Kendra Wallis

Background

About Kendra Wallis

Full-time teaching faculty in engineering at The University of Texas at Arlington. In November 2022, I transferred to the Department of Electrical Engineering where I am now developing the new Bachelor of Science degree program in Resource and Energy Engineering. As always, I look forward to helping students become the best engineers they can be. My passion for climate action and social justice has resulted in leading a Professional Learning Community on Sustainability. I'm working to educate the University community on sustainability and encourage implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals in all courses. We are creating a culture of sustainable development at UTA. Being a good ally to people from all walks of life, especially those who identify as members of a group that has experienced under-representation and/or oppression by a majority culture, has been important to me personally. In my professional life, I have the good fortune of working with a diverse group of faculty and staff who increase my knowledge of other cultures and enhance my ability to be an effective ally. In 2021, I taught Materials for Energy, which encouraged me to start writing an Open Access textbook. I've taught in Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and statistics for graduate level Data Science. My background in physics provides flexibility and allows me to teach across disciplines in engineering. It's the perfect foundation for developing new courses in the first Resource & Energy Engineering program in the country. From 2017 to 2021, I was part of a team working to improve engineering education through an engineering problem solving course. That course was designed to teach problem solving, teamwork, and MATLAB programming to freshman engineering majors. I have years of experience teaching college-level introductory physics courses, from Physical Science to Calculus-based University Physics and Astronomy. My teaching philosophy is grounded in constructivism, and I continuously seek new ways to teach using Socratic dialogue and scientific inquiry. Having been sole PI for a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant as well as having worked in several grant-funded environments has provided me familiarity with the grants process. My grant provided funding for computers and equipment to implement an innovative introductory lab. I wrote a new lab manual for the introductory physics labs at SMU. Specialties: Physics and Engineering Education, nanomaterials and condensed matter research, inclusive assessment, speaking, writing, presentation