Work In Progress: A Systematic Review Describing Impacts on Engineering Undergraduates Who Participate in Outreach

Abstract

Karen A. Thole serves as the head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Pennsylvania State University and also holds the title of Distinguished Professor. She is the co-founder of the Engineering Ambassador Network, which is a professional development program for engineering students with an outreach mission to high school students. Her area of expertise is turbine cooling and using additive manufacturing to develop innovative cooling technologies. She has published over 220 archival papers and advised 70 dissertations and theses. Dr. Thole has provided service leadership to numerous organizations including being a member of ASME's Board of Governors. She has also served as the Chair of the Board of Directors for the ASME's International Gas Turbine Institute in which she led a number of initiatives to promote communities of women engineers and students.