2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Engaging End-Users, Reconceptualizing Research Plans: Graduate Research Training in Translational Engineering

Presented at GSD 6: The Graduate School Experience

Significant time, effort and resources are invested into graduate engineering education and research. However, despite existing programs that bridge university research and the real world, there is a lack of deep training of PhD students in the skill of creating value through their research. We propose a new scalable framework, Graduate Translational Engineering Research, that gives PhD students the opportunity to train deeply in the process of value creation by incorporating an interdisciplinary PhD thesis committee and qualitative end-user study methods in the formulation of their PhD research proposal. The proposed framework involves PhD students conducting end-user studies early in their program to gain insights into the needs and challenges associated with the knowledge or technology they are developing. The purpose of this study is to understand the effect of assessing real end-user needs on the development of the engineering PhD research proposal through a case study. The hypothesis is that an understanding of the end users’ needs in the early stages of research formulation will enable PhD students to devise research proposals that are more focused on creating value by addressing the problems that are important and relevant to the end-users, and will improve the ability of the PhD students to communicate their plans and results to non-expert end-users. In this case study the PhD student prepared an initial research proposal before conducting any end-user studies, and then conducted an end-user study through face-to-face interviews, under the guidance of an interdisciplinary committee consisting of both engineering and social science faculty. The questions focused on the needs, features, performance metrics and barriers to adoption of the specific technology being developed by the student. The responses were thematically coded to identify the most important factors from the end-user perspective. Incorporating insights from this end-user study, the student reconceptualized their PhD research proposal in consultation with the faculty advisors. The reconceptualized proposal demonstrated a clear structure, actionable steps, and focus on user feedback, effectively addressing key challenges and practical applications, unlike the original, which lacked specificity and a clear plan. In addition, a workshop was conducted with a group of STEM graduate students to obtain additional student perspectives on this approach and gauge its wider applicability. This interdisciplinary Graduate Translational Engineering Research approach provides an example of using social science research methods in the early stages of graduate engineering research to enhance both graduate research and training in value creation through research.

Authors

Milica Miladinovic Worcester Polytechnic Institute [biography]

Milica Miladinovic is a PhD candidate in Mechanical and Materials Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI), currently working as a Research Assistant in Professor Pratap Rao’s lab. She holds a BS and MS in Mechanical Engineering from the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Belgrade (Serbia). Her research focuses on wearable, flexible, and stretchable printed electronics and sensors. She is particularly interested in convergence research and translational engineering, with an emphasis on creating real-world impact from academic work. The NSF-funded National Research Traineeship (NRT) “Future of Robots in the Workplace” (FORW-RD) Fellowship has provided her with the opportunity to explore these interests more deeply through hands-on experience in designing and leading convergence research projects.
Ceren Yilmaz Akkaya http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3349-7984 Worcester Polytechnic Institute [biography]

Dr. Yilmaz Akkaya is a postdoctoral researcher in Nanoenergy Group under the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). She holds BS degrees in Chemistry and Molecular Biology and Genetics from Bogazici University. She completed her Master’s and PhD Degrees in Materials Science and Engineering at Koc University. Her research focuses on improving people’s lives by providing solutions to environmental and medical problems, and promoting diversity and equity in higher education.
Dr. Yunus Doğan Telliel Worcester Polytechnic Institute [biography]

Yunus Doğan Telliel is an Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He is in the Humanities and Arts department and has collaborative faculty appointments in the Interactive Media and Game Development program and the Robotics Engineering department.
Prof. Pratap Mahesh Rao Worcester Polytechnic Institute [biography]

Pratap Rao is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). He received his BS in 2007 from WPI and his PhD in 2013 from Stanford University. He has co-authored over 50 peer-reviewed articles that have appeared in Advanced Energy Materials, Nano Letters, Flexible and Printed Electronics, and other journals, and have collectively been cited over 4,000 times. His work on printed flexible and stretchable electronics has been funded by the U.S. Department of Defense through the NextFlex Manufacturing USA Institute and the SEMI-FlexTech program; and by the Commonwealth of MA through the Massachusetts Manufacturing Innovation Initiative. His work on photo-catalytic materials for water treatment and clean hydrogen production has been funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation, the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, and the U.S. Army DEVCOM Soldier Center. At WPI, he is a recipient of the Harold L. Jurist ’61 and Heather E. Jurist Dean’s Associate Professorship and the James Nichols Heald Research Award.

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 22, 2025, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 25, 2025

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