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The Project
“Caring for the Future: Empathy in Engineering Education” project is a community of educators and researchers who are passionate about educating the next generation of engineers. Engineers, who are globally aware professionals and who have the capacity to broaden their concerns and empathize with others in an evolving and complex world.
The Founders
Diana Bairaktarova is an Associate Professor in the Department of Engineering Education, an Affiliate Faculty in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and a Faculty in the Human-Centered Design Program, all at Virginia Tech, USA.
Diana has a PhD in Engineering Education from the School of Engineering Education at Purdue University, an MBA from Hamline Business School and an MS and BS in Mechanical Engineering from Technical University of Sofia, Bulgaria. She has over fifteen years of industry experience working as a Design and Manufacturing Engineer.
Inês Direito is Assistant Researcher at the University of Aveiro (Portugal), Center for Mechanical Technology and Automation (TEMA), Department of Mechanical Engineering, and Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the University College London, Centre for Engineering Education (United Kingdom).
Inês has a PhD in Psychology from the University of Aveiro, an MSc in Cognitive Sciences and a Licenciatura in Psychology from the University of Minho.
She is currently working on a 6-year research project, funded by FCT/Individual Scientific Employment, that explores empathy as a tool to tackle societal challenges and promote accessibility in engineering education.
Let’s chat
Questions, comments or requests?
Feel free to reach out, we’d love to hear from you.