Patricia Mead

Dr. Patricia Mead is a Professor and Department Chair in the Engineering Department at Norfolk State University's College of Science, Engineering and Technology. With over 30 years of experience spanning academia, industry, and public policy, she has held leadership roles in engineering education initiatives and currently directs NSF-funded centers like SCENE and PEAQs.

• B.S. in Physics, Virginia Commonwealth University (1986)
• B.S. in Electrical Engineering, Old Dominion University (1986)
• M.S. in Electrophysics, Polytechnic University (1998)
• Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park (1994)

Dr. Mead's research and teaching focus on lasers and photonics, laser micromachining, and engineering education reform. She leads the NSF-funded Louis Stokes Research Center of Excellence - SCENE, collaborating with Tidewater Community College and Penn State, and co-leads the PEAQs PREM Center with Fort Lewis College and University of Colorado focused on quantum and nano-systems. Her work integrates technology ethics and policy with technical communication in engineering education.

Her honors include:

• NSF CAREER awardee (1997)
• GEM Fellowship recipient (1986)

Dr. Mead has served as an ABET Evaluator and SPIE member since 2013. She actively supports the FIRST Robotics program in multiple roles since 2002 and has led cross-sector projects like the National Academy of Engineering's Engineer of 2020 report (2004) and CASEE Center (2005).