The SBME is excited to announce the recruitment of Drs. Negar Harandi and Robyn Newell who have officially joined the school as Assistant Professors of Teaching.
Dr. Negar Harandi
Dr. Harandi originally joined SBME as an instructor in the first year of the program, while completing a postdoctoral fellowship in Engineering education.
Since then, she has taught courses like BMEG 220 (Circuits and Electromagnetics with Application to Biomedical Engineering), BMEG 321 (Bioinstrumentation) and BMEG 457, a capstone design program that gives students hands-on experience working on real-world problems.
Dr. Negar completed her PhD in biomechanical modeling and simulation of the oral region and airway with application to speech production, in the Electrical Engineering department at UBC. To Dr. Harandi, engineering education research is an intersection of Humanities and Engineering. Her work is focused on enhancing student learning through evidence-based educational interventions, and proven learning technologies.
“I’m really excited to join SBME with the rank of assistant professor of teaching,” adds Dr. Harandi. “I’m looking forward to continuing contributing to the thriving work culture of SBME, its undergraduate curriculum, and education mandate.”
Dr. Robyn Newell
Dr. Newell has also been with SBME as a lecturer since the launch of the undergraduate program. It’s a role that now includes teaching courses like 2nd year and 3rd year Biomechanics, 4th year Introduction to Academic Research, and 4th year Capstone design.
Like Dr. Harandi, she has had a massive influence on the SBME program and the innovative education paradigms it employs. She holds a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering and a master’s in biomedical engineering from Dalhousie University. She completed her PhD in neck injury biomechanics at UBC in biomedical engineering and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at UBC focused on computer assisted spinal surgery.
“I am motivated by the huge impact engineering approaches can have on the health and wellbeing of everyone,” she says. “Teaching the next generation of energetic engineers that have the potential to change our world is so rewarding. I am excited about this new role and look forward to contributing to the SBME with novel pedagogical approaches and initiatives!”
Drs. Harandi and Newell are integral parts of the academic experience at SBME. “They’ve already had a massive impact on our students, and I’m excited to see how Professors Harandi and Newell will continue to shape the SBME student experience,” says SBME Director, Dr. Peter Zandstra. “The search committee was impressed with their innovative ideas and passion for experiential learning; I’m thrilled those ideas will be implemented in our curriculum.”