Faculty Profiles

Professor Jennifer Mullin’s research interests lie in engineering education 
with an emphasis on design thinking, creativity, and the impact of hands-on 
learning experiences on student’s academic success. She is also interested 
in the influence of student’s extracurricular experiences such as project 
clubs, study abroad, research and internships on their career development.

Her work focuses on educational research and instructional development in 
engineering design, problem-solving and technical communication. Her 
endeavors in project-based teaching and learning utilize a research-based 
“learn-by-doing” approach. Her instructional efforts aim to prepare and 
inspire students for innovative professional careers in engineering and 
technology.

Capsule Bio:

Jennifer S. Mullin received her Ph.D. in Engineering Education from 
Virginia Tech in 2010, where she was the first to graduate from the 
program. Her early career experiences were focused on instruction and 
program evaluation in formal and informal educational settings including 
science and technology camps, community college and a small private 
university. Prior to joining UC San Diego, she was Professor of Teaching at 
UC Davis where she developed and led a large enrollment undergraduate 
communication and design course for all engineering majors. Her research 
interests include engineering design education, project-based learning, 
engineering curriculum development and hands-on experiential education.