Students' Selection of Topics for a Professional Development Course

Ann Christy is an associate professor of Food, Agricultural, and Biological Engineering at the Ohio State University (OSU). She earned both her B.S. in agricultural engineering and M.S. in biomedical engineering at the Ohio State University, and her Ph.D. in environmental engineering at Clemson University. She worked for a civil engineering consulting firm in New Jersey before entering academia and continues to collaborate with the engineering consulting industry. She has taught courses in bioenergy, biological engineering, capstone design, HVAC, thermodynamics, waste management, and professional development. Ann was the chair of her department’s academic affairs committee for ten years, overseeing their undergraduate programs in engineering, construction systems management, and agricultural systems management. She has won multiple teaching awards at the departmental, college, university, and national levels. She is experienced with undergraduate program assessment and accreditation, having served both the ABET Engineering Accreditation Commission and the American Council for Construction Education as a program accreditation evaluator. She leads an extension program called ”Barn Again” about the rehabilitation of historic agricultural structures. Her research interests include energy, the environment, and engineering education. For one academic year, she served as interim associate dean for undergraduate education and student services in the College of Engineering. She was involved in OSU’s quarter-to-semester conversion effort at multiple levels over 3+ years: as point person and undergraduate studies chair for her department, as a member of the college-level committees in both the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences and the College of Engineering, and as a Faculty Fellow in the university’s Office of Academic Affairs. She is a second-generation woman engineer; her mother worked as an industrial engineer in the aeronautical industry. Ann is a licensed professional engineer.