Guest Lecture: Abiodun Ilumoka (National Science Foundation)

October 15, 2025

1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. CAT

A203

Propelling Change: A Decade of Effective Engineering Education

Abstract

STEM education research seeks to develop innovative, evidence-based strategies that enhance student learning. Within this field, engineering education research has emerged as the largest and most rapidly expanding area. Its goals are to deepen our understanding of how engineering students learn, identify effective systems and structures to support that learning, and create reliable methods of assessment. The outcomes are clear: improved teaching practices, stronger student comprehension of technical and ethical concepts, and sharper decision-making skills. Today, engineering is more complex and interdisciplinary than ever before. Tomorrow's engineers must be empathetic, entrepreneurial, and socially engaged, collaborating with social scientists, business leaders, AI experts, and educators to address global challenges. This vision aligns closely with the mission of CMU-Africa, which is uniquely positioned to foster regional and cross-continental collaborations

Bio 

Abiodun (Abi) Ilumoka is a former program director in the Division of Undergraduate Education (DUE) at the National Science Foundation (NSF). In this role from 2015 to 2025, she led the engineering education team, guiding a portfolio of transformative research supported through the IUSE, S-STEM, and ATE programs. She also co-led the National AI Institutes ExpandAI initiative and served as cognizant program director for the AI Institute for Adult Learning and Online Education (AI-ALOE) at Georgia Tech. In addition, she embraced science diplomacy responsibilities in the NSF Office of International Science and Engineering and managed NSF’s partnership with the Department of Defense through the REU-ASSURE program.

Ilumoka earned her Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Imperial College of Science, Technology, and Medicine, London. Following postdoctoral research at Imperial, she joined the University of Hartford's Department of Electrical Engineering in 1992, rising to the rank of full professor in 2003. During her 25-year academic career, her research spanned chip interconnect optimization, AI-based tunable microwave filter synthesis, and AI-driven adaptive systems design. She has published more than 70 journal and conference papers and received numerous research and teaching grants from government and industry. She is a senior member of IEEE, a member of the Connecticut Academy of Science and Engineering (CASE), and has been recognized by the Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame for her leadership in STEM and mentorship of women and underrepresented minorities.

Ilumoka was honored with the NSF Director's Award for Superior Accomplishment in July 2024. Additional distinctions at NSF include the Certificate for Mastery in Leadership for a Democratic Society (Federal Executive Institute), the University of Chicago Professional Education Award in Quantum Science and Engineering, and the Carnegie Foundation International African Diaspora Research Fellowship.

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