Janis Terpenny
Janis Terpenny, professor of engineering education and mechanical engineering in the Virginia Tech College of Engineering, has been appointed as a program director for the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Beginning August 30, Terpenny will serve as program director for the Division of Undergraduate Education, Directorate for Education and Human Resources (EHR) at the NSF. She will work in programs advocating science, technology, engineering and math; as well as cyber service programs.
EHR’s mission is to achieve excellence in U.S. science, technology, engineering and mathematics education in order to support the development of a diverse and well-prepared workforce of scientists, technicians, engineers, mathematicians and educators, and a well-informed citizenry that have access to the ideas and tools of science and engineering.
Terpenny also recently was named a Fellow of the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE), the highest classification for IIE members that recognizes outstanding contributions by members of the industrial engineering profession. She was among 15 fellows honored this year by the IIE.
IIE cited Terpenny for her work as the director and co-founder of the NSF’s Center for e-Design, her strong record of research funding and collaboration with industry and colleagues from a variety of disciplines and universities, and her contributions and leadership in engineering education.
Terpenny’s research is focused on revolutionizing the design of engineered products and systems. Her primary focus is on design process and methods for early stages of problem/requirements definition and the generation and evaluation of design concepts; the representation, capture and reuse of knowledge and information in design; the definition of product families and platforms; and methods to predict and plan for obsolescence in products and systems. She received her bachelor’s degree from Virginia Commonwealth University and a master’s degree and Ph.D. from Virginia Tech.