The EDD program provides an environment that encourages and supports a diverse faculty as well as graduate teaching assistants, undergraduate course assistants and staff.
We focus on the skills, talents, knowledge and abilities that individuals bring to our collective effort to provide the best possible education to our engineering first-year students.
Our faculty and graduate teaching assistants represent each engineering department within Watson College.
Our adjunct lecturers represent the liberal arts, the humanities, art and the legal profession as well as engineering.
Contact Us
Engineering Design Division
Binghamton University
4400 Vestal Parkway East
PO Box 6000
Binghamton, NY 13902-6000
Phone: (607) 777-2500
(Please note there may be a 24-hour turnaround response time.)
How to Find Us
Here is a map showing directions from the visitors' paid parking lot to the Engineering Design Division.
You will see a pedestrian walking ramp between the Engineering Building and the Bartle Library. Walk up that ramp and follow the arrows on the map. The arrows point you to a walking area between the Technology Hub and the Bartle Library. There is an outside door designated by the star on the map. Go in that door, take the stairs down to the bottom, turn right, and you will come directly into the Engineering Design Division area. The main office is LN-G110.
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Pong-Yu 'Peter' Huang, Director
Office: Library North, G110B
Phone: 607-777-2306
Huang is an associate professor of mechanical engineering and has been the director of the Engineering Design Division since 2023. Prior to joining the EDD, he was the director of undergraduate studies in the Mechanical Engineering Department from 2016 to 2023. He also served as the chair of the Watson Undergraduate Studies Committee from 2017 to 2023. Huang was a recipient of the SUNY Chancellor's Award of Excellence in Teaching in 2019.
Huang received his BA in physics from Cornell University, and his ScM and PhD degrees in engineering from Brown University. Prior to joining Binghamton University, he was a postdoctoral research scientist at the Biomedical Engineering Department at Tufts University. His current research interests encompass the field of micro- and nanoscale mass transport, lab-on-a-chip systems for biomedical applications, biomechanics and mechanobiology of tissues, and cerebral fluid transport.
Huang is a member of the ASME and volunteers as a mechanical engineering program evaluator for ABET.
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Koen Gieskes, Assistant Director
Office: Library North, G110B
Phone: 607-777-2308
After joining the Engineering Design Division as a graduate student in 2004, Gieskes was hired as a full-time lecturer in 2009, and he became the assistant director in 2017. From 2022-23, he served as the interim director.
Along with his roles for the first-year engineering program, Gieskes teaches Sustainability Engineering courses, serves as co-director for the Upward Bound Math Science (UBMS) program and Science and Technology Entry Program (STEP), and has taught in STEM and STEAM summer camps for K-12 students for over 15 years. In 2019, Gieskes received a Chancellor's Award in Teaching.
Gieskes received both his BS and MS degrees in mechanical engineering from Binghamton University. His research is primarily focused on engineering education.
Gieskes was born in the Netherlands, and after moving to the U.S. in the early 1990s, he currently resides in Binghamton. In his free time, he experiments with many forms of art including sculpture, painting and etching.
Courses taught:
EDD 103/111 -- Engineering Communications I/Introduction to Engineering Design
EDD 104/112 -- Engineering Communications II/Introduction to Engineering Analysis
EDD 305 -- Intro to Sustainable Engineering & Design
EDD 306 -- Engineering Sustainable Energy (co-taught)
EDD 492 -- Practicum in Engineering Education
ME 211 -- Solid Mechanics (Summer Session -- Distance Learning Course)
ME 273 -- Statics (Summer Session -- Distance Learning Course)
WTSN 301 -- Graduate School Prep
WTSN 380B/CINE 417A -- Interactive Installation Art -
Denise Rostedt, Administrative Assistant
Office: Library North G110
Phone: 607-777-2500 -
Melissa Simonik, Instructor
Office: Library North, G106
Simonik started at Binghamton University in 2015 as a mechanical engineering doctoral student. She served as a teaching assistant (TA) for Watson capstone projects for two years. She continued as a TA for the Engineering Design Division in 2017, where she taught both EDD 111/112 labs and EDD103/104 communications classes. She became a full-time instructor in 2020 and serves as the engineering communications coordinator for the EDD 103/104 courses.
Melissa received her BS in mechanical engineering from Union College (Schenectady, N.Y.) in 2014 and her MEng degree in biomedical engineering from Cornell University (Ithaca, N.Y.) in 2015. She completed her PhD in mechanical engineering from Binghamton University in 2020.
Her research interests include design, biomechanics and finite element modeling.
Courses taught:
EDD 103 -- Engineering Communications I
EDD 104 -- Engineering Communications II
EDD 111 -- Introduction to Engineering Design
EDD 112 -- Introduction to Engineering Analysis
EDD 492 -- Practicum in Engineering Education -
Scott Mansfield, Lecturer
Mansfield joined Binghamton University in 2022, where he serves as a lecturer in the Engineering Design Division and the Mechanical Engineering Department. His courses include EDD 103/104 Engineering Communications I/II, EDD 306 Engineering Sustainable Energy, ME 441 Heat Transfer, and ME 382/582 Advanced Computer Aided Engineering.
Prior to joining Binghamton, he held various management and technical lead positions in advanced semiconductor development at IBM and Globalfoundries. His expertise in lithography process modeling and simulation contributed to the extension of optical lithography techniques well beyond their anticipated resolution limits, while helping to enable 11 technology generations from 0.25 micron down to 7 nm technology.
Mansfield received his BS in applied and engineering physics from Cornell University and his PhD in applied physics from Stanford University. During his doctoral research, he developed advanced optical imaging techniques applicable to microscopy, data storage and lithography applications.
Mansfield is passionate about promoting sustainability in everyday life, with a particular interest in electrification in HVAC and transportation systems, clean energy solutions, and energy storage technologies. He is dedicated to equipping engineers with the skills and passion to develop cutting-edge sustainable solutions.
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Joanne Howard, Half-Time Instructor
Jhoward12@binghamton.edu
Office: Library North, G105
Howard joined Binghamton University in 2023 as a lecturer in the Engineering Design Division.
She retired from John Deere in 2017 as its global director for environment, health, safety, standards and sustainability with responsibility for global environmental operations, occupational safety and health, engineering standards, product safety and sustainability.
Before joining John Deere, Howard held various positions within General Electric in environmental functions and in Six Sigma, and did environmental consulting work with utilities, military and other industrial sectors.
She has a BS and MS in civil and environmental engineering from Clarkson University, a MBA from Xavier University, and was a registered professional engineer.
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Juliet Berling, Adjunct Instructor
Berling has taught EDD 307 Ecology for Engineers for the Sustainability Engineering Minor since fall 2015. She is also an adjunct faculty in the Geology and Environmental Studies Department while working full-time for the City of Binghamton as director of planning, housing and community \development. Berling previously served as planning commissioner for the City of Binghamton and the director of environmental sustainability and stewardship for the Department of Green Initiatives at Lourdes Memorial Hospital.
Berling has received numerous awards, including the Practice GreenHealth Partner Recognition Award, Who’s Who in America Listing, Department of Energy Meritorious Performance Award, and Secretary of Energy Gold Medal Award.
Berling received her BS in environmental science from Binghamton University; MS in environmental science and law from Baylor University; and her PhD in urban and regional science from Texas A&M University.
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Sarah Wallace, Half-Time Instructor
Office: Library North, G314
Wallace joined Binghamton University in 2021 as a lecturer in the Engineering Design Division.
Wallace is a licensed clinical social worker and works as a mental health therapist with Intuitive Strengths Counseling Services (since 2018). She graduated with her BS in Social Work and MSW from Roberts Wesleyan College.
Wallace grew up in the Binghamton area. She takes particular care to meet the needs of her students and hearing their stories. She enjoys occasionally bringing her little dog to class to visit.
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Alyssa Leonard, Half-Time Instructor
Office: Library North, G316
Alyssa joined BU in 2024 as a half-time instructor for the Engineering Design Division.
Alyssa graduated from BU in 2006 with a BS in Human Development. She later returned to school and completed her MAT in Elementary Education and her EdD in Curriculum Development and Instruction from Liberty University in 2022.
Her passion is teaching. She is committed to helping all of her students succeed, and she enjoys learning new things herself.
Alyssa grew up in the Binghamton area and enjoys being outside and spending time with family and friends.
