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Christine Kennedy is the Director of Iron Range Engineering and is part of the first set of students who pioneered and graduated from the IRE program. She graduated high school from Laporte, MN and went on to her A.S. in Engineering from Itasca Community College before attending IRE where she received her B.S. in Engineering. Since then, she worked 5 years in heavy industry where she managed multi-million dollar projects as well as designed structures and mechanical systems, and supervised an operations crew. Christine graduated with her M. S. in Engineering Management in May 2018, with her thesis being in the realm of Industrial Psychology.
As the director, Christine manages IRE’s budget, coordinates recruiting and other events around campus, facilitates student project teams, teaches advanced project management techniques, ensures IRE maintains its ABET Accreditation, and works on continuous improvement efforts. For fun, she likes to sing and play guitar (though not in public), exercise, spend time outdoors, and be with her family and friends. Email: christine.kennedy@ire.minnstate.edu Phone: 218-766-9536 |
Dr. Elizabeth Pluskwik leads the Engineering Economics, Entrepreneurial, and Lean competencies at Iron Range Engineering and Twin Cities Engineering, two project-based engineering education programs of Minnesota State University, Mankato. She also facilitates Statistics, Leadership, Teamwork, Communication, and Professionalism learning with the engineering students. Before joining IRE in 2012, Elizabeth was a faculty member in the College of Business at St. Ambrose University, Davenport, Iowa. Her industry experience includes five years as Controller with MSI Mold Builders in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and four years as an Auditor/Tax Accountant for McGladrey & Pullen, CPAs, in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Her Ph.D. in Organization and Management is from Capella University in Minneapolis, MN, and her research interests include Lean and Six Sigma, Project Based Learning, managing change, and the integration of engineering and business to best prepare engineers for successful careers. Having been raised in Virginia, MN, Elizabeth enjoys kayaking, hiking, and photographing the natural beauty of northern Minnesota’s wilderness with her family and friends.
Email: elizabeth.pluskwik@ire.minnstate.edu |
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Ron Ulseth, Ph.D, P.E. is the director of the Bell program. He teaches thermodynamics, fluid mechanics and heat transfer for Bell and Iron Range Engineering. Ulseth has been teaching engineering since 1989. He has a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of North Dakota, an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Central, and a Ph.D. in Project Based Learning from Aalborg University.
Email: ron.ulseth@ire.minnstate.edu Phone: 218-259-9782 |
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Andy Lillesve is an EIT who joined Iron Range Engineering as a Project Facilitator in January 2011. In addition to facilitation roles, Andy has ownership over the material science and heat transfer technical competencies as well as the design course. In Summer 2016, along with Ron Ulseth, Andy began IRE preparations for ABET reaccreditation. His engineering education began at Itasca Community College later transferring to Michigan Technological University. There he graduated magna cum laude with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 2009. From there, he received a Masters Degree in Business Administration from Michigan Technological University with summa cum laude honors.
Email: andy.lillesve@ire.minnstate.edu Phone: 218-742-9168 |
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Dr. Yuezhou Wang is a Mechanical Engineering faculty in Iron Range Engineering. He joined MNSU in August 2017. His leading competencies are in areas of materials science, structural analysis, finite element modeling and dynamic systems. His research focuses on multiscale modeling on mechanical behavior of nano and granular materials. He received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Shanghai Jiaotong University, China and Ph.D in Materials Science from University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.
Email: yuezhou.wang@ire.minnstate.edu |
Brittany Bertolas
Brittany Bertolas is the Administrative Assistant for Iron Range Engineering and the Bell Program. She graduated high school from Virginia Secondary School and received her Associate of Arts degree from Mesabi Community College. She continued her education via Walden University and received her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management with an emphasis in Human Resources.
Outside of IRE, Brittany assists several small businesses with their payroll and bookkeeping and she volunteers as Treasurer for a few non-profit organizations in the community. She also enjoys tutoring elementary students in math and reading. She has two sons who keep her busy with their schooling and sports. In her spare time, she likes to sing, laugh, listen to audiobooks, walk in the woods, and spend time with her pets, family and friends. Faculty at Iron Range Engineering are focused on building strong ties to our student body.
Email: brittany.bertolas@ire.minnstate.edu
Phone: 218-780-9045
Outside of IRE, Brittany assists several small businesses with their payroll and bookkeeping and she volunteers as Treasurer for a few non-profit organizations in the community. She also enjoys tutoring elementary students in math and reading. She has two sons who keep her busy with their schooling and sports. In her spare time, she likes to sing, laugh, listen to audiobooks, walk in the woods, and spend time with her pets, family and friends. Faculty at Iron Range Engineering are focused on building strong ties to our student body.
Email: brittany.bertolas@ire.minnstate.edu
Phone: 218-780-9045
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Jim Boyd is the Technology and Laboratory Director at Iron Range Engineering and works with faculty to enrich students' theoretical learning by facilitating hands-on experiences. Jim believes that engineering concepts are learned best when applied to real-world scenarios through modeling and prototyping. Whether you need help with engineering software, design methods, or tool usage, he's happy to help.
Jim also assists with project facilitation in our lower-division design courses, guides student life activities, and works with the Society of Air and Space student club. When not at the college, he enjoys rock climbing, exploring the north woods with his family, and traveling to new places. Email: jim.boyd@ire.minnstate.edu Phone: (218) 410-4938 |