 2013). Teaching Entrepreneurship to Postgraduates. Edward Elgar Publishing. pp. 111–. ISBN 978-1-78347-260-4.
  6. "Handy Fasteners win £25000 award for innovation which helps arthritis sufferers". The Educator, November 17, 2016
  7. "Stroke victim 'talks' again with help of speaking glove". The Telegraph, Richard Gray, Science Correspondent 18 Nov 2012. archived at the Wayback Machine]
  8. Moldabayev, D., Menicucci, J. A., Al-Zubaidy, S. & Abdulaziz, N. 2013, 'Attendance, performance and culture: experience of the School of Engineering, Nazarbayev University - an update', IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference, EDUCON 2013, vol. 60, no. 7, p. 29.
  9. "Global Insight On Drawing Girls To Tech". NPR, March 6, 2014
  10. "Global Insight On Drawing Girls To Tech". Tell Me More, March 6, 2014, National Public Radio
  11. "Evaluating teaching". International Video Project (IVP), March 2016. p. 43
  12. "How A Sheffield Professor Is Boosting Engineering Courses Among Women". Engineering Because, Elena Doncheva. 12 June 2014
  13. "‘National approach needed to boost women in engineering’". Yorkshire Post 10 August 2015.
  14. "Is engineering too geeky for girls? Of course not". The Guardian, Victoria Ngow 5 November 2013
  15. "National Women in Engineering Day: six Twitter accounts to follow". The Yorkshire Post, Harriet Minter 23 Jun 2014
  16. "Royal recognition for Sheffield professor". The Star, 25 November 2014
  17. The Royal Academy of Engineering, 28 March 2007. "Awards for Excellence in Engineering Education".
  18. "Inspiration&Co competition".
  19. "Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León". www.uanl.mx (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-02-23.
  20. https://www.theiet.org/membership/becoming-a-member/join-the-iet/fellow-membership/recently-elected-fellows/
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.