Karen Panetta, dean of graduate education at Tufts School of Engineering, reflects on her innovative career

A Trailblazing Engineer Says “Invention Is in Everything I Do”

Karen Panetta, dean of graduate education at Tufts School of Engineering, reflects on her innovative career

By Laura Ferguson

March 7, 2022

    reddit  

Print

Email

Karen Panetta developed a knack for computer programming in high school, inspired by the “magic that was inside the box.” That curiosity would fuel a trailblazing career in engineering as an educator, a researcher, a mentor for young women, and an inventor.

Panetta was recently elected to the National Academy of Inventors, the first woman from Tufts University to earn that honor. She joined Tufts in 1994, rising through the ranks to become the first woman granted tenure in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering; she is now also dean of graduate education for the School of Engineering. Her research includes developing software that uses artificial intelligence to improve medical diagnostics and to enhance robotic vision, for applications such as underwater search-and-rescue.

 https://now.tufts.edu/articles/trailblazing-engineer-says-invention-everything-i-do