Purdue University College of Engineering

You are cordially invited to a

Celebration of Lillian Gilbreth, Purdue Engineering Professor 1935-1948

Lillian Moller Gilbreth was a Purdue professor from 1935 to 1948. A world-renowned pioneer in the application of psychology to industrial engineering, Gilbreth's work epitomized interdisciplinary research and broader impact on industry and society.

Wednesday, March 2, 2022

Welcome – 1:30 p.m.

Video on Lillian Gilbreth's legacy – 1:35 p.m.

Investiture ceremony of Lillian Gilbreth Postdoctoral Fellows – 1:45 p.m.

Keynote address featuring Muriel Médard, MIT
National Academy of Engineering Gilbreth Lecturer, 2007 and
Member of the National Academy of Engineering, 2020 – 2:00 p.m.

Reception – 2:30-3:00 p.m.

Panel Discussion – 3:00-4:00 p.m.

Herman and Heddy Kurz Atrium
Neil Armstrong Hall of Engineering
701 West Stadium Avenue
West Lafayette, IN 47907

RSVP by February 25, 2022 or watch live.

Business Casual attire
Parking available in the University Street Parking Garage
Light hors d'oeuvres and refreshments available at ceremony
Questions? Contact coeoaa@purdue.edu or (765) 494-5341.

2022 Keynote Speaker

Muriel Médard is the Cecil H. and Ida Green Professor in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) Department at MIT, where she leads the Network Coding and Reliable Communications Group in the Research Laboratory for Electronics at MIT. She obtained three bachelor s degrees (EECS 1989, Mathematics 1989 and Humanities 1991), as well as her M.S. (1991) and Sc.D (1995), all from MIT. She is a Member of the US National Academy of Engineering (elected 2020), a Fellow of the US National Academy of Inventors (elected 2018), American Academy of Arts and Sciences (elected 2021), and a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (elected 2008). She holds an Honorary Doctorate from the Technical University of Munich (2020).

She was co-winner of the MIT 2004 Harold E. Egerton Faculty Achievement Award and was named a Gilbreth Lecturer by the US National Academy of Engineering in 2007. She received the 2022 IEEE Koji Kobayashi Computers and Communications Award, the 2017 IEEE Communications Society Edwin Howard Armstrong Achievement Award and the 2016 IEEE Vehicular Technology James Evans Avant Garde Award. She received the 2019 Best Paper award for IEEE Transactions on Network Science and Engineering, the 2018 ACM SIGCOMM Test of Time Paper Award, the 2009 IEEE Communication Society and Information Theory Society Joint Paper Award, the 2009 William R. Bennett Prize in the Field of Communications Networking, the 2002 IEEE Leon K. Kirchmayer Prize Paper Award, as well as eight conference paper awards. Most of her prize papers are co-authored with students from her group.

She has served as technical program committee co-chair of ISIT (twice), CoNext, WiOpt, WCNC and of many workshops. She has chaired the IEEE Medals committee, and served as member and chair of many committees, including as inaugural chair of the Millie Dresselhaus Medal. She was Editor in Chief of the IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications and has served as editor or guest editor of many IEEE publications, including the IEEE Transactions on Information Theory, the IEEE Journal of Lightwave Technology, and the IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security. She was a member of the inaugural steering committees for the IEEE Transactions on Network Science and for the IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Information Theory. She currently serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Information Theory. Muriel was elected president of the IEEE Information Theory Society in 2012, and serves on its board of governors, having previously served for eleven years.

Muriel received the inaugural 2013 MIT EECS Graduate Student Association Mentor Award, voted by the students. She set up the Women in the Information Theory Society (WithITS) and Information Theory Society Mentoring Program, for which she was recognized with the 2017 Aaron Wyner Distinguished Service Award. She served as undergraduate Faculty in Residence for seven years in two MIT dormitories (2002 2007). She was elected by the faculty and served as member and later chair of the MIT Faculty Committee on Student Life and as inaugural chair of the MIT Faculty Committee on Campus Planning. She was chair of the Institute Committee on Student Life. She was recognized as a Siemens Outstanding Mentor (2004) for her work with High School students. She serves on the Board of Trustees since 2015 of the International School of Boston, for which she is treasurer.

She is inventor of over seventy US and associated international patents, the vast majority of which have been licensed or acquired. For technology transfer, she has co-founded CodeOn, for which she consults, and Steinwurf, for which she is Chief Scientist.

Keynote Abstract

Much of Muriel's research has been based on the notion of randomness, perceived as a powerful tool for design and analysis, rather than as a nuisance. It is an apt metaphor for an unusual career path. By drawing from seemingly disparate academic and personal experiences, rich and unique opportunities arise. Muriel shall seek to make the case that being receptive to seemingly iconoclastic approaches, to a motley array of perspectives and to the people who have them, can open engineering professions to a wider, more diverse population.

Panel Abstract

Future of human health post pandemic

The Covid 19 pandemic has changed the way we think about human health and how human health is influenced by the environment. In this panel, some of our current and past Lillian Gilbreth postdoctoral fellows will engage in a discussion related to how they think the future of human health will look like once we emerge from the pandemic- from diagnostics to the human brain to the interaction between human health and the environment.

Meet the 2020 and 2021 Lillian Gilbreth Postdoctoral Fellows at Purdue Engineering

Evgeniy Boyko

Evgeniy Boyko received a PhD in Mechanical Engineering at Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. Prior to coming to Purdue, Dr. Boyko was a postdoctoral research fellow in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University. He is working with co-advisors, Dr. Osman Basaran, Burton and Kathryn Gedge Professor of Chemical Engineering, and Dr. Ivan Christov, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, to explore fundamental fluid mechanical problems involving non-Newtonian fluids at the microscale. Dr. Boyko’s research focuses on understanding and modeling microscale flow physics in the field of fluid-structure interaction and its coupling with electrokinetics.

Ria D. Corder

Ria Corder earned her PhD in Chemical Engineering at North Carolina State University. She is collaborating with co-advisors, Dr. Arezoo Ardekani, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, and Dr. Kendra Erk, Associate Professor of Materials Engineering, on research in the area of rheology of concentrated particle suspensions. Dr. Corder’s research focus is in applying principles from rheology, fluid dynamics, and polymer science in the design of soft composite materials.

David Gunderman

David Gunderman received his PhD in Applied Mathematics from the University of Colorado – Boulder. He is working with co-advisors Dr. Hector Gomez, Professor of Mechanical Engineering, and Dr. Craig Goergen, the Leslie A. Geddes Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering, in the research of software framework for numerical algorithms for the high-order immersed boundary method in cardiovascular simulation. Dr. Gunderman’s research expertise lies in computational science, high-performance computing, numerical methods for partial differential equations, and computational geometry.

Aishwarya V. Menon

Aishwarya Menon earned her PhD in an interdisciplinary program within the Centre of Nanoscience and Engineering at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru. She is conducting research with co-advisors, Dr. Julie Liu, Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering, and Dr. Jonathan Wilker, Professor of Chemistry, to develop a series of adhesives that will connect tissues surrounded by blood, and create surgical adhesives and sealants for bonding soft, as well as hard, tissues. Dr. Menon’s research interests lie in the field of polymer materials with various applications including adhesives, self-healing materials, and stimuli-responsive materials.