There is more than one solution to an engineering problem. This reality opens the door to creativity and the arts in engineering. Customers of our engineered works are real people and communities, so engineered designs must be sensitive to cultures and environments. This sensitivity demands that engineers be educated about the arts and humanities. I am passionate about educating students and the general public about the significance of integrating engineering and arts and demonstrating how the best works of engineering embrace this integration without unnecessary increases in cost.
Maria Garlock is an engineer whose creative and resilient structural design research proposes solutions for extreme loading scenarios, such as fires, earthquakes, and storm surges.
Maria aims to bridge the gap between academia and practice by advancing structural engineering knowledge and the education of future engineers. She received government funding to study the effective teaching of structural engineering to non-STEM majors and engages a broad range of students through her coursework, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), and instructional displays featuring scale models.
In addition to advancing the future of structural design, Maria studies the best examples of structural design, past and present. This research was the basis of a book she co-authored, “Felix Candela: Engineer, Builder, Structural Artist,” and one of her popular online courses, “The Art of Structural Engineering,” ranked seventh out of more than 2,000 MOOCs launched in 2019.
A Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Princeton University, Maria is the recipient of several teaching awards, including the Princeton President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching, and is a Fellow of the American Society for Civil Engineers Structural Engineering Institute.
