Barbara A. Karanian, Ph.D. uses applied psychology, engineering design, and art in her proven methods to make it possible for teams to find unmet user needs. She teaches some of these methods in her classes - from a "storytelling" perspective using memory and metaphor - to help students understand the emotional embodiment in their work - to facilitate change as they progress from the idea phases of projects to reality in the School of Engineering.
Founder of the Design Entrepreneuring Studio, she is the author of,"Working Connection: The Relational Art of Leadership;" "Entrepreneurial Leadership: A Balancing Act in Engineering and Science;""Designing for Social Participation in the Virtual Universe;" and "To Inhibit or Invite: Collaboration from Far Away." With former ME 378 students, she co-authored, "The Power of First Moments in Entrepreneurial Storytelling." Findings show that vulnerability amplifies engagement.
Barbara makes productive partnerships with industry, creating collaborative teams with members from the areas of engineering, business, and medicine. Her recent work: Provoked Emotion in Student Stories Reveals Gendered Perceptions of Innovation in Engineering. She also examines the emotional characterization of innovation in leadership; engagement with modes and modalities of transportation; and ways to generate professional learning environments [with a lab+capital component].
She continues rethinking the gap between Silicon Valley and Hollywood with Digital Film Tree in a 17 year pre-visualization initiative, contributing with new approaches to storytelling in the film industry.
Barbara received her B.A. in the double major of Experimental Psychology and Fine Arts from the College of the Holy Cross, her M.A. in Art Therapy from Lesley University, and her Ph.D. in Educational Studies in Organizational Behavior from Lesley University. She was a Teaching Fellow in Power and Leadership at Harvard University's GSE.
Awarded: 1st place distinction for Best Research paper in 2019; and Best Teaching Strategies paper in 2012 for the Entrepreneurship & Innovation Division of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE).
