Engaging Students with Visual Impairments or Blindness through Comprehensive and Accessible Engineering Experiences

Leyf Peirce Starling received a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Virginia in 2003 and a Master of Arts in teaching with a focus on Special Education from UNC-Charlotte in 2010. She has teaching experience in both formal and informal educational settings. She has taught 6th, 7th and 8th grade math, science, social studies and reading comprehension and high school physics and aerospace engineering in North Carolina public and private schools. During the summers of 2013 and 2014, She served as the Academic Director for the Middle School Summer Math Camp and Middle School and High School Biosciences and Engineering Camps at Duke University. She has extensive experience in curriculum development as an editor for teachengineering.org and a lead developer for four Race to the Top courses on aerospace, automation and security. She has also served as a consultant for Michigan State’s Research Experiences for Teachers program for the last three years. Currently, she is the Program Coordinator at the Engineering Place at North Carolina State University, where she also teaches an Introduction to Engineering course to incoming freshmen and lead the first ever Summer Engineering Experience for Students with Visual Impairments or Blindness at NC State University. She is also the Program Manager for the NSF funded Grand Challenges Themed Research Experience for Teachers program at NC State University.