Opportunities for students to make a difference are on the rise in the Cornell Duffield College of Engineering as its Engaged Engineering initiative announces new leadership and grant awards that will create enhanced pathways for community-engaged learning.
Launched in collaboration with Cornell’s David M. Einhorn Center for Community Engagement in 2025, the initiative aims to provide a robust array of options for high-quality, community-engaged learning experiences, with all undergraduate engineering students participating in at least one. While they can vary significantly, such opportunities are expected to share four common features: real-world challenges, community partnership, educational content, and critical reflection.
Lauren Stulgis has been named Duffield Engineering’s inaugural director of Engaged Engineering, which she will take on in addition to her role as the Swanson Director of Student Project Teams.
Lauren Stulgis has been named Duffield Engineering’s inaugural director of Engaged Engineering, which she will take on in addition to her role as the Swanson Director of Student Project Teams. In her new position, Stulgis will be responsible for guiding the implementation of Engaged Engineering, which is part of the Einhorn Center’s university-wide Engaged College Initiative.
“In order for our students to make a difference going forward, they need to have the opportunity to apply their technical skills to real-world challenges while they are here,” she said. “I am thrilled to partner with collaborators throughout the college, as well as external partners, to embed engaged learning in the engineering student experience.”
With Stulgis in place, the initiative has already taken some major strides forward. Among her first duties was helping to select and inform the recipients of the college’s first-ever Engaged Engineering Departmental Challenge Grants. The new internal grant program is designed to help departments develop signature engaged programs that leverage their unique disciplinary strengths with community-engagement opportunities.
The inaugural recipients are:
Engaged Earth and Climate Observatory: This initiative in the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences aims to connect students, researchers and community partners through real-world environmental monitoring and climate forecasting. It will involve the development of a network of sensors where students collect and analyze data on surface and groundwater, soil moisture, vegetation and atmospheric conditions to aid community partners. Students will contribute directly to improving regional weather and climate forecasts through environmental monitoring while working with educators, land managers and the public to interpret and apply environmental data.
Engaged Engineering Through Undergraduate Research: Analytics, AI, and Operations: Faculty in the School of Operations Research and Information Engineering regularly mentor students on an array of community-engaged research projects, using AI and analytics to further the mission of partners from industry, non-profits and Cornell offices. They intend to use this grant to build sustainable infrastructure that will enable them to promote, organize, administer and follow up on projects and participants more effectively.
Introduction to Mechanical Design as an Anchor for Community-Engaged Learning: With this grant, the Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering will anchor community-engaged learning in the first required course for students looking to affiliate with the major. Specifically, sophomores in the Introduction to Mechanical Design class will work with grape growers to iteratively develop and prototype solutions to the persistent problem of the spotted lanternfly – an invasive species that poses an emerging threat to New York vineyards.
Students from the Introduction to Mechanical Design class showcase a handheld device that crushes and disposes of eggs laid by the spotted lanternfly, an invasive species that poses a risk to New York vineyards.
“In keeping with Cornell’s ethos of ‘any person…any study,’ it’s important that we have a variety of pathways for students to participate in Engaged Engineering,” said Max Zhang, the Irving Porter Church Professor in the Sibley School and the provost’s fellow for public engagement who helped launch Engaged Engineering. “While very different from each other, these projects are all strongly aligned with the goals of this initiative, and we look forward to supporting their progress in collaboration with the Einhorn Center.”
Other grants are also advancing Engaged Engineering. For example, Duffield Engineering’s Office of Inclusive Excellence recently awarded 10 Engaged Undergraduate Research Grants that will enable undergraduate students to participate in faculty research projects that involve community partners at the local, state or national level.
“Engaged research is a valuable experiential learning opportunity,” said Laura Schoenle, the associate director for research engagement. “Through their research, students build connections and help address challenges in the world beyond Cornell, allowing them to see short-term applications of their efforts making a real difference. We appreciate the Engaged Engineering initiative for this support.”
