Research Expertise

Engineering Pedagogy: Creativity and Creative Problem Solving; Gender Equity & Faculty Mentoring; Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; Biomimicry in Structures; Stability of Steel Framing Systems; Recent Funded Research as PI or Co-PI NSF 2121601: Advance Adaptation: Empower Through Inclusivity - Developing Pathways to Success NSF DUE 2021135: Collaborative Research: Using Complex Problem Based Learning in Undergraduate Engineering Classrooms to Prepare Creative Engineers with the Skills to Solve Global Problems NSF CMMI 1826314: The Role of Multi-scale Porosity on Termite Mound Behavior NSF DUE 1712195: Collaborative Research: Bridging the gap between academia and industry in approaches for solving ill-structured problems

Brief Bio

Dr. Andrea Surovek, F. ASCE, F. SEI, earned her PhD from Georgia Tech and earned degrees in engineering and liberal arts from Purdue University. She is a Fellow of both ASCE and the ASCE Structural Engineering Institute. She was also the first female to serve on the Executive Committee of the Structural Stability Research Council in its 70 year history. She was awarded the ASCE George Winter Medal in 2016 for contributions to Structural Engineering and "an equal concern for matters technical and social, for art as well as science, for soul as well as intellect" She is the recipient of the ASEE Seely Fellowship and the Beer and Johnston New Mechanics Educator Award and was recognized on campus with the SDSMT Ennenga Award for outstanding campus teaching. She is a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineering and the ASCE Structural Engineering Institute. She is also the founder and executive director of Music Adds Up, a local nonprofit that provides grants to Rapid City Area elementary school music teachers and programs.