STEM Shoutout: Dr. Heather Canavan

UNM chemical and biological engineering faculty member promoted to professor

Dr. Heather Canavan was recently promoted to professor of chemical and biological engineering at UNM. 

Canavan attributes her promotion to her group’s hard work over the years that culminated in 2018. She received the Women in STEM Award, she won the UNM Outstanding Teacher of the Year title, she became a fellow of the American Vacuum Society, and her group won the UNM Health Hackathon.

Along the way, Canavan has been conducting innovative research to design new tools that help people with disabilities. She taught the UNM Adaptive Design class, which hosted the interactive Adaptive Design Challenge in spring 2019. Canavan said she hopes to continue to develop this research in 2019 and the years ahead.

“For the past few years, I’ve been ramping up research in the area of adaptive design: our engineering students are working with collaborators across the schools of engineering, medicine, business, the College of Arts and Sciences, as well as with members of our community who have disabilities,” Canavan said. 

These engineering students gain real-world experience by creating tools for people with disabilities to gain independence in their daily lives. 

“I’m looking forward to expanding this work with the talented students, faculty and staff that we have at UNM, and in our state,” Canavan said.