Nancy Warter-Perez

Dr. Nancy Warter-Perez is the chair of the Mechanical Engineering Department and a professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. As a faculty member for over twenty-five years at Cal State LA, she has been dedicated to improving STEM education and outreach, particularly for underrepresented minorities, and has been actively involved in academic governance. 

TEACHING INTERESTS

Dr. Warter-Perez has developed and taught a broad range of computer engineering courses and has co-developed curriculum for training biologists and computer scientists in the field of bioinformatics.

RESEARCH AND PROFESSIONAL INTERESTS

Dr. Warter-Perez's research interests include compiler techniques for high-performance computing and embedded systems.  Recently she has been involved in a number of projects on engineering educational innovation and research.  Dr. Warter-Perez has co-led a variety of training opportunities at Cal State LA and across the CSU helping to train STEM faculty on Collaborative Project Based Learning and other active-learning strategies.  She is currently a senior personnel on the multi-CSU campus Department of Education First in the World grant promoting active learning strategies through the flipped classroom model in STEM gateway courses, a senior personnel on the W.M. Keck Foundation grant supporting the ECST Innovation and Design Center (Makerspace), and a leadership team member on the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Inclusive Excellence grant focusing on transforming teaching and learning by increasing faculty equity-mindedness and institutionalizing student success strategies.

Dr. Warter-Perez is actively engaged in shared governance.  She served as the Academic Senate Chair from 2014 - 2016 and is currently serving on the Academic Senate and a number of committees such as the Executive Committee of the Academic Senate (as immediate past chair), the University Strategic Planning Coordination Commitee, the Graduation 2025 Consultative Group, the Scheduling Working Group, the ECST Leadership Team, and the ECST Advising Council. 

EXTERNAL GRANTS

• W.M. Keck Foundation “Innovation and Design Center” 
• Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Inclusive Education “Science Faculty for Inclusive Excellence and Transformation” 
• US DOE First in the World “Promoting Active Learning Strategies through the Flipped Classroom Model in STEM Gateway Courses,” with San Jose University (Lead), Cal Poly Pomona, and Cal State LA
• Teagle Foundation “Liberal Arts in the Profession” with Cal State Northridge (Lead), Cal State LA, Cal Poly Pomona, and Cal State Chico
• NSF Graduate STEM Fellows in K-12 Education Program “IMPACT LA - Improving Minority Partnerships and Access through CISE-related teaching”
• NSF CCLI Program “Collaborative PBL to Enhance Freshman Design Experience in Digital Engineering” 
• NIH and NSF BBSI “Southern California Bioinformatics Institute (SoCal-BSI)”

SELECTED RECENT PUBLICATIONS

1. H. Shen, N. Li, J. Dong, N. Warter-Perez, “Iterative Improvement in Flipped Classroom Teaching of Lower Division Engineering Courses,” Proceedings of the 2019 ASEE PSW Conference (to appear).
2. J. Momand and A. McCurdy with contributions from S. Heubach and N. Warter-Perez.  “Concepts in Genomics and Bioinformatics,” Oxford University Press, 2016.
3. B. Li, R. Ryan, N. Warter-Perez, Y. Gan, H. Mustafa, H. Cox, L. Ding, “Vertical Integration of the Liberal Arts in Engineering Education.”  Proceedings of ASEE Annual Conference, 2016.
4. N. Warter-Perez, S. Ghazaryan, J. Martin. “Carbon Nanotube Composites: Using an Authentic Engineering Research Problem to Engage Middle School Students in STEM,” Proceedings of the 2014 ASEE Zone IV Conference, 2014.
5. N. Warter-Perez and J. Dong.  “Flipping the Classroom: How to Embed Inquiry and Design Projects into a Digital Engineering Lecture.” Proceedings of the 2012 ASEE PSW Section Conference Cal Poly - San Luis Obispo, 2012.
6. M. Abbott, J. Reyes, J. Dong, N. Warter-Perez, E-Y. Kang, E. Lipton, H. Guo. “Integrating Power Engineering into Middle and High School Math Curriculums,” Proceedings of the 2012 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference, 2012.
7. Z. Avery, M. Castillo, H. Guo, J. Guo, N. Warter-Perez, D. Won, and J. Dong, “Implementing Collaborative Project-based Learning Using the Tablet PC to Enhance Student Learning in Engineering and Computer Science Courses,” Proceedings of 2010 Frontiers in Education, 2010.
8. J. Dong and N. Warter-Perez, “Improving Collaborative Project-based Learning in Digital Engineering Based on Program Assessment,” Proceedings of ASEE Annual Conference, 2010.
9. N. Warter-Perez, J. Dong, A. Abramyan, M. Castillo, H. Guo, E. Kang, and K. Moo-Young, “Strengthening the K-20 Engineering Pipeline for Underrepresented Minorities,” (2010 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition PIC IV Best Paper Award), Proceedings of 2010 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference, 2010.
10. B. Krilowicz, B., W. Johnston, S. B. Sharp, N. Warter-Perez and J. Momand, “A Summer Program Designed to Educate College Students for Careers in Bioinformatics.” Cell Biology Education--Life Sciences Education, 6(1): 74-83 2007.

HONORS AND AWARDS

• California State University, Los Angeles Outstanding Professor Award
• California State University, Los Angeles Distinguished Women Award
• University of Illinois, Electrical and Computer Engineering Distinguished Alumni Award
• HP Leadership Award, HP Teaching Initiative Award, HP Innovation in Education Award
• National Science Foundation Young Investigator Award

• Eta Kappa Nu, Tau Beta Pi, Mortar Board National Honor Society, Phi Kappa Phi

EDUCATIONAL BACKGROUND

• PhD, Electrical Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL (1993)
• MS, Electrical Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, IL (1989)
• BS, Electrical Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY (1985)