Dr. Jodi Prosise has been selected as the next chair of the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, and will join the University of Wisconsin-Platteville on Aug. 1, 2019.
“We are delighted to welcome Dr. Prosise to the College of Engineering, Mathematics and Science in this critical leadership role,” said Dr. Molly Gribb, dean of the College of EMS. “The MEIE department plays an important role on our campus as the largest academic department with over 1,200 students pursuing mechanical engineering degrees and 180 pursuing industrial engineering degrees, and is a critical source of engineering talent in Wisconsin and the Tri-State area. Dr. Prosise brings a wealth of experience developing and leading mechanical and industrial engineering programs, as well as grantsmanship and development skills that will serve the faculty, staff and students extremely well and help propel the department forward to even greater success.”
Prosise earned her Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Minnesota and her Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering at Iowa State University. She has spent 10 years in the Department of Engineering and Physics at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa, serving as chair for four years and professor of mechanical and industrial engineering. In this role, she taught a variety of courses in both industrial and mechanical engineering at SAU, focusing in graphics, manufacturing, mechatronics, the engineering sciences, and design. For the last two years, she served as chair and chair-elect of the Faculty Assembly.
While at St. Ambrose, Prosise successfully raised more than $1.3 million to support laboratory development, research programs and student scholarships. This includes an S-STEM grant from the National Science Foundation and a grant from the John Deere Foundation. She also directed the undergraduate research program and led a study-abroad service trip for engineering students to Brazil every other year, where engineering students designed and built assistive technologies for people with disabilities for the local Brazilian community. She also organized several events to promote engineering and the department, including Introduce a Girl to Engineering, which hosts more than 500 girls between the ages of 3 and 13 each year with fun, hands-on STEM activities.
Prosise’s research is highly interdisciplinary, overlapping several fields within engineering as well as environmental and public health. She is working to develop a system to recycle plastic materials to fabricate prosthetics and other assistive devices for low-income areas in the U.S. and abroad in order to address the growing public health and environmental concerns from plastic waste, and the prevalence of disability in low-income areas. Undertaking collaborative projects such as these to improve lives or the environment can enhance the learning experience of engineering students and attract a more diverse pool of students to pursue engineering careers. The overarching emphasis in her work has been to create devices that are simple, affordable, sustainable, and adaptable, as presented in her TEDx talk in March of 2018.
“I am really looking forward to the opportunity of being part of an institution with a focus and forward vision for engineering,” said Prosise. “It is my goal to be part of an institution and programs that are known throughout the region for excellence in engineering education, with a focus on enriching lives through design and innovation. I know that I can attain this vision at UW-Platteville.”