Fall 2021 Speaker Series

Fall 2021

Title: Where do they go from here? Preparing STEM Students for the Multitude of Opportunities Post-Graduation

Date: November 3, 2021

Time: 2:30 pm 

Location: Eberhardt 112

Presenter: Aileen Huang-Saad, PhD, MBA

Director of Life Sciences and Engineering Programs, Department of Bioengineering, The Roux Institute, Northeastern University

Abstract: Today, higher education is facing significant challenges as it tries to prepare its STEM graduates for post graduate opportunities. Technology development is evolving at a record pace; STEM students are faced with an overwhelming number of opportunities and career paths; and, rightly so, there is a growing demand to integrate evidence-based practices for learning and organizational change. These pressures have stimulated higher education to identify new ways to integrate post graduate opportunities into curriculum and the classroom, changing the culture of higher education.

In this talk, Aileen will address how the University of Michigan Biomedical Engineering Department sought to disrupt biomedical engineering education and create a mechanism for iterating curricula in real time, ensuring students get access to the most current tools and problems being addressed by professionals today. She will also discuss how this work led her to her new position at Northeastern’s Roux Institute and how these concepts are informing her work as she seeks to support Northeastern’s efforts to establish a global experiential university.

Bio: In February 2021, Dr. Huang-Saad joined the Bioengineering faculty at Northeastern University and became the Director of Life Sciences and Engineering Programs at The Roux Institute (Portland, Maine). Dr. Huang-Saad has a history of bringing about organizational change in higher education, leveraging evidence-based practices at University of Michigan. She created the U-M BME graduate design program, co-founded the U-M College of Engineering Center for Entrepreneurship, launched the U-M National Science Foundation (NSF) I-Corps Node, and developed the U-M BME Instructional Incubator. She is a canonical instructor for both the NSF and National Institute of Health (NIH) I-Corps Programs. Dr. Huang-Saad has received numerous awards for her teaching and student advising, including the 1938E College of Engineering Award, the Thomas M. Sawyer, Jr. Teaching Award, the U-M ASEE Outstanding Professor Award, the International Teaching with Sakai Innovation Award, and the College of Engineering Outstanding Student Advisor Award.

Dr. Huang-Saad's current research areas are entrepreneurship, innovation, and transforming higher education. She is funded by the NSF to explore the influence of the microenvironment of entrepreneurship education on minoritized populations, entrepreneurial ecosystems, and fostering graduate student professional development.

Prior to entering higher education, Dr. Huang-Saad worked in industry gaining experience in new venture biotech, the defense industry, and medical device testing. She has a Bachelor of
Science in Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, a Doctor of Philosophy from The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and a Master of Business Administration from
University of Michigan Ross School of Business.