Courtney Pfluger

About

Dr. Courtney Pfluger received her Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Northeastern University in 2004. She then went to work in the Biotechnology Industry, where she worked on Protein Purification at Sanofi and on process development of recombinant proteins from mammalian cell cultures at Ipsen-Biomeasure. In 2006, Dr. Pfluger pursued a PhD in Chemical Engineering at Northeastern University focused on polymer thin films to create biomimetic scaffolds of small intestine. Completing her PhD in 2011, she began as an Assistant Teaching Professor in First-year Engineering Program at Northeastern where she redesigned the curriculum and developed courses with sustainability and clean water themes. In 2017, she moved to Chemical Engineering Department where she has taught core courses and redesigned the Capstone design course. She has also developed and ran 8 Faculty-led Dialogue of Civilization programs to Brazil focused on Sustainable Energy. She has won several teaching awards including Residential Life Faculty Member of the Year Award, Chemical Engineering Sioui Award for Excellence in Teaching, COE Essigmann Outstanding Teaching Award, COE Fostering Innovation in Education Award, and the Northeastern Global Educator Award.

Selected Publications

• Ransom, T., & Lozano, A. R., & Bilgin, B., & Pfluger, C., & Rivera-Jiménez, S. M., & Cadwell, K., & Lamas Samanamud, G. R. (2024, June), “Exploring the Role of Self-Efficacy in Entrepreneurial Decision-Making: An Action Research Study [WIP]”, 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. 10.18260/1-2–47445
• Pfluger, C., & Lord, S. M. (2024, June), “Work-In-Progress: Holistic, Multi-disciplinary Systems Approach to Teaching Sustainable and Contextual Engineering Concepts for Undergraduate Students”, 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. 10.18260/1-2–48542
• Chen, C. V., & Pfluger, C. (2024, June), “Work-In-Progress: Integrating Sustainability Across the Chemical Engineering Curriculum”, 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. 10.18260/1-2–48546
• Pfluger, C. (2023) “Developing a Global Competency Mindset in an International, Faculty-led Program in Brazil focused on Sustainable Energy”, American Society for Engineering Education Annual Meeting, Baltimore, MD (June 25-28), https://peer.asee.org/44647
• Kane, A., Dietz, C., Pfluger, C. (2023) “Reflections on an Immersive International Engineering Program Focused on Sustainable Energy in Brazil: A Students Perspective”, American Society for Engineering Education Annual Meeting, Baltimore, MD (June 25-28), https://strategy.asee.org/44075
• Pfluger, C., Rivera-Jimenez, S., Hauser, A. (2022) “A Comparative Study of Collaborative and Inclusive Skills Development in Capstone Design Teams at Three Different Engineering Institutions”, American Society for Engineering Education Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, Minnesota (June 26-29), https://peer.asee.org/41585
• Pfluger, C. and Schulte-Grahame, K. (2022) “A Comparison and Assessment of Capstone and Cornerstone Students’ Perceptions of the Application of ABET Design Criteria”, American Society for Engineering Education Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, Minnesota (June 26-29), https://peer.asee.org/41388
• Landherr, L. and Pfluger, C. (2022) “Process Control Final Projects Inspired By Real Unit Operations Laboratory Modules”, American Society for Engineering Education Annual Meeting, Minneapolis, Minnesota (June 26-29), https://peer.asee.org/41396
• Pfluger, C. (2021), “Lessons Learned Developing and Running a Virtual, Faculty-Led, International Program on Sustainable Energy in Brazil”, Paper presented at 2021 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access, Virtual Conference (July26-29). https://peer.asee.org/37436
• Pfluger, C., Horvat, K., Weiser, J.  “Incorporating Hands-on, Inquiry-based Learning Modules into the Chemical Engineering Classroom”, Chemical Engineering Education Journal, in print (2023)
• Pfluger, C., Martínez, D. L.; Implementing Industrial Engineering statistical tools to enhance students’ understanding of heat transfer for a Chemical Engineering Unit Operations Laboratory module on heat exchangers, American Society for Engineering Education Annual Meeting, 2020
• C. Pfluger, R. Koppes, L. Landherr; The River Project: an Open-Ended Engineering Design Challenge from Bench-Scale to Pilot-Scale, American Society for Engineering Education Annual Meeting, 2017
• A.N. Koppes, M. Kamath, C.A. Pfluger, D.D. Burkey, M. Dokmeci, L. Wang, R.L. Carrier; Complex, Multi-Scale Small Intestinal Topography Replicated in Cellular Growth Substrates Fabricated via Chemical Vapor Deposition of Parylene C, Biofabrication, 8(3), 2016, 035011
• S. Freeman, D. Goldthwaite, J. Hertz, B.K. Jaeger-Helton, J. Love, B. Maheswaran, C. Pfluger, K. Schulte-Graham, M. Sivak, C. Variawa, R. Whalen; Cranking Up Cornerstone: Lesson Learned from Implementing a Pilot with First-Year Engineering Students, American Society for Engineering Education Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, 2016
• C. Pfluger; Maximizing the Global Experience: Lessons Learned from Running a Month Long Faculty-Led Program to Brazil, American Society for Engineering Education Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA, 2015
• S. Freeman, D. Goldthwaite, B.K. Jaeger-Helton, C. Pfluger, K. Schulte-Graham, R. Whalen; First-Year Student Assumptions on Diversity in Engineering Education, American Society for Engineering Education Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA, 2015
• C. Pfluger, K. Schulte-Graham; Introducing Sustainability into Engineering Design: A First-Year Course, American Society for Engineering Education Annual Meeting, Indianapolis, IN, 2014
• B. McMahon, C.A. Pfluger, B. Sun, K. Ziemer, D. Burkey, R. Carrier; Photoinitiated Chemical Vapor Deposition Of Cytocompatible Poly(2-Hydroxyethyl Methacrylate) Films, Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part A, 201(7), 2014
• Pfluger, C. A., McMahon, B., Carrier R.L., and Burkey D.D.; Precise, Biomimetic Replication of the Multiscale Structure of Intestinal Basement Membrane Using Chemical Vapor Deposition, Tissue Engineering Part A 19(5-6), pg. 649-656, 2013
• Pfluger, C. A., Burkey D.D., Wang L., Sun B., Ziemer K.S., and Carrier R.L; Biocompatibility of plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposited poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) films for biomimetic replication of the intestinal basement membrane. Biomacromolecules 11, pg. 1579-1584, 2010
• Pfluger, C., Carrier, R., Sun, B., Ziemer, K. and Burkey, D; Cross-Linking and Degradation Properties of Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposited Poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate). Macromolecular Rapid Communications 30, pg. 126-132, 2009

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