Tahira Reid
Tuesday, Jan. 29th, 2019 at 4:30pm, Building 550, the Atrium (Stanford University)
Title: When Diversity andEngineering Intersect: Adventures in the Research and Engineering andInterdisciplinary Design (REID) Lab
In this talk, Tahira will describe several research and engineering projects that were largely inspired by observations and personal experiences as a woman and a woman of color. Although engineers are called upon to address numerous problems that are human-centered, there are some problems that are best addressed by members of the population most affected. She will discuss several projects that demonstrate how the intersection of diversity, engineering, and design can help to frame novel problems and identify solutions.
Bio:
Tahira Reid is an Associate Professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University and is the director of the Research in Engineering and Interdisciplinary Design (REID) Laboratory. Her research interests include integrating human considerations in engineering systems and the design process. Her research program has received funding from the National Science Foundation, Air Force Office of Scientific Research, Procter & Gamble, General Motors, Ford Motor Company, and other sources. Some of her accomplishments have been featured in the National Geographic magazine, National Public Radio (NPR), Reuters, the Washington Post, Smithsonian Magazine, and other media outlets. Prior to arriving at Purdue in 2012, she completed a postdoctoral position in the Mechanical Engineering department at Iowa State working in the Interdisciplinary Research in Sustainable (IRIS) Design Laboratory under the direction of Dr. Erin MacDonald. In 2010, she received her PhD from the University of Michigan in Design Science, with Mechanical Engineering and Psychology as her focus areas. Dr. Reid received both her BS and MS degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in 2000 and 2004, respectively.