Thursday, 01 June 2023 / Published in Team Bios
Susan Sajada

Susan Sajada is an engineer, researcher, and educator. She has a bachelors and master’s in Biomedical Engineering and is currently pursuing her PhD in Engineering Education. She has experience in qualitative, quantitative, and mixed research methods. She has also worked as an engineer in the medical device industry, and as a STEM educator in various contexts. She wishes to use her interdisciplinary expertise to broaden participation in the technical workforce and make technical education more accessible.

Thursday, 01 June 2023 / Published in Team Bios
Dr. Melissa Quackenbush

Dr. Melissa Quackenbush is a graduate the Educational Psychology and Program Evaluation program at Old Dominion University. Prior to completing her dissertation, Dr. Quackenbush earned an Educational Specialist’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Liberty University, and she holds a Master of Science in Reading Education from the University of South Florida. While continuing her education, Dr. Quackenbush has served in the public-school systems in Central Florida and Northern New Jersey. She has experience as a secondary English teacher, Reading Specialist, Instructional Technology Coach, Supervisor of Instruction, and Director of Curriculum, Instruction, Assessment and Technology. With fifteen years in the field of education, Dr. Quackenbush provides educational consulting services to public and private schools in various areas of instructional design, professional development, and school administration through her LLC, Engage Momentum. Her research interests include teacher training, self-regulated learning, and computer-supported collaborative learning environments.

Tuesday, 21 June 2022 / Published in Team Bios
Krystal Andrews

A native of Newport News, Virginia, Krystal Andrews holds a Bachelor of Science in Human Services with a minor in African American Studies, and a Master of Science in Education in Higher Education Leadership from Old Dominion University. Currently, she is the director of student success in the School of Education at Virginia Commonwealth University and is a fourth year as a doctoral student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign . As a practitioner, she has six years of experience in student success and retention programs at both predominantly white institutions (PWIs) and historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) that fuels her passion for helping students envision their own success. As a scholar practitioner, she is a member of the American College Personnel Association (ACPA). She has also been a member of the Pan African Network directorate board in various positions since 2013, and currently serves as the chair-elect of the network. Her other professional organization memberships include the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) and the Council for the Study of Community Colleges (CSCC). Her research interests center on the experiences of Black women graduate students at HBCUs and the persistence of Black student populations across institutional types.

Tuesday, 21 June 2022 / Published in Team Bios

Dr. Akpovo is the Senior research scientist at the laser remote sensing laboratory at Florida A&M university. His expertise is in laser-produced plasmas utilizing fast and ultra-fast high power laser beams. In his current position, Dr. Akpovo conducts and coordinate the research activities for the Consortium for Laser-Based Analysis of Nuclear and Environmental Materials (LANEM), an NNSA grant.

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