Blake Everett Johnson

For More Information

• Teaching Professor Website

Education

• PhD Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, UIUC, 2012
• MS Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, UIUC, 2007
• BS Engineering Mechanics, UIUC, 2005 Secondary Field: Wave Mechanics

Academic Positions

• Teaching Assistant Professor, Mechanical Science and Engineering, UIUC, 2019--2022
• Lecturer, Mechanical Science and Engineering, UIUC, 2015--2019
• Visiting Lecturer, Mechanical Science and Engineering, UIUC, 2014--2015
• Postdoctoral research associate, Aerospace Engineering, Iowa State University, 2012--2013

Professional Registrations

• Member, American Society for Engineering Education

Professional Highlights

• Development of an integrated hands-on four-year design curriculum in ME, and advising the Aerospace Engineering department in the development of a similar sequence.
• Advising new educational initiatives through my role as the inaugural Entrepreneurial Mindset Fellow (EMF) in the college. These initiatives include assisting the development of a new capstone course in Materials Science and Engineering.
• Development of exciting laboratory exercises to improve the curriculum in our BSME program, such as a fountain design project to replace a stale exercise for measuring head losses in pipe flows, and a new inquiry-based pedagogy in an undergraduate Heat Transfer laboratory
• Building and sustaining and oral presentation skills program that serves capstone courses, REUs, research centers, and even department-wide faculty development (Engineers SPEAK)
• Current work on a University-wide Service Learning Ecosystem, which is already impacting local K--12 schools and will eventually have a state-wide reach
• Designing, implementing, and constantly improving a TA Training Course that serves the Grainger College of Engineering, which is presently required coursework for the four largest departments in the college (CS, ECE, MechSE, CEE) 

Course Development

• TAM 335 Introductory Fluid Mechanics Laboratory Manager: 2019--present
• ME 320 Heat Transfer Laboratory Manager: 2014--present
• ME 310 Fundamentals of Fluid Dynamics Laboratory Manager: 2014--present
• ENG 598 WTG: STEM Writing: Practice/Pedagogy, Spring 2021 & 2022
• ENG 491 HYP: Illini Hyperloop Senior Design, Fall 2016
• ENG 598 TL/TL2: Teaching and Leadership, Spring 2017--Present

Student Organizations

• Illini Hyperloop RSO, 2015--2020

Design Teams

• Illini Hyperloop SpaceX Pod Competition, 2017 -- 2019
• ME 470, Design of an Adjustable Z-Type Anti-Roll Bar for the Linkoping University FSAE Team, Fall 2020
• ME 470, An air duct mode control for HVAC systems, Fall 2021
• ME 470, Development of New Flow Visualization Devices in a Fluid Mechanics Laboratory, Spring 2022
• ME 470, Development of an Inquiry-Based Laboratory Experience in Heat Transfer, Spring 2022
• ME 470, Design of a Pulsed-Jet Vortex Ring Visualization System for a Fluid Mechanics Laboratory, Fall 2023
• ME 470, Development of a Shear Layer Wind Tunnel for a Fluid Mechanics Laboratory, Spring 2024

Research Interests

• Entrepreneurial Mindset Learning
• Service Learning
• Fluid Mechanics
• Professional Identity Development
• Engineering Education

Selected Articles in Journals

• King, W.P., Amos, J., Azer, M., Baker, D., Bashir, R., Best, C., Johnson, B.E., ... & Wooldridge, A. R. (2020). Emergency ventilator for COVID-19. PloS one, 15(12), e0244963.
•  Johnson, B.E., Tian, W., Zhang, K. & Hu, H. An Experimental Study of Density Ratio Effects on the Film Cooling Injection from Discrete Holes by Using PIV and PSP Techniques. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 76: 337-349, 2014. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijheatmasstransfer.2014.04.028.
•  Johnson, B.E., Elliott, G.S. & Christensen, K.T. Structural Characteristics of a Heated Jet in Cross-Flow Emanating from a Raised, Circular Stack.  Experiments in Fluids (2013) 54: 1543. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00348-013-1543-1
•  Johnson, B.E. & Christensen, K.T. Turbulent Flow Over Low-Order Models of Highly-Irregular Surface Roughness. AIAA Journal (2009) 47 (5): 1288-1299.

Articles in Conference Proceedings

• Golecki, H. M., Chang, W. L., Wright, A., Shehab, S., Johnson, B. E., Hajj, R., King, C., Pascarella, P. M., & Cinnamon, L. H., (2025, June), Developing a Podcasting Platform to Support Engineering Education. Paper accepted to be presented at the 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Montreal, Quebec.
• Cho, H., Katz, J. E., Johnson, B. E., Chen, Y. W., Pool, M., & Shehab, S., (2025, June), Integrating Service-Learning and the Entrepreneurial Mindset in a Teaching and Leadership Course for Graduate Teaching Assistants. Paper accepted to be presented at the 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Montreal, Quebec.
• Goodman, M. D., Shehab, S., Parks, T., Stinville, J.C., & Johnson, B. E., (2025, June), Human-Centered Design Framework and Engineering Student Entrepreneurial Mindset in a Restructured Materials Science and Engineering Capstone Course. Paper accepted to be presented at the 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Montreal, Quebec.
• Reizman, I., Nezafati, M., Marincel Payne, M., Liu, L., Benton, M.L., & Johnson, B. E. , (2025, June), Assessing the Effectiveness of Entrepreneurial Mindset Training Materials for Undergraduate Researchers. Paper accepted to be presented at the 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Montreal, Quebec.
• Johnson, B. E., Reizman, I., Liu, L., Benton, M.L., Peponis, J., Nezafati, M., Marincel Payne, M., Rylander, J., & Daniel, M. , (2025, June), An Entrepreneurial Mindset-Based Early-Curriculum Exposure to Undergraduate Research. Paper accepted to be presented at the 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Montreal, Quebec.
• Johnson, B. E., & Gurevich, I., (2025, June), Design of an Inquiry-Based Independent Experiment in a Heat Transfer Laboratory.Paper accepted to be presented at the 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Montreal, Quebec.
• Rajarathinam, R. J., Katz, J. E., Shehab, S., Johnson, B. E., Chen, Y. W., Pool, M., & Chochola, K. M. (2024, June), The Impact of a Graduate Teaching and Leadership Course on Engineering Graduate Teaching Assistants’ Learning of Pedagogy Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon.
• Goodman, M. D., Shehab, S., Pozza, N. R., Johnson, B. E., & Stinville, J. (2024, June), Incorporating Human-Centered Design to Restructure a Materials Science and Engineering Capstone Course Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon.
• Johnson, B. E., & Das, P. K. (2024, June), Designing a Low-Cost Series, Parallel, and Single Centrifugal Pumps Exercise for an Upper-Level Undergraduate Laboratory Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon.
• Johnson, B. E. (2024, June), A Modular Water Bench and Fountain Design Project for an Undergraduate Fluid Dynamics Laboratory Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon.
• Chen, Y. W., Johnson, B. E., Shehab, S., & Pool, M. (2023, June). Engagement in Practice: Maximizing the Impact of Service-learning Activities Through Collaboration with K--12 Educators. In 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition.
• Shehab, S., Katz, J. E., Kirby, E., Pool, M., Chen, Y. W., & Johnson, B. E. (2023, June), The Impact of a 16-Week Preparation Course on the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge of Graduate Teaching Assistants in Engineering Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland.
• Peponis, J., Benton, M. L., Van Treuren, K. W., Johnson, B. E., Liu, L., Jacobi, A. M. (2023, June), Work-In-Progress: Early Student Exposure to an Entrepreneurial Mindset in Engineering Research Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland.
• Chen, Y.W., Johnson, B.E., Johnson, B.K., Pool, M. & Shehab, S. "Engagement in Practice: Toward Building University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign's Multi-Disciplinary Service -Learning Ecosystem." ASEE 2022 Annual Conference. Minneapolis, MN. June 28, 2022.
• Choi, H.H., Havan, S., Hathaway, C., Johnson, B.E., Beckman, M.A., Chen, Y.W. & Anderson, L. "Inform Track: Integrated Teaching and Leadership Development Program for Graduate Teaching Assistants." 2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access. 2021.
• Johnson, B.E., Hathaway-Goldstein, M.G. & Bradley, J.A. "Work-in-progress: Identifying Effective Student Leaders to Improve Capstone Design Team Assignments."  127th ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition.  Online.  June 23, 2020.  
• Mohan, A. K., Dey, P., Tan, S., Johnson, B. E., Fagen-Ulmschneider, W., & Silva, M. (2020, June), Introducing junto: a Web Tool to Build Project Teams based on a Bidding Strategy Paper presented at 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual Online .
• Chen, Y.W., Choi, H.H., Johnson, B.E., Beckman, M. & Anderson, L. Integrated Engineering Leadership Initiative for Teaching Excellence (iELITE) Year Two: Assessment of Intermediate-Term Outcome for Graduate Teaching Assistant Training. 126th ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition. Tampa, FL. June 18, 2019.
• Jassim, E.W. & Johnson, B.E. An Integrated Four-year Hands-on Design Curriculum: A Case Study. 126th ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition. Tampa, FL. June 18, 2019. *This paper was nominated by the ASEE Mechanical Engineering Division as the best paper of the 2019 conference
• Choi, H.H., Chen, Y.W., Beckman, A.M., Anderson, L., Johnson, B.E., Goodman, M., Migotsky, C. & Johnson-Glauch, N. Integrative Engineering Leadership Initiative for Teaching Excellence (iELITE). 125th ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition. Salt Lake City, Utah. June 23, 2018. https://peer.asee.org/30696  
• Kim, K., Lee, G.S., Johnson, B.E., Elliott, G.S. & Dutton, J.C., "Stereoscopic PIV Measurements of a Turbulent Compressible Mixing Layer for CFD Validation," presented at the 47th AIAA Fluid Dynamics Conference, AIAA Paper 2017-4129, June 2017.
• Lee, G.S., Kim, K., Johnson, B.E., Elliott, G.S. & Dutton, J.C., "A Compressible Mixing Layer Facility for CFD Validation Measurements," presented at the 32nd AIAA Aerodynamic Measurement Technology and Ground Testing Conference, AIAA Paper No. 2016-3982, June 2016.
• Johnson, B.E. & Morphew, J.W. An Analysis of Recipe-Based Instruction in an Introductory Fluid Mechanics Laboratory. 123rd ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition. New Orleans, LA. June 26, 2016. DOI: 10.18260/p.26564
• Johnson, B.E. & Hu, H., Measurement Uncertainties Analysis in the Determination of Adiabatic Film Cooling Effectiveness by Using Pressure Sensitive Paint (PSP) Technique, FEDSM2014-21230, 4th Joint US-European ASME Fluids Engineering Summer Meeting, Chicago, IL, August 3~ 7, 2014.
• Zhou, W.W., Johnson, B.E. & Hu, H., An Experimental Study of Momentum-Preserving Shaped Holes for Film Cooling Using PSP and PIV, AIAA-2014-0280, 2014 AIAA Science and Technology Forum and Exposition (SciTech2014), National Harbor, Maryland, 13 - 17 January, 2014.
• Zhang, K., Johnson, B.E., Rothmayer, A.P. & Hu, H., An Experimental Investigation on Wind-Driven Rivulet/Film Flows over a NACA0012 Airfoil by Using Digital Image Projection Technique, AIAA-2014-0741, 2014 AIAA Science and Technology Forum and Exposition (SciTech2014), National Harbor, Maryland, 13 - 17 January, 2014.
• Johnson, B.E., Zhang, K., Wei, T. & Hu, H., An Experimental Study on Film Cooling Effectiveness by Using PIV and PSP Techniques, AIAA-2013-0603; 51st AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting including the New Horizons Forum and Aerospace Exposition, Grapevine, Texas, USA, 07 - 10 January 2013.
• Zhou, W.W., Johnson, B.E. & Hu, H., An Experimental Study of Compressibility Effects on the Film Cooling Effectiveness Using PSP and PIV Techniques, AIAA-2015-0352, 2015 AIAA Science and Technology Forum and Exposition (SciTech2015), Kissimmee, Florida, USA, 5-9 January 2015.
• Johnson, B.E., Elliott, G.S. & Christensen, K.T. 2010. An Experimental Study of Heated Circular and Rectangular Jets Emitting into a Crossflow. 16th U.S. National Congress of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics Conference, USNCTAM2010-570.
• Johnson, B.E., Elliott, G.S. & Christensen, K.T. 2010. An Experimental Study of Heated Circular and Rectangular Jets Emitting into a Crossflow. 40th AIAA Fluid Dynamics Conference, AIAA Paper 2010-4846.
• Johnson, B.E., Elliott, G.S. & Christensen, K.T. 2009. An Experimental Study of a Heated Circular Stack Emitting into a Crossflow. 39th AIAA Fluid Dynamics Conference, AIAA Paper 2009-4171.
• Johnson, B.E. & Christensen, K. T.2008. Low-Order Models of Highly-Irregular Surface Roughness. 38th AIAA Fluid Dynamics Conference, AIAA Paper 2008-3961. *This paper was nominated for the best paper award at the conference

Professional Societies

• American Society for Engineering Education; Delegate to CP12 Committee, October 2023--present
• American Society for Engineering Education; Secretary, Community Engagement Division July 2023--present

Service on Department Committees

• Chair, Teaching Innovations Seminar Committee, 2023--2025
• Chair, Specialized Faculty Recruiting Committee, 2023--2024
• KEEN Faculty Development Workshop: The Entrepreneurial Mindset in Undergraduate Research, Fall 2022, Fall 2023
• Specialized Faculty Recruiting Committee, 2022--2023
• Assisted with ABET Outcome evaluations of departmental curricula, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021
• Undergraduate Programs committee 2021--2022, 2024--2025
• Safety committee 2018--2019
• Undergraduate Programs committee 2018--2019

Service on College Committees

• AE3 Breakout Room Scribe: AI Faculty Forum, Fall 2023
• AE3 Lightning Symposium Moderator: Supporting Learning and Growth in the Post-COVID-19 Classroom, Fall 2022
• POETS Engineer Search Committee, Fall 2022
• Engineers SPEAK Workshops for Faculty in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Fall 2022
• AE3 Workshop: Maximizing Student Project Teams, Summer 2002
• Workshop facilitator: Incorporating Computing into Engineering Curriculum, Summer 2022
• Entrepreneurial Mindset Fellow, Academy for Excellence in Engineering Education, 2022--2024
• ENG/TE Curriculum committee. 2020--2021
• Improving Undergraduate Writing Instruction and Feedback through Professional Development of STEM Graduate-Student Teaching Assistants. SIIP 2020--2021
• iDesign Liason for Aerospace Engineering Adaption SIIP. 2018--2019
• MechSE iDesign SIIP team. 2015--present
• TAM 2XX SIIP team. 2015--2018
• Engineers SPEAK Program. 2018--present
• ENG 598 TL Teaching and Leadership. 2016--present

Other Outside Service

• Middle School Life Science tutor, Faith and Reason Learning Community, Urbana, Fall 2024--Spring 2025
• ENG 580 Service Learning Day at St. Matthews Catholic School in Champaign, Fall 2024
• ENG 580 Service Learning Day for homeschooling familes, Spring 2024
• ENG 598 TL Serving Learning Day for homeschooling families, Fall 2023
• ENG 598 TL Service Learning day at Booker T. Washington STEAM Academy, Fall 2022
• Development of Service Learning modules for Franklin Middle School, Fall 2020 and Spring 2021

Teaching Honors

• Engineering Council Outstanding Adviser Award (2021, 2022, 2023 )
• Incomplete List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent (2017, 2008, 2007, 2006)
• James O. Smith Memorial Award for Teaching Excellence (2007)

Improvement Activities

• Collins Scholar, 2014