WVU faculty chosen for sixth IDEA Fellows cohort

2022-2024 IDEA Faculty Fellows top (l-r) Ednilson Bernardes, Heather Carter-Templeton, bottom (l-r) Kathryn Gazal, Zhichao (Vincent) Liu and Brian Woerner.

Five new West Virginia University faculty members have been selected by the Office of the Provost following a rigorous application process as the recipients of the 2022-24 Innovation, Design and Entrepreneurship Applied Faculty Fellowship, a multi-disciplinary initiative to bolster WVU’s culture of entrepreneurship and innovation.

Story by Office of the Provost

Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources

The IDEA Fellows will infuse entrepreneurial ideas in their coursework for the coming academic year. In addition, as a cohort, they will work to champion entrepreneurship and innovation across the University over the next two years.

The 2022-2024 IDEA Faculty Fellows are:

• Zhichao (Vincent) Liu, assistant professor of industrial and management systems engineering
• Ednilson Bernardes, professor and program coordinator of global supply chain management
• Brian Woerner, professor of computer science and electrical engineering
• Kathryn Gazal, associate professor of forest economics and management
• Heather Carter-Templeton, chairperson and associate professor of nursing and adult health

“We are very excited to welcome our sixth cohort of IDEA Faculty Fellows. This diverse group will be attending Innovation and Entrepreneurship training and then infusing what they learn into their classes,” said Carrie White, the executive director of the Morris L. Hayhurst LaunchLab who oversees the IDEA Faculty Fellows program. “We are so excited to see the innovation they bring to their curriculum as well as across campus.”

During the 2022-2024 academic years, Fellows will offer courses in their academic discipline that incorporate exciting new approaches and best practices in innovation, design and entrepreneurship.

For example, one new course will combine natural resources with entrepreneurship education, focusing on establishing natural resources-based enterprises for rural economic development. A supply chain course will infuse opportunities for students to approach operational challenges with an inventive approach. Engineering students will be able to focus on the EcoCAR project in their capstone and incorporate entrepreneurship concepts throughout their final semester. Additionally, critical thinking, collaboration and leadership skills take the forefront in a new course centered on additive manufacturing for innovative design and production. Finally, nursing curriculum will include analytics and engineering and help business and engineering majors apply their innovations and solutions to healthcare environments.

The IDEA Fellows program is overseen by the Office of the Provost and presents an opportunity for faculty to become involved by directly creating curriculum to enhance student skills in the areas of innovation, design and entrepreneurship.

---