Justin Baba, a research associate professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Vanderbilt University, is being recognized for his leadership in engineering education and entrepreneurship with an esteemed fellowship. Baba is among 21 individuals from 16 higher education institutions across the country to be named a 2022 Engineering Unleashed Fellow by the Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN).
The fellowship is accompanied by a $10,000 institutional award from the Kern Family Foundation, with Baba as Principal Investigator, to advance the impact of his work.
“I feel greatly honored to have first been nominated and then to have been selected as an Engineering Unleashed Fellow for 2022,” Baba said. “I plan to use the funds provided me to showcase my course development work at Vanderbilt University and to the greater engineering academic community, as well as incorporate an Entrepreneurial Mindset into the various engineering-discipline majors and coursework offerings at Vanderbilt University.”
Engineering Unleased is a community of more than 4,000 engineering faculty and staff whose mission is to graduate engineers with an entrepreneurial mindset. Baba participated in an Engineering Unleashed Faculty Development workshop focused on entrepreneurship in teaching and learning, research, industry, or leadership. For nearly a year he worked with top faculty and peer coaches, who nominated him for the fellowship.
“Your recognition and selection as a Fellow represents less than 10% of the overall faculty development participants, so your work is the best of the best as identified by your peers,” said Douglas Melton, program director for the Kern Family Foundation, one of the main supporters of Engineering Unleashed.
Baba is also associate director of the Vanderbilt Biophotonics Center, which is focused on targeted educational programs for medical residents, fellows as well as graduate and undergraduate students. It also provides learning opportunities for high school students interested in biophotonics, the study of optical processes in biological systems, both those that occur naturally and in bioengineered materials.
Contact: Lucas Johnson, 615-343-0137
lucas.l.johnson@vanderbilt.edu