Jared Ashcroft, Ph.D., PI of Micro Nano Technology Education Center (MNT-EC) is a Chemistry professor at Pasadena City College and the Center Director for the Micro Nano Technology Education Center, actively involved in bringing MNT technical education programs to community colleges. He earned his BS in Chemistry from Long Beach State and Doctorate in Chemistry from Rice University. His doctorate work and subsequent studies at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab focused on nano-based medical diagnostics and therapeutics. His current undergraduate research group focuses on using active learning in conjunction with remote instrumentation to increase success and engagement in science.
Email address: jmashcroft@pasadena.edu
Mel Cossette, CO-PI of Micro Nano Technology Education Center (MNT-EC) is the Executive Director/Principal Investigator for the National Science Foundation's Advanced Technological Education funded Online Instructional Resources for Material Science Technology Education [formerly the National Resource Center for Materials Technology Education (MatEdU)] housed at Edmonds College in Lynnwood, WA. She is also the PI for an NSF ATE project, Technician Education and Additive Manufacturing & Materials and a Co-PI on a newly funded NSF ATE Micro Nano Technology Education Center. Mel is an Alternate Commissioner for ABET through SME and a founding member of ABET's Inclusion, Diversity and Equity Advisory Council and has 20+ years of experience in manufacturing education focusing on technician education and workforce development. She has developed technician training programs for industry and educational institutions; serves on numerous committees and national boards; and worked in various industries and held administrative and faculty positions within the community and technical college system.
Email address: mel.cossette@edcc.edu
Neda Habibi, PhD, CO-PI of Micro Nano Technology Education Center (MNT-EC) has a PhD in Nano-biotechnology, specializing in Bionanomaterials and drug delivery. She received her PhD degree from the University of Genova, Italy in 2012. From 2012 to 2016, she was an Assistant Professor with Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials Institute at Isfahan University of Technology, Iran. She is an alumna of the Division of Engineering in Medicine and Renal Division of Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital at Harvard University where she was visiting Assistant Professor at Dr. Shafiee Laboratory. She has more than 8 years of experience in supervising graduate and undergraduate students, establishing her research area, collaborating with other faculty members as well as industrial partners and fundraising. Her scholarly works have been published in prestigious journals such as NanoToday, Journal of Biomedical Materials Research and Collides and Surfaces. Since 2017, she is with the Advanced Materials Technology program at Northwest Vista College, as both faculty and coordinator of the Nanoengineering program. She is PI of the ATE-NSF project “Alamo Institute for Materials (micro, bio, nano) - Technology (AIM-TEC).
Email address: nhabibi@alamo.edu
https://www.linkedin.com/in/neda-habibi-83744b127/
Greg Kepner, MEd, CO-PI of Micro Nano Technology Education Center (MNT-EC) served for 5 years as Director/Principal Investigator of the NSF-ATE Midwest Photonics Education Center and as PI for an NSF project. He also served briefly as Co-PI for the OP-TEC center. In 2019, he retired from Indian Hills Community College where he served as the Department Chair of the Advanced Manufacturing Department. He previously served IHCC as the Industrial Technology Coordinator and Robotics/Automation instructor. Greg has a Master’s Degree in Higher Education, Community College Leadership from Iowa State University, a BA Degree from Buena Vista University and an AA and AAS Degree in Electronics from IHCC. He has experience as a senior field service engineer in the semiconductor manufacturing industry.
Peter Kazarinoff, Ph.D., CO-PI of Micro Nano Technology Education Center (MNT-EC) is a full-time faculty member in Engineering and Engineering Technology at Portland Community College in Portland, Oregon. Peter earned a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Washington and a BA from Cornell University. He teaches courses in Engineering, Materials Science, and Manufacturing at Portland Community College. Teaching at a community college is his dream job. He is passionate about bringing a diverse group of problem-solving technicians into the workforce. Peter lives with two inquisitive daughters and a wonderful and supportive spouse.
Billie Copley, Center Manager of Micro Nano Technology Education Center (MNT-EC) is the former project manager of Nano-Link: Center for Nanotechnology Education and a graduate of the Dakota County Technical College Nanoscience Technology program. Billie has been in the ATE community since 2011 and has worked with several other ATE centers and projects during her time with Nano-Link. She has her BS in Project Management from Minnesota State University – Moorhead. In her spare time, she enjoys being a mom, wife, rock hound and amateur wood building hobbyist.