Dr. Jodi Prosise

Dr. 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 (SAU) 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.

Dr. 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.