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Research Interests

Human centered design, Global engineering, Sustainable development, Social impact

The Burleson Global Design Group seeks to advance engineering design methods so that solutions lead to improved social and environmental outcomes. Our work aims to shift the engineering field to focus on society’s most pressing challenges, with special attention to the needs and aspirations of historically-excluded communities. The decisions that engineers make throughout design processes have serious implications on a variety of outcomes—not only product performance—but also social outcomes, environmental impact, community wellbeing, public trust, and economic viability. Through experimental and ethnographic human subjects research, our goals focus on developing new engineering design methods across all design stages, including problem framing, decision making, requirements engineering, detailed design, and validation. We study a variety of engineering domains (including healthcare, energy, water, and information technology) across many contexts locally, nationally, and internationally.

Background

Grace Burleson is a multi-disciplinary design researcher with expertise in engineering for social impact and sustainable development applications. She is an assistant professor in mechanical engineering as well as a faculty fellow at the Mortenson Center for Global Engineering and Resilience. She has led research initiatives for a variety of socially engaged engineering organizations, including NASA’s Convergent Aeronautics Solutions Project, ASME’s Engineering for Change, and MAPLE Microdevelopment-Uganda. Burleson received her PhD in design science from the University of Michigan, as well as a dual-MS in mechanical engineering and applied anthropology and a BS in mechanical engineering from Oregon State University.

Select Publications

• Burleson, G., Lajoie, J., Mabey, C., Sours, P., Ventrella, J., Peiffer, E., Stine, E., et al. (2023). Advancing Sustainable Development: Emerging Factors and Futures for the Engineering Field. Sustainability, 15(10), 7869. https://doi.org/10.3390/su1510786
• Sánchez-Parkinson, L., Moses, N., Burleson, G., Daly, S., Holloway, J., Conger, A., Sienko., K., Meadows, L. (2023). Intercultural experiences of engineering students during immersive design projects. International Journal of Service Learning in Engineering, Humanitarian Engineering and Social Entrepreneurship. Vol. 18:1, pp. 35-51. https://ojs.library.queensu.ca/index.php/ijsle/article/view/16083
• Burleson, G., Herrera, S. V. S., Toyama, K., and Sienko, K. H. (2023). Incorporating Contextual Factors Into Engineering Design Processes: An Analysis of Novice Practice. Journal of Mechanical Design. 145(2): 021401. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4055780
• Burleson, G., Toyama, K., Sienko, K. (2023). Supporting Engineering Students’ Incorporation of “Context” into Global Health Design Processes. American Society of Engineering Education Conference Proceedings. https://peer.asee.org/44362
• Rieken, E., Bond, K., Best, R.M., Burleson, G., Brubaker, E.R. (2023). A Spectrum of Stakeholder Perspective-Taking in Early-Stage Design. Proceedings of the Design Society, Volume 3: ICED23, pp. 395 – 404. https://doi.org/10.1017/pds.2023.40
• Rodriguez, N.M., Burleson, G., Linnes, J.C., & Sienko, K.H. (2023). Thinking Beyond the Device: An Overview of Human-and Equity-Centered Approaches for Health Technology Design. Annual Review of Biomedical Engineering, 25, 257-280. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-bioeng-081922-024834
• Rodríguez-Calero, I., Daly, S.R., Burleson, G., and Sienko, K.H. (2023). Prototyping Strategies to Engage Stakeholders During Early Stages of Design: A Study Across Three Design Domains. Journal of Mechanical Design. 145(4): 041413. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4056815