Capacity Building at MSIs Webinar Series: Exploring Strategies for Recruiting S-STEM Students and Enhancing their Participation in Activities

Dr. Elodie Billionniere, Professor in the School of Engineering and Technology at Miami Dade College. Dr. Elodie Billionniere is a committed STEMinist, advancing STEM education access and success for underrepresented students. As Principal Investigator of the S-STEM STEM-Mia project, she supported STEM students transferring from community college to 4-year university, while the S-STEM REP project equips bachelor’s students in computing with workforce and graduate school readiness skills and training in emerging technologies. Her commitment to inclusive education has earned her numerous accolades, including the 2023 AACC Dale P. Parnell Distinguished Faculty Award and the 2019 Women of Color in STEM Education Leadership Award.

Dr. Diana De La Rosa-Pohl is an Instructional Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Houston. Prior to this role, she spent a decade as a lecturer in the Honors Engineering Program. Her research includes biomedical image analysis conducted at UH’s Texas Learning and Computation Center, and she made significant contributions to academic conferences and publications on engineering education, particularly focused on student engagement and first-year course design.

Dr. De La Rosa-Pohl is also involved in a project funded by the NSF Scholarships in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (S-STEM) program. The project aims to support high-achieving, low-income STEM students at the University of Houston by providing 80 scholarships over five years to students pursuing bachelor’s degrees in STEM fields. The program includes a comprehensive set of activities such as scholarly orientation, supplemental instruction, and mentored research to promote student success and timely graduation.

Dr. Eve Riskin received her BS degree in Electrical Engineering from M.I.T. and her graduate degrees in EE from Stanford. She was Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering at the University of Washington, where she was Faculty Director of their ADVANCE program for women faculty in STEM for 20 years, and founded their STARS program from students from limited-income backgrounds in Engineering and Computer Science. She is now at Stevens Institute of Technology where she is Dean of Undergraduate Education and Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. At Stevens, she leads an office of 11 people who work to provide undergraduate students the best possible academic experience.

Dr. Riskin was awarded a National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award, a
Sloan Research Fellowship, the 2006 Hewlett-Packard Harriett B. Rigas Award, and a 2020 Presidential Mentoring Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring. She is a
Fellow of the IEEE.

Dr. Jun Tsuji holds a Ph.D. in Genetics and has served 30 years in higher education as a teaching faculty member, department chair, division chair, and assistant Dean. He is the lead PI on an S-STEM track 2 grant and heads an interdisciplinary grant team of biology, chemistry, environmental science, and psychology faculty members. Dr. Tsuji has served as a lead PI on an S-STEM track 1 grant, NSF S-STEM grant proposal reviewer, and NSF S-STEM new PI boot camp panelist. He currently serves as the Assistant Dean and directs faculty and curricular assessments and evaluations in all of the university STEM fields, including Engineering and Computer Science. Dr. Tsuji also oversees all STEM student support activities, including tutoring, advising, internships, and clubs. He has a history of supporting diverse populations, including mentoring underrepresented students in the Ronald E. McNair Program, advising low-income students in the Siena Heights S-STEM program, and advocating for LGBTQs.