Professor Elizabeth Hsiao-Wecksler was recently recognized by the university’s Gender Equity Council as one of 150 women from the past or present who have contributed to the University of Illinois through their research, teaching, service, advocacy, and more.
The recognition, “150 for 150: Celebrating the Accomplishments of Women,” is part of the campus’ sesquicentennial celebrations, and notes the accomplishments of women from across campus—faculty, staff, students, and alumni.
Hsiao-Wecksler is a professor and Willett Faculty Scholar in MechSE, where she began as an assistant professor in 2002. She holds affiliate appointments in the departments of Bioengineering; Industrial and Enterprise Systems Engineering; Neuroscience; the Beckman Institute; the Center on Health, Aging and Disability; the Center for Autonomous Engineering Systems and Robotics; and the Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power.
She was one of the first women to earn tenure in the department, and consistently mentors many of her peers.
As MechSE’s Associate Head for Undergraduate Programs since August 2015, Hsiao-Wecksler has worked to find ways to increase the department’s undergraduate enrollment while also working to involve more students in research experiences.
Her active research program, the Human Dynamics and Controls Lab, supports groundbreaking biomechanics research and has fostered the creation of several startups based on research done in her lab.
She is a lead instructor on a project funded by the College of Engineering’s Strategic Instructional Initiatives Program (SIIP), working with other MechSE faculty and instructors to integrate MechSE design courses for first-year students through seniors. She and the team are working to produce engineers with competitive design skills; increase student/faculty interaction; increase student satisfaction with design courses, enlarge the pool of faculty willing and able to teach design; and facilitate ABET accreditation for design classes.