Three Talented CoE Lecturers Earn Promotions

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The UMass Amherst College of Engineering (CoE) is proud to announce the promotion of three of its valued lecturers. The CoE has elevated Jim Lagrant of the Mechanical and Industrial Engineering (MIE) Department from Senior Lecturer to Senior Lecturer 2. And the college has promoted Sam Wojda of the Biomedical Engineering (BME) Department and Dandan Xu of the Chemical Engineering (ChE) Department from Lecturer to Senior Lecturer. 

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Lagrant is the co-winner of the 2024-2025 CoE Outstanding Teaching Award. His teaching ability was further recognized when he received the Mechanical Engineering Faculty of the Year Award in 2024. He is a Professor of Practice in Manufacturing, the MIE Department Industrial Liaison, the Director of the M.S. Manufacturing Program, and the founder the Manufacturing Automation Teaching Lab, which utilizes industrial hardware and software for use in undergraduate and graduate courses. 

In addition, he is a senior manufacturing engineer with 20 years of experience in process development, scale-up, data collection, and analytics.

According to MIE Department Head Sundar Krishnamurty, “Lagrant is an exemplary teacher and mentor with an unparalleled enthusiasm to motivate students through his passion and energy for teaching and mentoring.” 

As part of his teaching philosophy, Lagrant makes connections between theory and practice, often drawing on his two decades of industry experience prior to joining the UMass faculty. One recent example was when he redesigned MIE's Manufacturing Processes course to supplant traditional lectures with experiential learning. 

In addition to leading the MIE undergraduate capstone design course, Lagrant's teaching covers manufacturing-related courses with a focus on automation technology, industry 4.0, and experiential-engineering education. 

Lagrant earned his M.S. and B.S. in Manufacturing Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

Wojda is the co-recipient of the 2023-2024 CoE Outstanding Teaching Award and is also the BME Undergraduate Program Director.

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According to an announcement by CoE Dean Sanjay Raman, “Wojda is a role model of teaching innovation and dedication in the BME department. She has been instrumental in shaping the department since its inception, developing and teaching several core and elective courses with a focus on real-world application and student success. Her teaching philosophy emphasizes critical thinking, problem-solving, and a commitment to lifelong learning, traits that are vividly reflected in her course designs and teaching methods, particularly within the BME 414 and 415 Senior Design courses she leads.”

The dean’s announcement added that Wojda’s commitment to student success is evidenced by her stellar student evaluations and the profound impact she has on her students' academic and personal growth. “She achieves this by incorporating numerous inclusive-learning strategies in the classroom, catering to a variety of learning preferences.” 

Wojda received her B.S. in Biomedical Engineering and her M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Michigan Technological University before earning her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Colorado State University. 

According to ChE Head Dimitri Maroudas, Xu has amassed an impressive teaching, mentoring, and service record over the past seven years. As he says, Xu “has established herself as an outstanding educator and a valued colleague in the ChE department and the CoE by demonstrating initiative and exemplary performance throughout the entire range of her activities and responsibilities and earning the respect of our students as an excellent and caring teacher.” 

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One fine example of Xu’s teaching savvy and initiative was an article on the UMass Amherst Instructional Design, Engagement, and Support (IDEAS) website. The article explained that the  problem with teaching engineering courses is that students often view the field as rigorous and rigid – governed by complex equations, detailed diagrams, and structured protocols. But not so in Xu’s classroom. As one of 12 UMass IDEAS Fellows for 2023-2024, Xu developed many innovative strategies that stimulate active learning inside and outside the classroom, including infusing student presentations with a Shark-Tank-like atmosphere.

As the IDEAS article explained, “Dr. Xu developed a ‘Rapid Fire Design Tournament.’ Students are put into teams, where they play the role of budding entrepreneurs. The rest of the class, and invited faculty, play the role of potential investors who may ask questions to each group after [its] pitch.” 

Xu received her B.S. and M.S. from Tsinghua University in Beijing, China, and her Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota.