Research seminar: January 31, 2020

Humanitarian Engineering at OSU: Research, Education, and Community Engagement

January 31, 2020


Kendra Sharp, PhD
Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Richard and Gretchen Evans Professor in Humanitarian Engineering
Senior Advisor to the Provost for International Affairs
Oregon State University

Kendra Sharp, PhD, is the Senior Advisor to the Provost for International Affairs at Oregon State University (OSU), the Richard and Gretchen Evans Professor of Humanitarian Engineering, and a Professor of Mechanical Engineering. In her administrative role, she provides leadership for the development and implementation of strategic initiatives in internationalization and global engagement at OSU. She also founded and directs OSU’s Humanitarian Engineering Program. She believes deeply in the value of interdisciplinary education and research, and using engineering and technology for positive social impact.

Through both her research and humanitarian engineering educational offerings, she collaborates with faculty, students, NGOs and social entrepreneurs to address global issues in poverty, energy and water through engineering design and international education. She has extensive international research and teaching experience in the Netherlands, New Zealand, India, Pakistan and Thailand.

She received her PhD from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, her masters of engineering from the University of California, Berkeley and a master of philosophy from the University of Cambridge.