Energy and Sustainability Engineering
Lorena S. Grundy is a Practice Assistant Professor in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. She earned her BSE from Princeton University in 2017 and PhD from the University of California, Berkeley in 2022, both in Chemical Engineering. Her PhD research investigated ion transport and morphology in polymer electrolytes for lithium metal batteries. After graduate school, she transitioned to engineering education research with a postdoc at Tufts University supported by the American Society for Engineering Education. At Penn, she is developing curriculum and programming in energy and sustainability for undergraduate and graduate students, combining her interests in sustainable energy technologies and engineering education.
Broadly, Professor Grundy is interested in expanding and improving undergraduate and graduate education in energy and sustainability, particularly through the implementation of active learning pedagogies. To that end, she has pursued research in student epistemologies, particularly their ideas and values about knowledge, and in instructor decision-making around pedagogical innovation. She plans to continue to explore how to teach energy and sustainability topics in an engaging and effective way and to help others do the same.
Dasha received her BA in Biopsychology, Cognition, and Neuroscience from the University of Michigan in 2019 and MSEd in Higher Education at the University of Pennsylvania in 2022. Dasha’s experience includes experiential learning, professional development, and employer relations. She also serves as the Director of Education for Interdisciplinary Training in Data Driven Soft Materials Research and Science Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. Previously, Dasha led the Center for Student Professional Development in Temple’s College of Science and Technology and worked as a Career Development Specialist in Penn’s Graduate School of Education. Dasha is a member of the Strategic Advisory Board for the University of Michigan’s Center for Positive Organizations in the Ross School of Business.
