Christina Carmen: Honors Faculty in the Spotlight
Dr. Christina Carmen
Dept: Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Ph.D. in Mechanical Engr., Univ. of Alabama in Huntsville
Teaches Senior Design
Our Honors faculty member in the spotlight is Dr. Christina Carmen. She mentors Honors students through senior design teams in mechanical and aerospace engineering. Since these classes focus on product realization, from inception to actually building a unique and patentable product, Honors students receive an accelerated introduction to writing journal papers and presenting papers at conferences.
She is impressed with the quality of our outstanding Honors students. One of her senior design teams garnered first place in NASA ESMD Systems Engineering competition last year (previous winners were MIT, Ga. Tech, and Va. Tech). She would like to see more students become involved with the Honors Program
She first came to Huntsville after receiving her Master's from Georgia Tech. She was immediately impressed with the personal attention students received at UAHuntsville; she found it very conducive to self-motivated students being able to pursue many opportunites. After completing her PhD here, she joined the faculty of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.
As for the value of the Honors Program, she says: "The Honors Program motivates students to excel and continue to develop their skills and futher their education. Undergraduate research and the opportunities available for such via the UAH Honors Program is truly extraordinary. I once had a student present at a conference and she told me afterward 'I feel as if I can do anything.' This is why I love the program!"
She has loved everything about planes from an early age, and even sold greeting cards so she could buy a telescope to become an astronaut. She's also a big fan of the band U2 ("the greatest band ever!").
