Shadia Ikhmayies
Associate Professor, Al Isra University

Shadia J. Ikhmayies is a three time graduate of the University of Jordan. She received her B.Sc. from the University’s physics department in 1983, her M.Sc. in molecular physics in 1987, and her Ph.D. in 2002 for her work on producing CdS/CdTe thin film solar cells.

Ikhmayies now works at Al Isra University in Jordan as an associate professor. Her research is focused on producing and characterizing semiconductor thin films, and thin film CdS/CdTe solar cells. She also works in characterizing quartz in Jordan for the extraction of silicon for solar cells and characterizing different materials by computation. She has published 44 research papers in international scientific journals, three chapters in books, and 73 research papers in conference proceedings. Ikhmayies is the author of two books currently in production for Springer—Silicon for Solar Cell Applications and Performance Optimization of CdS/CdTe Solar Cells. She is also the editor-in-chief for the books Advances in Silicon Solar Cells for Springer and Advances in II-VI Compounds Suitable for Solar Cell Applications for the Research Signpost Publisher, as well as for an eBook series about materials currently in production for Springer Publisher.

Ikhmayies is a member of The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS) and the World Renewable Energy Network (WREN). She is a member of the International Organizing Committee and the International Scientific Committee in the European Conference on Renewable Energy Systems (ECRES2015- ECRES2017). She also serves on the editorial board of the International Journal of Materials and Chemistry for Scientific & Academic Publishing and is a past technical advisor/subject editor for JOM. She has been the guest editor for three special issues of the Journal of Electronic Materials: European Conference on Renewable Energy Systems (2015 and 2017). Shadia is a reviewer for 24 international journals, Chair of the TMS Materials Characterization Committee (2016–2017), and the leading organizer of more than three symposia in the TMS Annual Meetings and Exhibition.

Bevlee Watford
Professor & Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Virginia Polytechnic Institute
Founding Director, Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Diversity (CEED)

Citation : For her outstanding contributions to diversity and inclusion in engineering, her development of innovative programs for students, and her leadership in engineering education.

Watford is a Professor of Engineering Education in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech. She received her B.S. in Mining Engineering, and her M.S. and Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from Virginia Polytechnic Institute (Virginia Tech). Since 1992, she has been the Founding Director of the Center for the Enhancement of Engineering Diversity (CEED). She has secured more than $12 million dollars in funding and support for CEED and other undergraduate initiatives. Her research activities have focused on the recruitment and retention of students in engineering with a particular emphasis on under-represented students. In 2008, Watford received the Women in Engineering ProActive Network, Inc. (WEPAN) Founders Award in recognition of her service to WEPAN and her efforts to increase the participation of women in the engineering profession. CEED received the 2010 Claire Felbinger Diversity Award from the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Inc (ABET) and the 2011 NSBE-ExxonMobil Impact award for implementing successful research based efforts to improve retention. In 2014 Watford was one of three finalists in the Global Engineering Deans Council Airbus Diversity Award, selected “for her wide-ranging programs aimed at building an inclusive and diverse engineering student body at Virginia Tech.”

Watford has served as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in the College of Engineering at Virginia Tech since 1997 where she is responsible for all undergraduate activities from recruiting to commencement. From 2010-2011 she served as Interim Department Head of Engineering Education. From 2005-2007, she served as a program manager in the Division of Undergraduate Education for the National Science Foundation, returning from 2013-2015 to serve as the program director for broadening participation in the Directorate for Engineering.

Watford was the 2004-5 President of WEPAN and has served on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Minority Engineering Program Administrators (NAMEPA). She is currently a member of the National Academy of Engineering’s EngineerGirl Website Committee. An active member of the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) since 1986, Bevlee A. Watford has served the organization in several capacities including multiple elected offices in its Women in Engineering and Minorities in Engineering Divisions, as well as Chair of PIC IV. She chaired the Diversity Task Force that resulted in the creation of the ASEE Diversity Strategic Plan as well as the formation of the ASEE Diversity Committee. She serves as an associate editor of Advances in Engineering Education. In 2010, she was elected as a Fellow of ASEE and In June 2017 she began serving her term as ASEE President.