Kat McConnell headshot
Senior Professional Development Advisor • External Relations & SEE Initiative
katherine.mcconnell@colorado.edu
303-492-8483

Office Location: FLMG 130A

Responsibilities

  • Support for Mechanical Engineering as a Profession, Design Your Career, and other areas of student professional and career development
  • Promotion of student engagement opportunities including student organizations, undergraduate research, and internships
  • Coordination of alumni outreach and events including the Careers in ME Symposium, ME Alumni Connect Day, mock interviews and the department’s industry tour series

What I enjoy about working for CU Boulder

I’ve had the opportunity to work on a lot of new initiatives related to alumni engagement and student professional development. We’ve made a lot of progress in the past few years and I’m excited to keep working on those programs! 

Bio

I joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering in 2013 as an Academic Advisor and transitioned in 2018 to a new role as a Senior Professional Development Advisor. I completed a Doctorate in Education from the University of Colorado Denver in 2019 and currently serve as Program Co-Chair for Technical Sessions for the Cooperative and Experiential Education Division of the American Society for Engineering Education. My research focuses on students’ experiences navigating the internship search process and the integration of industry-based learning into the curriculum.

Select Publications

  • McConnell, K. (2020). A Design Thinking Approach to Increasing Student Efficacy in the Internship Search Process. Paper presented at 2020 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Virtual Conference.
  • McConnell, K. (2019). Mapping & Strengthening Curriculum-Based Industry/Academia Intersections.  Paper presented at 2019 ASEE Annual Conference  & Exposition, Tampa, FL.  
  • McConnell, K., Steinbrenner, J., & Knight, D.  (2019). Push and Pull: Integrating Industry Across the Student Experience. Paper presented at 2019 ASEE Annual Conference  & Exposition, Tampa, FL.  

Contact Kat McConnell

Email is always the best way to reach me. My busiest (and favorite!) times of the year are when we have an event coming up. Summers and late during the fall or spring semester are a great time to talk with me about long term planning.