Teodora Rutar Shuman is a Professor and Chair in the Mechanical Engineering

Department at Seattle University.  She is the PI on the NSF RED grant titled “IUSE/PFE:RED: Revolutionizing Engineering Education through Industry Immersion and a Focus on Identity,” awarded to Seattle University in 2017 for $1.86M. She has had nine externally funded grants, including three from the National Science Foundation Division of Undergraduate Education.  She led her department through transformational cultural change over the past five years.

She teaches courses in thermal systems and design, and innovates regularly in the classroom and labs.  Her work was published in the Journal of Engineering Education, IEEE Transactions on Education, International Journal of Engineering Education, and Transactions of ASME, and she regularly presents at the ASEE Annual Conference.   Her research also includes NOx formation in lean-premixed combustion and electro-mechanical systems for sustainable processing of microalgae.  She mentored dozens of undergraduate students in peer-reviewed research venues, including in Chemical Engineering Journal, Bioresource Technology, and Algal Biomass Organization Summits.  She is a member of the ASEE, ASME, and the Algae Biomass Organization.  Dr. Shuman served as Chair for the ASEE Energy Conversion and Conservation Division in 2017 and on the organizing committee of the ASME International Mechanical Engineering Education Leadership Summit in 2022.

She received a Dipl. Ing. degree in mechanical engineering from Belgrade University and an M.S.M.E. and a Ph.D. from the University of Washington -Seattle.  She has held the title of Paccar Professor and is an Affiliate Professor at the University of Washington.