Anna Grace Carey – Hunt Institute for Engineering & Humanity

October 15, 2018March 2, 2022

Andrew Quicksall, Hunt Institute Fellow

Associate Professor, SMU
B.S., Environmental Sciences, Texas Christian University, 1998
M.S., Geology, Washington State University, 2000
Ph.D., Earth Science, Dartmouth College, 2009

It is with pleasure we announce Andrew Quicksall as a Hunt Institute Fellow. The Hunt Institute Fellows are appointed for their expertise and demonstrated excellence in their fields. During their tenure, they will collaborate on projects and contribute to the endeavors of the Institute.

Andrew Quicksall, Ph.D., as assistant professor of enviornmental engineering, studies aqueous metal enrichment and water contamination in the natural environment by probing both solution and solid chemistry of natural materials.

Supported by a grant from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Quicksall and a team of his graduate students collected water samples in UNHCR camps and brought them back to SMU for analysis and also trained workers in and around the refugee camps to test water supplies. The group is integrating information from other sources to develop a database that will help UNHCR planners provide safer drinking water in existing and future refugee camps.

To read more about the Hunt Institute’s work to develop future-focused solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, please click here. For the latest news on the Hunt Institute, follow our social media accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We invite you to listen to our Podcast called Sages & Seekers. If you are considering engaging with the institute, you can donate, or sign-up for our newsletter by emailing huntinstitute@smu.edu.

October 15, 2018March 2, 2022

Evelyn Parker, Hunt Institute Fellow

Susanna Wesley Centennial Professor of Practical Theology
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs

It is with pleasure we announce Evelyn Parker as a Hunt Institute Fellow. The Hunt Institute Fellows are appointed for their expertise and demonstrated excellence in their fields. During their tenure, they will collaborate on projects and contribute to the endeavors of the Institute.

Evelyn Parker is Associate Professor of Practical Theology at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University. She joined the faculty in July 1998. Parker received her Bachelor of Science (B.S.) from Lambuth College, Jackson, TN (1974), and her Master of Science (M.S.) from Prairie View A&M University (1983). Upon receiving her M.S., she served as a research scientist in the Department of Human Biological Chemistry and Genetics at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. She attended the two week Christian Educators Seminar at Perkins School of Theology from 1986 until 1989 and received a Certificate as an Associate in Christian Education in June 1989. The seminars were the impetus for further study in theological education and the transition from a vocation in biological research to one in educational ministry. During the fall of 1989, Parker became a full-time student at Perkins and in 1991, she earned a Master of Religious Education. In December 1996, Parker earned her Ph.D from the Joint Program of GarrettEvangelical Theological Seminary/Northwestern University in Religious and Theological Studies, with an interdisciplinary emphasis in Christian Education, Womanist Approaches to Religion and Society, and Education and Public Policy. While at Garrett Seminary/Northwestern University, she was a Fund for Theological Education Black Doctoral Scholar from 1993-1995.

Parker is the editor of The Sacred Selves of Adolescent Girls: Hard Stories of Race, Class, and Gender (Pilgrim Press, 2006) and Trouble Don’t Last Always: Emancipatory Hope Among African American Adolescents (Pilgrim Press, 2003). She is the co-author of In Search of Wisdom: Faith Formation in the Black Church (Abingdon, 2002). Parker has also published several chapters and journal articles on adolescent spirituality. She is an active member of the International Academy of Practical Theology, the American Academy of Religion, the Association of Practical Theology, and Religious Education Association, where she has presented papers, coordinated segments of consultations and convened sessions.

Parker is a native of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, where she grew up in the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church (CME). She has served the CME church as a local and district Director of Christian Education. She has also taught numerous educational ministry workshops and seminars on local, district, Annual Conference and Connectional levels. She has represented the CME Church on the World Council of Churches (WCC), Faith and Order Plenary Commission from 1996 to 2006. During the WCC Ninth Assembly in 2006 she was elected to the Central Committee and serves until 2013. Within the WCC Central Committee she is co-secretary/reporter for the Nominations Committee. She is also a member of the 10th Assembly Planning Committee that will be held in Busan, South Korea in 2013. She is an active member of the Kirkwood Temple C.M.E. Church in Dallas, Texas where she serves as Christian Education Coordinator.

October 15, 2018March 2, 2022

Paola Buckley, Hunt Institute Fellow

Paola Tettamanzi Buckley, is a Hunt Institute Fellow, Senior Lecturer, and Advisor at Southern Methodist University. A native speaker of French, Italian, and English, Buckley has taught foreign languages at Southern Methodist University since 2003. She is presently an associate area chair and faculty advisor for the department of French and Francophone Studies. She also designed and directs the SMU-in-France summer program, a five-week faculty-led immersion program in Paris.

She teaches Business French and oversees the internship program for French majors and minors who wish to apply their language skills in a professional setting. She is a Board Member of the Alliance Française of Dallas.
Before becoming a faculty member at SMU, Paola worked at United Nations headquarters in New York and was accredited as both a French and Italian interpreter by the State Department in Washington; she has served as an interpreter at the White House, the Pentagon and other U.S. government agencies.

Paola’s academic interests include Languages for Specific Purposes, Study Abroad and Translation. She is currently translating the book Au Texas by Victor Considérant.

When asked what motivates Paola to do impactful work she said, “When you open your passport, you open your mind: students who are exposed to multiple languages and cultures gain insights about themselves and develop new perspectives that are essential to advance a more balanced and genuine understanding of the world in which they live and the people with whom they interact.”

Her most recent academic presentations include:
French for Fashion and the Diplôme de Français Professionnel: a model for Second Language immersion abroad. ISLSP-CIBER conference:5th International Symposium on Language for Specific Purposes, March 2019

Enseigner le français des affaires en ligne ? Mais oui, c’est possible! Webinaire, Chambre de Commerce et d’Industrie de Paris, September 2020

“Global Literacy and Languages for Specific Purposes: Curricular design for building transferable skills” Southern Methodist University, Research Cluster co-convener

To read more about the Hunt Institute’s work to develop future-focused solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, please click here. For the latest news on the Hunt Institute, follow our social media accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. We invite you to listen to our Podcast called Sages & Seekers. If you are considering engaging with the institute, you can donate, or sign-up for our newsletter by emailing huntinstitute@smu.edu.

September 19, 2018March 30, 2022

Ryan Brook ’19, Hunt Institute Associate

Ryan Brook '19, IT Business Analyst & Project Manager at Hunt Consolidated

Ryan Brook ’19 joins the Hunt Institute as an Associate, bringing his experience in project management and the ability to overcome various challenges through innovative solutions.

Ryan Brook graduated in May of 2019 from SMU with a major in EMIS and a minor in Business Administration & Mathematics. Ryan is originally from Denver, Colorado. He was also an SMU Discovery Scholarship & Founders Scholarship recipient.

While at SMU, Ryan worked as an Undergraduate Project Manager in the Hunt Institute where he applied his knowledge from both the Lyle School of Engineering and Cox Business School to assist student researchers with their projects. In addition to contributing as a project manager, he mentored younger students in project management training and helped to shape a project management handbook for the Institute. His goal was to help projects define the scope, timeline, and budget so undergraduates would be better equipped to execute their projects successfully. While he is not a technical engineer, Ryan believes that he can contribute to the Hunt Institute mission by assisting others with their projects.

After leaving SMU and the Hunt Institute, Ryan continued his work in Project Management with Hunt Consolidated, Inc. in Dallas. Ryan was recruited into Hunt to help rebuild their internal office of Project Management and was able to apply his skills and lessons learned from his time with the Institute doing the same. Over the past two years, Ryan has worked in many different areas within IT as a Business Analyst, Technical Project Manager, and Pseudo Developer, helping the business identify weaknesses and needs while providing roadmaps and application solutions. Hunt was faced with many unforeseen difficulties over the past two years, and Ryan was able to help the business stay nimble and adapt to the ever-changing landscape. Having overcome various challenges, Ryan has now resumed work as a Project Manager, implementing enterprise-wide SAAS solutions and continuing his growth in the specialization of IT Project Delivery.

In addition to school and his work with the Hunt Institute, Ryan was a member of Lyle Ambassadors, a group of students that assist with recruitment and retention. Ryan has a passion for helping other people succeed, especially in the areas that he has struggled through before. He continues this work by taking his skills into the professional workspace as an IT Business Analyst & Project Manager at Hunt Consolidated.

After working as a professional in the industry, we asked Ryan Brook what he felt about impact work. He said, “Impact work is important to me because for me, it is a choice, and I hope that one day it can be a choice for everyone. The beauty of life is in what we choose to do with what we are given, and helping people…is what I choose to do.”

To read more about the Hunt Institute’s work to develop future-focused solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, please click here. For the latest news on the Hunt Institute, follow our social media accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We invite you to listen to our Podcast called Sages & Seekers. If you are considering engaging with the institute, you can donate, or sign-up for our newsletter by emailing huntinstitute@smu.edu.

September 19, 2018March 21, 2022

Wilkie Stevenson ’20, Hunt Institute Associate

Wilkie Stevenson ’20 joins the Hunt Institute as an Associate, bringing with him his passion for mechanical engineering in solving societal problems.

Wilkie is an Associate at Capco where he works as a mechanical engineer as a full stack developer monitoring and supporting the Texas Electrical Grid specializing in efficiencies that increase customer satisfaction by working to eliminate discrepancies between environments. Capco is a global management and technology consultancy dedicated to the financial services and energy industries. He graduated from SMU with a BS Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Management & Entrepreneurship Specialization major from Lyle School of Engineering in 2020.

As a student at SMU, he spent the majority of his college employment as an Undergraduate Research Analyst for The Hunt Institute where he worked on various projects over the years that supported local education in communities around the world. These roles allowed him to grow his computer science, technical, leadership, and design skills through real-world experiences. Before graduating from SMU, he filled two patent-pending applications on products he designed and created.

Wilkie continues to support the work at the Hunt Institute through his dedication to the STEM Up initiative designing a sufficient computer lab focusing on offline access to digital educational content for rural areas without access to infrastructure like electricity and internet. His dedication to impact work has touched many projects including Map INDallas (formerly called Map4Good), Evie-in-a-box, database structure for the Blockchain Hub, and the continued progress and development of the rural STEM Up initiative.

He holds the level of Eagle Scout in The National Eagle Scout Association which is the highest achievement attainable in the Scouts BSA program of the Boy Scout of America.

When asked what his motivation is for doing impact work he replied, “What motivates me is making education more accessible”

To read more about the Hunt Institute’s work to develop future-focused solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, please click here. For the latest news on the Hunt Institute, follow our social media accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. We invite you to listen to our Podcast called Sages & Seekers. If you are considering engaging with the institute, you can donate, or sign-up for our newsletter by emailing huntinstitute@smu.edu.

September 17, 2018March 2, 2022

Nicos Makris, Hunt Institute Fellow

Nicos Makris, Ph.D. Addy Family Centennial Professor in Civil Engineering, Hunt Institute Fellow, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Southern Methodist University

Dr. Nicos Makris is a Hunt Institute Fellow collaborating in the Global Development Lab focused on his passion for researching low-cost seismic solutions, more specifically in rocking isolation. The initial project began with Dr. Makris’ work on Filling the Gap for Seismic Protection. During the COVID 19 pandemic, the work shifted to focus on Resilient Shelter, Phase I with Kostas Kalfas (Ph.D. student and researcher), Corrie A. Harris (Portfolio Manager), JuliaGrace Walker (Undergraduate Project Manager), Sam Borton (Undergraduate Research Analysis). The conclusion of Phase I resulted in a report titled Seeking Low-cost seismic Protection for Urban Masonry in an Unstable Terrain.

Professor Nicos Makris received his Ph.D. (1992) and his Master of Science (1990) from the State University of New York at Buffalo, USA; while he holds a Diploma in Civil Engineering from the National Technical University, Athens, Greece. He has more than thirty (30) years of research, academic and professional experience in the areas of structural-earthquake engineering and structural mechanics-dynamics.

He has served as Assistant Professor at the University of Notre Dame (1992-1996) and at the University of California, Berkeley (1996-1998); Associate Professor at the University of California, Berkeley (1998-2002) and Professor at the University of California, Berkeley (2002- 2005), the University of Patras (2003-2014), the University of Central Florida (2014- 2018) and at Southern Methodist University (2018-present).

His research interests include the analysis, design, and protection of structures against natural and man-made hazards—from modern tall bridges and buildings to unreinforced masonry and historic structures, system identification and health monitoring studies, soil-structure interaction, and the reconstruction-preservation of ancient monuments and stone arches in areas with high seismic hazard. He has published more than 110 papers in archival journals, 120 papers in conference proceedings, and 30 technical research reports and monographs. His citation index is more than 9,200, while his H-index=52.

He has served as Associate Editor for the Journal of Engineering Mechanics, ASCE, and the Chair of the Dynamics Committee on the same Journal. He is a member of Academia Europaea “The Academy of Europe”, a distinguished visiting fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the UK, a member of the Congress Committee and General Assembly of IUTAM; while, he has been honored with several international prizes and awards including the Walter L. Huber Civil Engineering Research Prize from the American Society of Civil Engineering (ASCE) for his original contribution on the development of energy dissipation devices and for improving our understanding on the role of damping for the seismic protection of structures, the T. K. Hsieh Award from the Institution of Civil Engineers, the U.K. for the best paper in the Geotechnique Journal during year 1997, the Shah Family Innovation Prize from the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI), USA and the CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation, USA. He has directed as Principal Investigator more than 30 funded research projects in the USA and Europe with emphasis on structural testing and experimental methods. Professor Makris has also served for six (6) consecutive years as the Director of Reconstruction of the Temple of Zeus in Ancient Nemea, Greece. During that period (Jan 2004—Dec 2009) four entire columns and their capitals have been reconstructed.

When asked what his motivation is to do impact work he replied, “Part of our role as structural engineers is the design and construction of structures that are affordable to the local society and meet acceptable performance levels as present and the years to come without compromising the ability of future generations to use them, maintain them, and benefit from them.” Achieving this is his motivation.

To read more about the Hunt Institute’s work to develop future-focused solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, please click here. For the latest news on the Hunt Institute, follow our social media accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. We invite you to listen to our Podcast called Sages & Seekers. If you are considering engaging with the institute, you can donate, or sign-up for our newsletter by emailing huntinstitute@smu.edu.

September 17, 2018March 23, 2022

Anna Grace Carey ’19, Hunt Institute Associate

Anna Grace Carey ’19 joins the Hunt Institute as an Associate, bringing with her a passion for marketing and giving back to the Institute as an alumna of SMU and the Hunt Institute.

Anna Grace is a Marketing Specialist at Sendero, a management consulting firm in Dallas. Prior to joining the marketing department, she worked as an Associate Consultant at Sendero where she led various organizational change management initiatives in IT departments at two Fortune 500 companies. She graduated cum laude from Southern Methodist University in 2019 with majors in journalism, fashion media, and political science; and minors in law & legal reasoning and history of visual & performing arts.

Outside of the office, she is a member of the Genesis Young Leaders Board of Directors and volunteers through the Junior League of Dallas. She enjoys writing, traveling, and spending time with Henry, her energetic Goldendoodle.

During her time at SMU, Anna Grace worked at the Hunt Institute for Engineering & Humanity as the Communications Team Lead. She created the communication strategy and edited blog posts for the Hunt Institute Digest. She also developed the Sages & Seekers Podcast with the Hunt Institute for her honors distinction thesis in the SMU Division of Journalism. The goal of the podcast is to facilitate conversations about community and resiliency.

While at SMU, Anna Grace also completed research on the Supreme Court and copyright law. She contributed to “Give Me a ©: Refashioning the Supreme Court’s Decision in Star v. Varsity into a More Complete Copyright Protection for Fashion Designers,” a paper written with Professors Jared Schroeder and Camille Kraeplin. This work was published in the UCLA Entertainment Law Review. Additional honors and awards include membership in Pi Beta Kappa and Kappa Tau Alpha, the Outstanding Senior in Writing & Editing award for the Division of Journalism, and the John Goodwin Tower award for leadership in political science.

When asked what her motivation is for doing impact work she replied, “Nothing is more rewarding than doing work in the impact space. Contributing to initiatives that move us towards a more sustainable, inclusive and conscientious future is such a gift.”

To read more about the Hunt Institute’s work to develop future-focused solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, please click here. For the latest news on the Hunt Institute, follow our social media accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. We invite you to listen to our Podcast called Sages & Seekers. If you are considering engaging with the institute, you can donate, or sign-up for our newsletter by emailing huntinstitute@smu.edu.

September 14, 2018March 2, 2022

Gabrielle J. Gonzales ’20

2020

Research Analyst, Hydrogen Fuel Cells

Majors: Electrical Engineering with the Biomedical Specialization

Minors: Philosophy

I just started working with the Hunt Institute this semester to work on our Hydrogen Powered Fuel Cell Project that will hopefully work in conjunction with other sustainable projects and communities like Evie, our mobile urban farming unit.

Gabrielle graduated from Southern Methodist University with a degree in Electrical Engineering – Biomedical Specialization, with a goal of going into the Biotechnology. She has always been interested in science and medicine. After deciding against medical school in High School, she found a way to unite many of her interests in Engineering and Biology.

While at SMU, she was involved in Not On My Campus, Society of Women Engineers, Engineering Without Borders, SMU Ballroom, Loyd Commons Purpose Committee, Intermural Sand Volleyball, Mustang Corral (Freshman Orientation) Leader. Before joining the Hunt Institute, Gabrielle worked as a Student Ambassador out of the Engineering Office for Recruitment, Retention, and Alumni Relations.

Gabrielle had worked with the Hunt Institute since her freshman year through organizations like Engineering Without Borders, housed in the Hunt institute facilities. She has volunteered with communities in Dallas through Plant Lab, a committee of Engineering Without Borders. Plant Lab works with local communities in South Dallas located in some of Dallas’ food deserts and pockets of poverty. She also got involved with International Esperanza Project, an organization based out of Dallas who works with rural communities in Guatemala to provide free comprehensive medical clinics with staff from Guatemala and The U.S. and offers low-cost, donor aided solution for clean water and well ventilated high-efficiency wood burning stoves for cooking and heating.

To read more about the Hunt Institute’s work to develop future-focused solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, please click here. For the latest news on the Hunt Institute, follow our social media accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. We invite you to listen to our Podcast called Sages & Seekers. If you are considering engaging with the institute, you can donate, or sign-up for our newsletter by emailing huntinstitute@smu.edu.

September 14, 2018March 23, 2022

Sienna Dugan ’20, Hunt Institute Associate

Sienna Dugan ’20 joins the Hunt Institute as an Associate, bringing with her a passion to provide resources to countries and regions that lack medical care.

Sienna Dugan is a Medical Coordinator of One World Surgery, formerly an Epidemiologist for the Texas Department of State Health Services, and an Epidemiologist for the Tarrant County Public Health department. Previously, Sienna worked in the Hunt Institute as an Undergraduate Research Analyst. She continues to volunteer to support other Undergraduate Research Analyst as a mentor.

In the late summer of 2021, Sienna began her role as a Medical Coordinator of One World Surgery on location in Honduras. One World Surgery works to transform lives by providing access to high-quality surgical care globally. OWS funds and operates a world-class surgery center located on the ranch of our partner, Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos™ which is home to over 500 abandoned and disadvantaged children. At OWS are dedicated to helping patients lacking the resources and access to receive world-class surgical care, as well as empowering hundreds of physicians, nurses and volunteers in the US contribute to make a positive impact in global health.

Since 2012, Sienna volunteered on multiple medical mission trips to China, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Ethiopia as well as her hometown, Los Angles, California working alongside medical professionals to help save the lives of children with no other options. At an early age, Sienna and her family started to host kids in their home as they were in the US receiving life saving surgeries. Whether it was holding her phone over the operating table so Dr. Gopi Manam could finish stitching up the hole in two year old Selina Hewiot’s beating heart when the power went out in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, or talking her family into hosting 3 year old named Erica from Guatemala with, not a cleft palate, but a double cleft face and hydrocephalus tumor because no one else would take her into their home and care for her during her extensive surgeries, her experiences have shaped her into a caring and compassionate advocate for social justice.

When asked what motivates her to do impact work she replied, “I believe the best way to lift yourself up is to lift up those around you. I can’t think of anything more rewarding than being able to work in a field where my job is helping others accomplish their dreams.”

Sienna Dugan ’20 is alumna of Southern Methodist University and the Hunt Institute. While a student at SMU, she worked as a Research Analyst in the Hunt Institute to develop an international poverty alleviation program in order to help promote a resilient humanity and was influential in piloting the program by working on a research project that promoted health in the refugee camps in Rwanda titled Assessment of Rwanda Refugee Camps in the Context of the Villagization Process. She co-authored Bridging the Gap in Diagnostics a broader impact report on the subject of a low-cost and portable point-of-care device for humanitarian and health applications. In addition, she served as the Philanthropy Chair of her sorority, Pi Beta Phi, as well as spending time on a water reallocation program designed to benefit the underprivileged community of the Piuris people, a Native American Pueblo in Taos, New Mexico. Sienna holds a Bachelor of Arts in Health and Society and a minor in Global Development and Psychology. She was an Engaged Learning Fellow and a recipient of the Caroline M. Jones Scholarship, the Cowels Scholarship, and the Opportunity Scholarship.

To read more about the Hunt Institute’s work to develop future-focused solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, please click here. For the latest news on the Hunt Institute, follow our social media accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. We invite you to listen to our Podcast called Sages & Seekers. If you are considering engaging with the institute, you can donate, or sign-up for our newsletter by emailing huntinstitute@smu.edu.

September 14, 2018March 2, 2022

Cydney Kay Snyder ’19

Photo of Cydney Kay Snyder Class of 2019
Research Analyst, STEM Education
Majors: Human Rights, Public Policy, Political Science
Minor: Economics
Cornerstone Scholar
Honors College
Engaged Learning Fellow

Cydney Snyder graduated from Southern Methodist University with bachelor’s degrees in Human Rights, Public Policy, and Political Science. She is also a Cornerstone Scholar, an Engaged Learning fellow, and a member of SMU’s honors program.

Cydney is from Celina, Texas – a small, rural community, an hour outside of Dallas. While she worked on education research projects throughout her time at SMU, Cydney became passionate about STEM education after watching her brother struggle through the college application process. She has developed a STEM camp for rural communities, using place-based pedagogy. Cydney hopes that this camp provides students in rural communities more exposure to STEM as well as educates students on the applications of STEM in their everyday communities.

Outside of the Hunt Institute, Cydney had many leadership positions on campus. She served as the treasurer of the SMU Human Rights Council, and is the Vice President of Philanthropy for Alpha Chi Omega, and served as an Orientation Leader this past summer.

After graduating from SMU, Cydney earned a Master’s of Education from the University of Missouri-Saint Louis and is currently working as a Teaching Fellow at Ewing Marion Kauffman School.

To read more about the Hunt Institute’s work to develop future-focused solutions to some of the world’s biggest problems, please click here. For the latest news on the Hunt Institute, follow our social media accounts on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. We invite you to listen to our Podcast called Sages & Seekers. If you are considering engaging with the institute, you can donate, or sign-up for our newsletter by emailing huntinstitute@smu.edu.