Caroline Baillie

Caroline Baillie
DuPont Chair in Engineering Education Research and Development
Integrated Learning Centre (http://appsci.queensu.ca/ilc/)

Dr. Caroline Baillie, a leading materials engineer and internationally renowned expert on higher education, was the first DuPont Canada Chair in Engineering Education.

Biography
Caroline is the Dupont Canada Chair of Engineering Education Research and Development at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario. Her role is to enhance the learning experience of engineering students across the Faculty whilst maintaining her research and teaching interests in materials science and engineering. Between May 2000 and 2003 Caroline was Senior Lecturer in Engineering and the Deputy Director of the UK Centre for Materials Education (UKCME) based in Liverpool - part of the national HEFCE funded Learning and Teaching Support Network During her first lectureship in materials within the Dept. of Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering, University of Sydney (1992-1996), she had the opportunity of taking a Masters in Higher Education, which helped to fuel her developing interest in student learning. She then returned to the UK to take up a joint appointment at Imperial College, within the Dept. of Materials and also as a Lecturer in Education Development to set up the foundations of the Imperial College Centre for Education Development. Her work in the UKCME since 2000 involved running national workshops and teaching development grant schemes for Materials Educators as well as personal consultation work with academic staff of over forty Departments. Caroline also directed a large consortium FDTL programme to study the 'tutorial' system within materials subject areas. She has over 100 publications in materials science and education and is the author of four books on teaching and learning. Her recent publications include, 'Travelling facts: the Social Construction, Distribution and Accumulation of Knowledge', Campus Press and 'Effective Learning and Teaching in Engineering', Routledge.

Activities
Caroline's role is unique in its mandate to explore the engineering education process while finding ways to make teachers and students more effective in their respective roles. She will support faculty-wide education development based on pedagogic research as part of Queen's Integrated Learning Initiative. Dr. Baillie hopes to relate the thinking between what we understand about engineering knowledge and what we know about developing that knowledge.

Teaching
APSC 190 (http://appsci.queensu.ca/courses/APSC190/) Professional Engineering Skills, along with co-instructors, Mr. David Strong, Mr. George Sweetman, and Dr. Boyd Davis.

This course covers topics such as engineering ethics, safety, liability, creativity, problem solving, equity, and social responsibility, while continuing to enhance communication and teamwork skills.
Other Teaching and Student Supervision
Caroline also supervises a wide final year laboratory design projects in Chemical Engineering.

Research Interests
Her research interests in materials science have developed from a background in composite materials (reinforced plastics) to a focus on natural sustainable composites and biomimicry (learning from nature). She is particularly interested in ways in which science and engineering can help to create solutions for the environment as well as social problems. Her work in education focuses on the relationship between knowledge development and creativity in research and in student learning.

External Funding
NSEC, OMAF (Ministry of Agriculture) and Auto 21

Educational Activities
Chair: DuPont Canada in Engineering Education

Contact Info
Integrated Learning Centre
Faculty of Applied Science
Beamish-Munro Hall, Rm 301
Queen's University
Kingston, ON K7L 3N6
Phone: (613) 533-6249
Fax: (613) 533-2721
Email: cbaillie@post.queensu.ca