Graduate Student Profiles

The University of Cincinnati’s graduate degrees immerse you into a technical engineering discipline while advancing education through research. A degree in engineering education can lead to a career in academia, industry, or government. Meet the graduate students in the Department of Engineering and Computing Education. 

Samieh Askarian Khan - 1

Samieh Askarian Khanamani, PhD student

Samieh Askarian Khanamani holds a bachelor's degree in project management engineering, a master's degree in civil engineering, and has more than 10 years of experience serving as vice principal of a STEM based elementary school. Her interest lies in engineering education, specifically in the area of pre-K-12 and innovative approaches like integrating origami into engineering design to enhance creativity and problem-solving skills among students, especially those from underrepresented groups.

Email: askarish@mail.uc.edu

  • Gaskins, W., Askarian, S., & Eason, K. (2022, August). Black is Gold: The Importance of Racial Identity to Black Undergraduate Students in Engineering. In 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition.
  • Agarwal, J., Askarian, S., Bucks, G., & Murphy, T. (2022, August). State of Evaluating the Effectiveness of Teaching Development Programs for Students in Engineering. In 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition.
  • Lampley, P., Cabrera-Toro, K., Gaskins, W., Mensah, M., & Askarian, S. (2022, August). Engagement in Practice: The Road to Higher Education-Is the Pipeline Half Empty or Half Full? An Analysis of Student Experiences, Perceptions and Backgrounds When Considering a Career in Engineering. In 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition.
  • Ehsan, H., Rehmat, A. P., & Khanamani, S. A. (2023, June). Parents Becoming Informal Engineering Educators: Workshop for Parents (Resource Exchange). In 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition.
  • Meintel, Elizabeth, Samieh Askarian Khanamani, Blaire MH Bartish, Whitney Gaskins, and Kyle Turner. "Draw an Engineer." In 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition. 2024.
  • Johnson, A. M., Khanamani, S. A., Onyango, M. O., & Gaskins, W. (2024, June). Board 179: Campus Climate, STEM Students: Examining Structural Obstacles for BW Student Success. In 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition.

Ibrahim Awartani - 1

Ibrahim Awartani, PhD student

Ibrahim Awartani is an international PhD graduate student from Palestine, born and raised in Qatar, educated in Jordan, and is now here at UC as an Engineering Education major focusing more on higher education. His education background is in mechanical engineering and engineering management, and currently teaches in China over the summer covering those same majors.

He is a mixed methodologist with a research focus on international curricula and grading methodology, accessibility, course climates and department culture, course intervention researches, and systematic reviews. The last of which is to provide objective systematic analysis of the current research landscape. He is advised by Dr. Yoon. 

Email: awartain@mail.uc.edu

  • Awartani, I. N., & Shayegani, I., & Evenhouse, D. A., & Yoon, S. Y. (2024, June), Exploring Intervention Research in Statics Courses: A Systematic Review of ASEE Publications from 2013 to 2023 Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. 10.18260/1-2--47418
  • Shayegani, I., & Awartani, I. N., & Evenhouse, D. A., & Yoon, S. Y., & Bucks, G. W. (2024, June), Systematic Review of Intervention Strategies in Introductory Circuits Education: Insights from ASEE Conference Papers from 2014 to 2023 Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. 10.18260/1-2--48049

Kathleen Bentley - 1

Kathleen Bentley, PhD student

Kathleen Bentley earned a Chemical Engineering degree from North Carolina State University. She is an accomplished program director and manufacturing engineer with 20+ years of strong performance across business operations and organizational growth. Her corporate experience as a manufacturing engineer and innovation program director is what inspired her interest in researching engineering learning mechanisms in an engineering industry and workforce development context. She is advised by Dr. Sheryl Sorby. 

Email: bentlekn@mail.uc.edu

 


Jeremy Hill - 1

Jeremy Hill, PhD student

Jeremy Hill is the Program Manager for First-Year Programs at UC's College of Engineering and Applied Science, overseeing the undergraduate peer-TA team and the transition to college curriculum in the first-year design thinking course sequence. His research interests are in TA training and pedagogical skill retention in a co-op-required curriculum. He is also interested in first-year engineering student identity and sense of belonging. In addition, Jeremy oversees the first-year living-learning community for engineering and applied science students. He earned bachelor's and master's degrees in computer engineering from the University of Dayton and is advised by Dr. Jeff Kastner. 

Email: hill4jy@ucmail.uc.edu

 


Madeline Martin - 1

Madeline Martin, PhD student

Madeline Martin is a first year PhD student who earned her bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering at UC. She worked as a PTA for engineering design courses throughout her undergraduate experience, leading her to engineering education. Martin's primary research interest is in rural engineering student experiences and retention, particularly in the first year while transitioning from their home communities to larger, often urban, engineering institutions. Martin is advised by Dr. David Reeping. 

Email: marti6ma@mail.uc.edu

 


Mark Onyango - 1

Mark Onyango, PhD student

Mark Onyango is an Engineering Education doctoral student in the Department of Engineering and Computing Education at the University of Cincinnati. He earned his master’s degree in information and communication engineering from Harbin Institute of Technology’s school of electronics and information engineering in Harbin, China and a bachelor’s degree in technical education (electrical technology). With work experience spanning engineering industry and teaching in technical and vocational education training institutions, his research centers on how targeted experiential learning programs promote engineering career and workforce development among a broad range of groups. Onyango is advised by Dr. Whitney Gaskins. 

Email: onyangmo@mail.uc.edu

  • Vahidi, E., Onyango, M.O., Thomas, K. A., Cross, K. J., & Gaskins, W. (06-23-2024). Racialized Trauma for Black, Latin, and Indigenous Engineering Students: A Systematic Literature Review. ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Conference Proceedings.
  • Johnson, A. M., Khanamani, S. A., Onyango, M. O., & Gaskins, W. (06-23-2024). Campus Climate, STEM Students: Examining Structural Obstacles for BW Student Success. ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Conference Proceedings.

Fazel Ranjbar - 1

Fazel Ranjbar, PhD student

Fazel Ranjbar is pursuing his Ph.D. in the Department of Engineering Education at the University of Cincinnati. He holds a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering, and after earning his degree he worked in various roles in the steel industry, including sales and planning manager. 

At UC, his research focuses on developing students' teamwork skills, team formation, teamwork assessment, and designing peer evaluation systems for student teams. He is advised by Dr. P.K. Imbrie. 

Email: ranjbafl@mail.uc.edu

  • Imbrie, P., & Ranjbar, F., & Agarwal, J. (2023, June), Board 70: Impact of First Co-op Experience on Student Retention and Learning: A Work in Progress Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--42910
  • Ranjbar, F., & Agarwal, J., & Imbrie, P. (2024, June), Work in Progress: Teamwork Predisposition as an Indicator of Team Effectiveness in First-Year Engineering Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. 10.18260/1-2--48516

Iman Shayegani - 1

Iman Shayegani, PhD student

Iman Shayegani is a second-year Ph.D. student at the University of Cincinnati. He received his Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Tehran and his Master's degree in the same field from Shiraz University. He has been working on interventions in the Circuits I course to explore methods that can improve students' comprehension of circuits. With over 10 years of experience as an educational consultant and mathematics teacher, he has helped more than 1,000 students succeed in the University Entrance Exam in Iran.

His research interests include computational thinking, higher education interventions—especially in circuits—and concept inventories. Shayegani is advised by Dr. So Yoon Yoon. 

Email: shayegin@mail.uc.edu

  • Shayegani, I., Awartani, I., Evenhouse, D., Yoon, S. Y., & Bucks, G. (2024). Systematic review of intervention strategies in introductory circuits education: Insights from ASEE conference papers from 2014 to 2023. Proceedings of the 131st ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon, USA. https://peer.asee.org/48049
  • Awartani, I., Shayegani, I., Evenhouse, D., & Yoon, S. Y. (2024). Exploring intervention research in statics courses: A systematic review of ASEE publications from 2013 to 2023. Proceedings of the 131st ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon, USA. https://peer.asee.org/47418

Wee Sing Yeo - 1

Wee Sing Yeo, master's student.

Wee Sing Yeo is a Chartered Engineer registered with the UK’s Institution of Mechanical Engineers and an accomplished educator and researcher with extensive experience in higher education. Over the course of their career, Yeo has led transformative initiatives to implement Outcome-Based Engineering (OBE) education, aligning curricula with industry standards and accreditation requirements. Recognizing the unique challenges faced by communities in engineering education, Yeo's current research focuses on enhancing students’ sense of belonging, engineering identity, and resilience, which are key factors for academic success and retention. By integrating expertise in psychology, education, and engineering, Yeo adopts an interdisciplinary approach in their research to create effective learning environments that empower students. With a Ph.D. in Nanocomposites and a Master’s in Materials Engineering, Yeo combines technical proficiency with a passion for fostering broad pathways for future-ready professionals. Yeo is advised by Dr. Sheryl Sorby. 

Email: yeows@mail.uc.edu

  • Yeo, W. S., Asgard, M., & Sorby, S. (2024, June). Characterization of stress, sense of belonging, and engineering identity in first-year engineering students. 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition.
  • Yeo, W. S., Imbrie, P. K., Zakaria, A. A., & Rafaai, Z. F. B. M. (2023, June). Incorporating an open-ended project to address complexity solution of engineer’s problem in undergraduate laboratory course. 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition.

Alex Van Fossen - 1

Alex Van Fossen, PhD student.

Alex Van Fossen is a higher education professional with 7+ years of experience. After graduating with a Chemical Engineering degree from Michigan State University, she decided to pursue her passion for education serving a variety of admissions roles and pursuing a Master's in Educational Studies. Pursuing a PhD in Engineering Education has allowed Alex to combine her interests in education with her love for engineering students. Her research interests include faculty and staff attitudes towards curriculum changes, specifically modularization of coursework and microcredentialing. She is advised by Dr. Sheryl Sorby and Dr. TJ Murphy. 

Email: vanfosam@ucmail.uc.edu