معرفی
Dr. Jennifer Cross is a Research Assistant Professor at Tufts University's Center for Engineering Education and Outreach (CEEO), focused on human-robot interaction in educational contexts and diversity in STEM education. She holds a PhD in Robotics from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), where she developed the Arts & Bots program using the Hummingbird Robotics Kit to integrate robotics with non-technical disciplines like art and English. Her work emphasizes K-12 robotics integration, teacher training, and community-driven environmental monitoring.
Educational Background:
- PhD in Robotics, Carnegie Mellon University (2017)
- MS in Robotics, Carnegie Mellon University (2013)
- BS in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering (2010)
Research Interests: Dr. Cross's work spans creativity-oriented robotics education, STEM diversity initiatives, and community-empowered environmental sensing projects like Smell Pittsburgh. She designs tools such as the Smart Motor toolkit to introduce machine learning to elementary students and collaborates with teachers to integrate engineering into non-technical curricula.
Awards & Recognition:
- Institute of Education Sciences (IES) Program for Interdisciplinary Education Research Fellow
- National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Program Fellow
Advocacy & Grants: Her research has been supported by grants focusing on robotics in education and public health. She has advised on teacher training programs and developed assessment frameworks to measure student attitudes toward robotics activities.
Labs & Teams: Collaborates with CMU's Community Robotics, Education, and Technology Empowerment (CREATE) Lab and leads projects at Tufts CEEO, emphasizing accessible, inclusive STEM tools.
