Technology transfer, technology commercialization, technology in the cities, smart cities, urban planning technology, STEM, STEAM, smart cities, engineering ethics, data privacy, artificial intelligence, engineering pedagogy, cognitive assistive technology, educational technology
Biography
Born in 1966, Clovia studied engineering at the University of Illinois in UrbanaChampaign from 1983-1988. After obtaining her degree, she was a construction project manager for the City of Chicago and a transportation planner for the Georgia Department of Transportation. From 1995-1996, she helped the City of Atlanta manage Olympic transportation and comprehensive development planning. In 1996, after completing law school, she joined the US PTO as a patent examiner. She went on to manage the engineering patent portfolios at the US EPA National Vehicle Fuel and Emissions Lab, University of Illinois in Champaign Urbana and Old Dominion University. This sparked Clovia Hamilton’s technology transfer research about universities and federal labs.
In 2003, she became a faculty member at East Carolina University and taught land use, zoning and urban planning legislation. She owned her own consulting firm for 10 years whereby she helped land developers with their zoning cases, trained business owners on how to get government contracts, and taught a variety of courses.
In 2016, Professor Hamilton earned her PhD in Industrial & Systems Engineering from the University of Tennessee. She now has 10 years of experience teaching college students law and ethics, supply chain operations management, environmentally sustainable operations, smart cities, and software applications. She is experienced and hits the ground running!
Teaching
Each class has 5 discussions, 6 quizzes (the 5 highest scores are counted), a midterm exam, a final exam, and a research project report and optional presentation for extra credit.
I apply the constructivist learning theories and approaches advocated by John Dewey in the 1920s, psychologists Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky in the 1930s and 1970s; and Jerome Bruner in the 1960s. The idea is that through collaborative interaction with others, like scientists and apprentices, students are capable of actively learning and thinking critically on their own without teachers motivating them.Thus, my students have online discussions, quizzes, exams and year-end research projects about real world problems. These tasks push students without too much frustration.
It is important to me for my students to develop and improve their oral and written communication skills. Teaming is also an important soft skill. Thus, all of my classes are writing intensive. My classes require a research paper and presentation. Presentations are sometimes optional and sometimes mandatory. I require written online discussions that get graded as homework assignments. Their research papers are done individually or as a group project. My ethics students engage in debates. They have opportunities to elaborate and explain why and how they feel.
Students are required to exercise professional, formal, and evidence-based writing. They are required to back up their statements with cited evidence using the APA style of citing quality referenced resources. This requires a lot of work on my part to grade their writing. But no employer wants to hire a college graduate who does not write well. So, I do not mind grading all of it and providing detailed feedback.
I also believe in active learning. I use PowerPoint lectures to ensure that students get the course content that they need. But, to avoid “Death by PowerPoint”, I find engaging activities that students can participate in. For example, in Industrial Engineering, there are several operations management games including using playing cards and Lego blocks to simulate supply chains or assembly line work. Unfortunately, due to COVID’s social distancing requirements, my students cannot stand closely together to do the card and LEGO games. But, they do engage in discussions.
Online, I foster extensive student engagement in the Blackboard discussion boards.Each class completes five (5) discussions. Students are to answer questions byThursday and respond to at least two of their classmates by Sunday night.
Further, I do not believe in requiring rote memorization. Information is readily available at students’ fingertips given the IoT. Thus, I want to know that they can engage in critical thinking, be resourceful and make the correct decisions with available information. Therefore, my exams are open book and open notes. Students have online exams. Each students’ exam is different from the others because questions are drawn randomly from pools of questions. I also use Blackboard Respondus browser lockdown and webcam monitor to promote integrity in test taking.
I was a single working mom. So, I am an advocate of asynchronous learning. I invest hours in preparing my PowerPoint lectures, revising them, rehearsing the timings, exporting them to videos, compressing them and posting them to Blackboard. Students receive two lectures each week as videos and pdfs of the slides. They can attend class whenever it is convenient for their schedule. Several students have shared with me that they have jobs, that they are interviewing, completing graduate school applications or have family obligations. They enjoy the flexibility. They also enjoy being able to return to video lectures and viewing. I love teaching face to face as well. But, there is value in providing students that need flexibility access to a flexible learning environment.
I have taught college students for 10 years. I believe in being responsive to my students’ needs and I believe in keeping accurate records. For example, in the Fall of 2020, I had nearly 100 students and kept a log of their requests; and I responded to 172 student requests in a timely manner. I also keep the students’ graded assignments and grades in binders in my campus office. These are useful to review during my self-reflection, course improvements, and for student counseling sessions.
Past and Present Research
Research Interests
Dr. Clovia Hamilton researches technology commercialization and social justice issues. In technology commercialization, she has honed the novel view that tech transfer is a supply chain network that can be managed with supply chain management tools.
Social justice issues are focused on artificial intelligence; privacy; intellectual property piracy; race & law; diversity, equity and inclusion in technology transfer; ethical high-tech leadership; and environmental sustainability issues.
Past and Present Research
Past research – Dr. Hamilton began teaching college students land use and zoning. she was a city planner and researched livable centers initiatives (LCIs), comprehensive development planning, and high tech transportation corridors. She also served as a patent examiner for the US Patent and Trademark Office Construction and Transportation Art Unit. As a patent attorney with a Masters of Laws degree, Dr. Hamilton also researched patent licensing and antitrust issues.
Present research – Research in progress includes COVID related supply chain disruption issues, patents drug prices, university technology transfer, and flipped personal learning.
In addition, social justice research includes environmental justice, equity and inclusion in comprehensive development planning (including transportation, public safety, housing, education), adaptation, and cryptocurrency energy consumption.