Esther Tian, Ph.D.
About
Esther Tian is an associate professor of engineering. She also serves as the faculty advisor for the Engineers for Sustainable World at UVA club and Cavalimbs club. Before joining the inaugural First-Year Engineering Center, Esther helped establish the Engineering program at Eastern Mennonite University and led the program to attain the initial ABET accreditation.
Esther champions students’ success. She directed numerous students’ projects, some of which led to provisional patent, publication, and 1st-place winner at ASEE Zone II conference. Esther deeply cares about her students’ intellectual, personal, and professional growth. She aims to help students discover their interests, hone the technical skills needed to develop toward their career goals, and practice the ethics of working together and serving the whole of society. She believes the ultimate objective of engineering education is to make engineers good people.
Esther’s hobbies are reading and hiking. When hiking she enjoys striking new routes, although there is one trail that she is especially fond of, it happens to be called Old Trail.
Education
Ph.D. Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of Virginia