Luke Landherr

About

Dr. Lucas Landherr joined the Chemical Engineering Department in the fall of 2012, and has since been conducting engineering education research into novel teaching techniques for undergraduate and K-12 STEM education.  They have focused on the development of comics to teach complex science and engineering concepts, through collaboration with professional and student artists, and his comics have been adopted by colleges throughout the U.S. as well as in the U.K., Belgium, and Denmark.  Dr. Landherr is currently a regular contributor to the Chemical Engineering Education journal, producing the Drawn To Engineering comic, and was the engineering consultant helping develop the Crash Course Engineering series with PBS Digital.

Dr. Landherr previously received their Bachelor’s degree from Lafayette College in 2005 with an honors thesis studying drag-reducing polymers. They then completed their Ph.D. at Cornell University in 2010, developing and characterizing thin polymer films and brushes as nanoscale lubricants. While at Cornell, they received a GK-12 NSF Fellowship, with which they designed curriculum and physics experiments for high school classrooms. In 2012, Dr. Landherr completed an NRC Postdoctoral Research Associateship with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), where they conducted research on polymeric interactions with superhydrophobic surfaces.

Selected Publications

​Sample Publications:

• L. Landherr. Crash Course: Engineering, Serving as Engineering Consultant /Curriculum Writer, Youtube Series in Affiliation with PBS Digital, 2018-2019.
• L. Landherr. Integrating Comics Into Engineering Education To Promote Student Interest, Confidence, and Understanding. Proceedings of the ASEE Annual Conference, 2019.
• M. Vigeant, J. Cole, K. Dahm, L. Ford, L. Landherr, D. Silverstein, C. West. How We Teach: Thermodynamics, Proceedings of the ASEE Annual Conference, 2019.
• L. Landherr, M. Keszler. Drawn to Engineering: Illumination, Chemical Engineering  Education, 53(3), 2019, 145-146.
• L. Landherr, M. Keszler. Drawn to Engineering: Evolving Your Teaching, Chemical Engineering  Education, 53(2), 2019, 67-68.
• L. Landherr, M. Keszler. Drawn to Engineering: Idea Theft, Chemical Engineering  Education, 53(1), 2019, 63-64.
• L. Landherr, M. Keszler. Drawn to Engineering: Exams Are Alive With The Sound Of  … Music?, Chemical Engineering Education, 52(4), 2018, 294-295.
• L. Landherr, M. Keszler. Drawn to Engineering: Skeleton Notes, Chemical Engineering Education, 52(3), 2018, 221-222
• L. Landherr, M. Keszler. Drawn to Engineering: Diversity Statement, Chemical Engineering Education, 52(2), 2018, 115-116
• L. Landherr, M. Lubchansky. Drawn to Engineering: Answering Questions, Chemical Engineering Education, 52(1), 2018, 31-32
• L. Landherr, M. Keszler. Drawn to Engineering: Presenting Audiences, Chemical Engineering Education, 51(4), 2017, 163-164
• L. Landherr, M. Keszler. Drawn to Engineering: Humor in Exams, Chemical Engineering Education, 51(3), 2017, 126-127
• L. Landherr, M. Lubchansky. Drawn to Engineering: Problem-Solvers, Chemical Engineering Education, 51(2), 2017, 62-63
• L. Landherr, C. Pfluger, R.A. Koppes. The River Project: an Open-Ended Engineering Design Challenge from Bench-Scale to Pilot-Scale, Proceedings of the ASEE Annual Conference, 2018
• M. Vigeant, D.L. Silverstein, K.D. Dahm, L.P. Ford, J. Cole, L. Landherr. How We Teach: Unit Operations Laboratory, Proceedings of the ASEE Annual Conference, 2018
• L. Landherr. The Production of Science Comics To Improve Undergraduate Engineering, Proceedings of the ASEE Northeast Section Conference, 2016

STEM Comics:

• “Gene Therapy.”  Simonson, Z. (w) and Keszler, M.. (p). Ed. By Shepherd, D. Boston, MA: Northeastern  University. 2016
• “Assumptions.”  Cogswell, C. (w), Shepherd, D. * (w), and Pietsch, C. (p) Boston, MA: Northeastern  University.  2016
• “Refrigeration Cycles.”  Shepherd, D. * (w) and Keszler, M. (p)  Boston, MA: Northeastern University.  2016
• “Recycle and Purge Streams.”  Shepherd, D. * (w) and Lubchansky, M. (p).  Boston, MA: Northeastern  University.  2016
• “Fugacity.”  Shepherd, D. * (w) and Cooke, J. (p).  Boston, MA: Northeastern University. 2016
• “Heat Exchangers.”  Shepherd, D. * (w) and Lubchansky, M. (p).  Boston, MA: Northeastern University. 2016
• “Feedback Controls.”  Shepherd, D. * (w) and Lai, M. (p).  Boston, MA: Northeastern University. 2015
• “Uncertainty.”  Shepherd, D. * (w) and Kahl, A. (p).  Boston, MA: Northeastern University.  2015
• “Data Analysis.”  Shepherd, D. * (w) and Sparks, B. (p).  Boston, MA: Northeastern University.  2015

Other Journal Articles:

• “Interfacial Friction and Adhesion of Polymer Brushes.” Landherr, L.J.T.; Cohen, C.; Agarwal, P.; Archer, L.A. Langmuir 2011, 27, 9387-9395.
• “Effect of Pendent Chains on the Interfacial Properties of Thin Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) Networks.” Landherr, L.J.T.; Cohen, C.; Archer, L.A. Langmuir 2011, 27, 5944-5952.
• “Interfacial friction of thin PDMS network films.” Landherr, L.J.T.; Zhang, Q.; Cohen, C.; Archer, L.A. Journal of Polymer Science B, 2008, 46, 1773-1787.

(*- D. Shepherd is the creative pseudonym for L. Landherr)

In the Media

Nov 03, 2023

National Science Foundation Studies Whether Comics Are Better For Teaching STEM

ChE Distinguished Teaching Professor Luke Landherr was featured in the CBR article “National Science Foundation Studies Whether Comics Are Better for Teaching STEM.”

Faculty

Sep 20, 2023

Studying the Impact of Comics as Visual Learning Tools

ChE Distinguished Teaching Professor Luke Landherr was awarded a $300,000 NSF grant for “Conservation Principles, Illustrated: Analyzing the Impact of Informal Visual Learning Tools on Educational Engineering Through Comics.” The grant will study the impact of comics as visual learning tools by developing a series of comics and ConcepTest questions addressing concepts in a core introductory chemical engineering course.

Faculty

Aug 30, 2023

Landherr Wins Best ChemE Division Paper at Annual ASEE Conference

ChE Teaching Professor and Associate Chair of Undergraduate Studies Luke Landherr was named to receive the Joseph J. Martin Award, for the most outstanding Chemical Engineering Division paper presented at the 2023 ASEE Annual Conference, for the paper “Teaching Fugacity through Comics and Assessing the Impact on Student Confidence and Understanding”.

Faculty

Jun 12, 2023

Why Comics and Graphic Novels Like ‘Maus’ are Effective Teaching Tools

ChE Teaching Professor Luke Landherr creates STEM comics that effectively engage students and improve their understanding of complex concepts. At the Boston Kids Comics Fest held at the Curry Student Center, he promoted his engineering education research group, Science The World, home to dozens of comics covering data analysis, gene therapy, refrigeration cycles, momentum transfer, and other complex topics.

Faculty

Feb 16, 2023

Landherr Receives AIChE Grant to Create Comic Learning Tool

Chemical Engineering Distinguished Teaching Professor Lucas Landherr has received a $3.5K grant from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Foundation to create a comic learning tool for high school seniors and first-year college engineering students.

Faculty

Jul 14, 2022

Landherr Receives 2022 AIChE Award for Education Research

ChE Teaching Professor Lucas Landherr was selected to receive the 2022 Award for Excellence in Engineering Education Research for his outstanding research on inclusive teaching in chemical engineering through the development of comics, visualization, and modules for novel STEM teaching tools for all-ages education.

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