Project ENGAGES Leadership

Dr. Tequila A. L. Harris is a Professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering and the Director of the Highly Advanced Roll-to-Roll iManufacturing Systems laboratory at Georgia Institute of Technology. She earned her doctorate in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in 2006 and subsequently joined Georgia Tech in October 2006.  Since fall 2022, she has been the Director or co-Director of Project ENGAGES. For over 25 years, Harris has dedicated to the development and education of diverse groups to increase diversity and inclusion in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Her passion has significantly impacted the lives of countless students across the K-20+ pipeline through the development and co-development of numerous innovative initiatives and community engagement programs, at RPI, Georgia Tech, and local civic organizations in New York and Atlanta, such as FAME, ELECTRoDE, and MAM-TUP, among others. In addition to their own initiatives, Dr. Harris has played a pivotal role in supporting a wide array of outreach programs at Georgia Tech, such as GIFT, SURE, FOCUS, among others, in addition to supporting local and national programs that aim to cultivate a diverse pipeline of talent in STEM fields. Through workshops, seminars, and direct engagement, Dr. Harris continues to inspire the next generation of STEM leaders, ensuring that students from all backgrounds have the tools and support needed to thrive. Her efforts have been recognized with awards including the Paul Zuber Award Academic and Leadership Excellence and the Lockheed Inspirational Young Faculty Award.

As a first-generation college student, Lakeita Servance attended the University of South Carolina where she received her bachelor’s degree in Psychology. She received her master’s degree in Education from Columbia College and is currently a doctoral candidate pursuing a terminal degree in Education at the University of North Georgia. For the past eleven years, Lakeita has had the opportunity to play a key role in shaping the future of tomorrow’s leaders through Project ENGAGES, a program that introduces high school juniors and seniors from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds to research in Georgia Tech labs with the goal of helping them pursue a career in STEM. With over seventeen years of experience in working with individuals from underserved demographics, Lakeita has demonstrated her commitment to meeting the needs of students who may not otherwise receive equal access to programs or opportunities that can help them thrive and change the trajectory of their families.

Edward Botchwey received a B.S. in mathematics from the University of Maryland at College Park in 1993 and both M.E. and Ph.D. degrees in materials science engineering and bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 1998 and 2002 respectively. He was recruited to the faculty at Georgia Tech in 2012 from his previous position at the University of Virginia. His current position is associate professor in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech and Emory University. Botchwey is former Ph.D. fellow of the National GEM Consortium, a former postdoctoral fellow of the UNCF-Merk Science Initiative, and a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers from the National Institutes of Health. Botchwey’s research focuses on the delivery of naturally occurring small molecules and synthetic derivatives for applications in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. He is particularly interested in how transient control of immune response using bioactive lipids can be exploited to control trafficking of stem cells, enhance tissue vascularization, and resolve inflammation. Botchwey serves on the Board of Directors of the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) and serves as the secretary to the Biomedical Engineering Decade committee. Botchwey, his wife Nisha Botchwey (also a GT faculty member) and three children reside in east Atlanta in the Lake Claire neighborhood. Botchwey is also an avid cyclist and enjoys reading YA fantasy, behavioral neuroscience and Christian theology books in his personal time.

Michael J. Glenn, Ed.D. is an educational technologist who believes in the transformative potential of technology as an instructional tool to motivate and engage. Dr. Glenn was born and raised in North Carolina, where he developed a passion for education and learning from an early age. He completed his undergraduate and graduate studies at North Carolina Central University in Durham, N.C. He relocated to Houston in 2009 to pursue his doctoral studies in Curriculum and Instruction at Texas Southern University. He also completed an educational specialist degree in Educational Leadership and Management at the University of Houston-Clear Lake. His doctoral dissertation focused on exploring teacher perceptions and preparation levels regarding instructional technology usage and its impact on student achievement. He taught Instructional Technology courses at Texas Southern University and excelled as an Information technology consultant and data entry tech for Houston Ear, Nose, and Throat Clinic. He spent twenty rewarding years teaching secondary education in North Carolina, Texas and Georgia. He spent the last 7 years in Cobb County School District, Georgia where he taught Engineering, Computer Science, and Technology.