MAE Professor Cheryl Xu has been selected for the Class of 2024-2025 of Drexel University’s Executive Leadership in Academic Technology, Engineering and Science (ELATES) program. The ELATES program is a national leadership development program designed to promote women in academic STEM fields, and faculty allies of all genders, into institutional leadership roles.
The Class of 2024-2025 ELATES Fellows is a prestigious cohort of 46 faculty members from over 35 institutions of higher education across the U.S. and Canada. The ELATES Fellows include experts in engineering, mathematics, and science, all of whom have significant administrative experience on top of their scholarly accomplishments. Xu was nominated by senior leadership for this intensive, yearlong program, which includes eight to 10 hours per week of personal and leadership development work as well as three series of on-site work in the Philadelphia area.
Xu is an expert in advanced manufacturing of multifunctional materials, sensor design and manufacturing in harsh environments, process optimization, and sensor-based health monitoring and control through artificial intelligence AI.
Dr. Xu is actively researching materials processing and advanced manufacturing and has attracted high research funding. She co-authored a textbook (Intelligent Systems: Modeling, Optimization and Control, CRC Press, 2008) and has published five book chapters. Dr. Xu chaired the 1st NSF National Wireless Research Collaboration Workshop in 2015. Currently she is serving as the Editor-in-Chief at Nature Portfolio: npj Advanced Manufacturing. She has served as an Associate Editor of ASME Transactions since 2015.
Facilitated by leaders in the fields of STEM research and leadership development, the ELATES curriculum is focused on increasing Fellows’ personal and professional leadership effectiveness, from the ability to lead and manage change initiatives within institutions, to the use of strategic finance and resource management to enhance organizational missions. Pairing online instruction and discussion with intensive, in-person seminar sessions, the program encourages Fellows to apply what they have learned at their home institutions. Ultimately, it aims to create a network of exceptional faculty who bring broad organizational perspectives and deep personal capacity to the institutions and society they serve.
Sharon Walker, PhD, executive director of the ELATES program and dean of Drexel University’s College of Engineering, shares her excitement for welcoming the newest class of Fellows.
“We are excited to welcome one of our biggest classes of Fellows into the ELATES community,” said Walker. “Each Fellow participating in the 11th cohort of ELATES brings a wealth of expertise, knowledge and experience as well as a unique perspective that will enhance and enrich the overall experience of the program and further our mission of advancing and supporting women as leaders in STEM.
To learn more about ELATES at Drexel, visit ELATES online at Drexel.edu/ELATES.