Bottomley named ASEE Fellow

Dr. Laura Bottomley, director of the Women in Engineering program and The Engineering Place in the College of Engineering at North Carolina State University, has been named to the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Academy of Fellows. She will be honored at the ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition Awards Ceremony June 16 in Indianapolis, Ind.

The ASEE Board of Directors confers Fellow status upon members with outstanding qualifications and experience who have made important contributions in engineering, engineering technology education or an allied field. Special attention is given to an individual’s contributions within ASEE.

Founder of the K-12 Outreach program in 1999, Bottomley is responsible for the oversight of The Engineering Place and its strategic operations. She is also a frequent creative contributor to program content. She holds primary responsibility for funding, operation and personnel. Bottomley also directs the Women in Engineering program, advises students and teaches the E 101 Introduction to Engineering and Problem-Solving class for first-year students. She holds a joint appointment with the College of Education and teaches ELM340, a required class in engineering for elementary education majors.

Bottomley, who came to NC State in 1997, has been inducted into the YWCA Academy of Women for her work in empowering women within the engineering community. In 2000, she was among the College’s representatives as it received a Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM).In 2009, she received an individual PAESMEMfor her mentoring and outreach efforts with the Women in Engineering and K-12 Outreach Programs. In 2013, she was named one of NC State’s 125 Transformational Women. This summer, she began work on a National Academy of Engineering committee charged with guiding the implementation of K-12 engineering.

She holds BS and MS degrees in electrical engineering from Virginia Tech and a PhD in electrical and computer engineering from NC State.