Alice Agogino: Diversity by Design
Mechanical engineering professor Alice Agogino.Photo by Noah Berger / 2014
by Berkeley ENGINEERING
Special Edition: 150 Years of Berkeley Engineering Luminaries
Fittingly, Alice Agogino’s research group — the BEST Lab Berkeley Emergent Space Tensegrities/Energy and Sustainable Technologies/Expert Systems Technologies Lab, is an amalgam of research reflecting her wide-ranging expertise and interests. The only thing the lab lacks in its name is Agogino’s reputation as a mentor. Whether it’s helping undergraduates design robots for space, or advising graduate students as they launch careers in development engineering, one thread running through Agogino’s career is the drive to make engineering more diverse and inclusive.
In 2015, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers honored Agogino, the Roscoe and Elizabeth Hughes professor of mechanical engineering, with the the group’s Outstanding Design Educator Award. The honor cited her “tireless efforts in furthering engineering design education, including curriculum changes that blend cutting-edge design topics with state-of-the-art educational practices promoting wide-ranging interaction between industry and students performing game-changing design research and mentoring the next generation of designers, educators, researchers and engineers.”
For more on Professor Agogino, see also:
– Alice Agogino: ME Trailblazer
About this series: To mark the College of Engineering’s sesquicentennial, we are highlighting the people, past and present, who represent the pioneering spirit, creative energy and social responsibility that characterize Berkeley Engineering.