Humanitarian Engineering: Educating Bold, Innovative, Responsible Engineers

Dr. Janet Ellzey will share her knowledge of engaged and global service learning with the Humanitarian Engineering Program.

About Dr. Janet Ellzey

Dr. Janet Ellzey is a professor of mechanical engineering and the Engineering Foundation Centennial Teaching Fellow in the Cockrell School of Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. She received her BS and MS degrees in mechanical engineering from The University of Texas at Austin and her PhD from the University of California-Berkeley. She has extensive academic administrative experience including serving as vice provost for international programs from 2009 to 2017. In 2020-21, she was a Jefferson Science Fellow at USAID in Washington DC where she studied the opportunities for universities to participate in development and humanitarian response.

After more than 30 years of conducting experimental and computational research in the field of combustion, she pivoted her career to focus on creating unique educational initiatives at the intersection of engineering and social justice.  Recognizing the passion of university students to use their skills to positively impact society, she launched a program in humanitarian engineering which she now directs.  Through creative partnerships with local communities abroad as well as with major international organizations, she has developed a network to educate the next generation of bold, innovative, and responsible leaders.