Dr. Rosalind Wynne Receives Minority Junior Faculty Award

The Christian R. & Mary F. Lindback Foundation announced in May that Rosalind Wynne, Ph.D., an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, would be receiving a Minority Junior Faculty Award in the amount of $10,000.

The competitive grant will fund the purchase of detection equipment that Dr. Wynne will use to design and develop microstructured optical fiber devices with multiple solid cores for simultaneous chemical sensing and strain sensing. These sensors have the potential to be used in detectors for intelligent buildings and the monitoring of environmental pollution.

Dr. Wynne is the founder and director of the College's Laboratory for Lightwave Devices, which is used for education and for research related to the development of fiber optic sensors. Because Dr. Wynne is committed to providing research opportunities for students at all levels, it is not surprising that both undergraduate and graduate students will be assisting her with this current research project.

"I enjoy working at Villanova because you can teach and mentor students and expose them to scholarly research,” said Dr. Wynne, who joined the faculty in 2005. “This is an environment in which you can develop socially responsible engineers. You’re encouraged to have a conscience and to make ethically sound decisions."

According to the Lindback Foundation, the mission of this grant program is to improve the scholarly opportunities for minority, junior, full-time faculty at institutions that participate in the Lindback Distinguished Teaching Award program.