Leyf Starling

Leyf Starling is a founding faculty member and Director of the First Year Engineering Center, where she has been since July 2023. She focuses on curriculum development, teaching Foundations of Engineering courses, and advising first-year and transfer engineering students.

• Educational Background
  • BS in Mechanical Engineering (University of Virginia, 2003)
  • MAT in Special Education – General Curriculum (University of North Carolina-Charlotte, 2007)

Starling's research and professional work emphasize making engineering accessible across disciplines and education levels. She has dedicated her career to integrating engineering into K-12 classrooms, enhancing accessibility for visually impaired students, and leveraging emerging technologies for educational innovation. Her efforts span curriculum design, professional development for educators, and fostering student growth in teamwork, leadership, and community engagement.

She has collaborated with the NSF-funded Research Experience for Teachers program at Michigan State University for over a decade, contributed to NSF-funded TeachEngineering.org, and partnered with the DO-IT Center at the University of Washington. Starling also founded the Summer Engineering Experience for Students with Visual Impairments and Blindness and co-founded FIRST Robotics Competition Team DARC SIDE.