WYOMISSING, Pa. — The American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) has recently announced that Sadan Kulturel-Konak, professor of management information systems at Penn State Berks, has been elected chair of Zone I, which represents the Northeast, St. Lawrence and Middle Atlantic sections across the United States and Canada, and a member of the ASEE board of directors following a nationwide vote in the 2025 ASEE election. She will begin her three-year term at the end of June.
Kulturel-Konak’s election as the ASEE Zone I chair directly aligns with her leadership at Penn State Berks, where she advances interdisciplinary, innovation-driven engineering education.
As director of the college’s Flemming Creativity, Entrepreneurship and Economic Development (CEED) Center, she promotes experiential learning, industry collaboration and economic engagement initiatives that prepare students to translate technical knowledge into real-world impact.
In her roles as program chair for the college’s new bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary business with engineering studies and the entrepreneurship and innovation minor, she leads programs that integrate engineering, business and entrepreneurship — a model that reflects ASEE’s priorities in innovation and workforce development.
Her work at Penn State Berks as a learner-centered culture fellow and an affiliate faculty member in the Penn State Harold and Inge Marcus Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering further strengthens the student-centered, cross-disciplinary approaches to engineering education that Kulturel-Konak said she will champion at the national level.
Kulturel-Konak has made significant contributions to ASEE and the engineering education community through leadership, scholarship and service. She has served in multiple Middle Atlantic Section leadership roles, chaired a regional conference, and participated in conference program and awards committees. She has also served as a reviewer for ASEE conference proceedings at the annual, zone and section levels and has presented and organized scholarly and professional sessions and workshops. Her contributions have been recognized with multiple ASEE honors, including the 2024 ASEE Middle Atlantic Section Distinguished Teaching Award and several best paper awards at the zone and national levels.
“I am grateful for the trust placed in me by the ASEE community and excited to collaborate with colleagues across the region and the nation,” Kulturel-Konak said. “I look forward to working with section leaders and conference committees to support innovation, excellence and access in engineering education, while ensuring that the diversity of our membership and perspectives remains a priority.”
About the American Society for Engineering Education
Founded in 1893, the American Society for Engineering Education is the leading organization dedicated to advancing engineering and engineering technology education, with a global membership of educators, administrators and industry professionals. ASEE Zone I represents the Northeast region, including the Northeast, St. Lawrence and Middle Atlantic sections across the United States and Canada. For more information, visit their website.