Rethinking higher education:  Closing the gap between academics and professional practice

Aileen Huang-Saad, PhD
Director of Life Sciences and Engineering Programs
Department of Bioengineering
The Roux Institute, Northeastern University

Abstract:  Despite 20 years of focus on organizational change and effective educational best practices in STEM higher education, significant research findings have had minimal influences on practice.  In 2016, the University of Michigan Biomedical Engineering (BME) Department sought to disrupt engineering education. Informed by organizational change theory, we asked: 1) Is there potential for change; 2) what strategies facilitate change; and 3) how can these strategies be implemented? As a result, we developed an Instructional Design Sequence, a new approach to instruction in which students, post docs, and faculty created short Modules that use evidence-based teaching practices to expose BME students to BME professional practice.  Leveraging organizational change theory and student learning theory, this approach created a new model for integrating professional practice into undergraduate education in real time, while changing the way in which instructors think about engaging students in the classroom.  This talk will address the conceptualization of the Incubator/BME-in-Practice Sequence, the implementation, impact on participants and how it will inform Dr. Huang-Saad’s new role at Northeastern University’s Roux Institute.

Speaker Bio: In February 2021 Dr. Huang-Saad joined the Bioengineering faculty at Northeastern University and became the Director of Life Sciences and Engineering Programs at The Roux Institute (Portland, Maine).  Dr. Huang-Saad has a fourteen-year history of bringing about organizational change in higher education, leveraging evidence-based practices at University of Michigan. She created the U-M BME graduate design program, co-founded the U-M College of Engineering Center for Entrepreneurship, launched the U-M National Science Foundation (NSF) I-Corps Node, and developed the U-M BME Instructional Incubator. She is a canonical instructor for both the NSF and National Institute of Health (NIH) I-Corps Programs. Dr. Huang-Saad has received numerous awards for her teaching and student advising, including the 1938E College of Engineering Award, the Thomas M. Sawyer, Jr. Teaching Award, the U-M ASEE Outstanding Professor Award, the International Teaching with Sakai Innovation Award, and the College of Engineering Outstanding Student Advisor Award. 

Dr. Huang-Saad's current research areas are entrepreneurship, innovation, and transforming higher education.  She is funded by the NSF to explore the influence of the microenvironment of entrepreneurship education on minoritized populations, entrepreneurial ecosystems, and fostering graduate student professional development.  

Prior to entering higher education, Dr. Huang-Saad worked in industry gaining experience in new venture biotech, the defense industry, and medical device testing.  She has a Bachelor of Science in Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, a Doctor of Philosophy from The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and a Master of Business Administration from University of Michigan Ross School of Business.