MIE’s Shannon Roberts Completes ELATES Leadership Program

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Shannon Roberts

Associate Professor Shannon Roberts of the UMass Amherst Mechanical and Industrial Engineering (MIE) Department has completed Drexel University’s influential Academic Technology, Engineering, and Science (ELATES) coursework. ELATES is a national leadership-development program designed to promote senior faculty into institutional-leadership roles through an intensive, full-year, part-time fellowship program. 

The Drexel website explains that “The ELATES at Drexel Class of 2025-2026 is a prestigious cohort of 41 faculty members and leaders across STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics] disciplines from institutions across the U.S. and Canada.” Fellows were nominated by their deans or provosts and have significant administrative experience on top of their scholarly accomplishments.

According to the Drexel website, “ELATES at Drexel was designed to prepare and build community among women faculty across academic STEM disciplines.”

Roberts was one of 14 faculty and administrators from across the UMass Amherst campus who received funding to attend various national leadership courses as announced in June of 2025 by Chancellor Javier Reyes and Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Fouad Abd-El-Khalik. As Chancellor Reyes said in June, “We are proud to support professional-development opportunities that empower faculty, administrators, and staff to grow as leaders on our campus and in their fields.”

Since then, Roberts has taken the ELATES coursework and graduated from the exclusive leadership program. As Roberts says, “It has been a privilege to work alongside so many brilliant faculty and absorb so much wisdom this past year. ELATES gave me dedicated time and space for conversations, growth, and lasting connections. All in all, my time in the program has truly been transformational as it elevated, educated, and inspired.”

Since Roberts joined the MIE department as an assistant professor in 2016, she has built a national reputation as an expert on human factors in transportation safety, and her related research has been augmented by a spectrum of fellowships, awards, and promotions. 

These accomplishments include winning the Stephanie Binder Young Professional Award from the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Surface Transportation Technical Group. UMass Amherst has also named Roberts as the student-voted Industrial Engineering Professor of the Year, a Lilly Teaching Fellow, an ADVANCE Faculty Fellow, and a Center for Research on Families Scholar.

The renown of Roberts as a transportation expert is demonstrated by her frequent contributions to the mainstream website WalletHub, a widely read digital publication specializing in financial advice, including various forums on automobile-related issues, about which she has offered her guidance.

Roberts’ research reputation stems from her findings in the Roberts Research Group, which is focused on studying human factors in transportation safety. The Roberts team designs and implements driving-feedback systems; analyzes human-factors issues of vehicle cybersecurity; studies impaired driving (including distracted driving); examines behavior changes with vehicle automation; and promotes positive behavior among teenage drivers through training.

Roberts is also the co-director of the Arbella Human Performance Laboratory, which is a national leader in the field of driving-automation systems and young-driver training related to distracted driving. Her work in that lab aims to study the relationship between drivers and their cars in hopes of shaping this interaction in such a way that traffic fatalities are reduced. (April 2026)