Dr. Natalie Kuldell, BE instructor and undergraduate committee co-chair, will be on sabbatical from MIT during the 2013-2014 academic year.  While she will remain on campus about one day a week to continue her administrative responsibilities for the department, Dr. Kuldell will be spending most of her time on a think tank in Washington, D.C., where she will help shape the future of engineering education.

Dr. Kuldell was awarded a Fellowship with the National Center for Science & Civic Engagement, where she will act as a visiting scientist and will work closely with its Executive Director, David Burns. Dr. Kuldell is excited to be working with a national center that’s focused on science and education. “I’ll be able to spotlight the kind of engineering education we’ve spearheaded in BE,” says Dr. Kuldell.

Dr. Kuldell will have many opportunities to share BE’s successes with the nation, as well as her own experiences as President and Founder of BioBuilder, an open-access website offering informative animations and activities for anyone who wants to teach or learn about synthetic biology. Despite being based in D.C., Dr. Kuldell will mostly be in Boston area, working remotely on a strategic vision for teaching engineering in colleges. “If all goes well,” Dr. Kuldell says, “then at the end of my year there, it will be clearer how engineering education fits into the civic values and private interests of educated people, whether or not they become engineers.”