Dr. Richard Layton's areas of expertise include data visualization, technical communication, and dynamic systems modeling and simulation. He is a licensed professional engineer and has industry experience working as an consulting engineer for Pratt & Whitney, Rocket Research Company, Rocketdyne and Gary Walker & Associates. Dr. Layton recently worked with fellow faculty members to write The Engineering Communication Manual to help engineers develop their technical communication skills. He also helped launch the Home for Environmentally Responsible Engineering (HERE) program, a living-learning community for first-year students interested in sustainability and humanitarian engineering.
Academic Degrees
- PhD, University of Washington, 1995
- MS, University of Washington, 1993
- BS, California State University, Northridge, 1991
Awards & Honors
- Best Paper, Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers' IEEE Transactions on Education, 2016
- James M. Lufkin Best Paper Award, Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers' International Professional Communication Conference, 2014
- Betty Vetter Award for Research, Women in Engineering ProActive Network, 2013
- Maryellen Weimer Scholarly Teaching Award, The Teaching Professor, 2013
- Distinguished Service Award, Educational Research and Methods Division, American Society of Engineering Education, 2013
- Best Paper Award, IEEE Transactions on Education, Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, 2012
- Wickenden Best Paper Award, Journal of Engineering Education, 2012 and 2009
- Premier Award for Excellence in Engineering Educational Courseware, NEEDS Digital Library, 2009
- Best Paper Award, Mechanical Engineering Division, American Society of Engineering Education Conference, 2005
- Merl K. Miller Best Journal Paper Award, Computers in Education, 2004
Research Experiences
- Student teaming
- Longitudinal studies of engineering undergraduates
- Consulting in data visualization
Select Publications & Presentations
- House, R., Layton, R., Livingston, J. and Moseley, S., Engineering Communication Manual, Oxford University Press, 2016
- Lord, S., Layton, R. and Ohland, M., “Multi-Institution Study of Student Demographics and Outcomes in Electrical and Computer Engineering in the USA,” IEEE Transactions on Education, Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, Vol. 58(3), 141-150, 2015
- Layton, R., “Forming, Managing and Assessing Teams,” Penn State College of Engineering, University Park, Pa., 2015
- Ohland, M., Loughry, M., Layton, R., Woehr, D. and Ferguson, D., “Patterns of Team-Member Effectiveness Ratings in 11 Countries,” Research Engineering Education Symposium, Dublin, 2015
- Layton, R. and Ohland, M., “Communicating Data Visually: A Workshop to Extend Your Graphical Repertoire,” American Society of Engineering Education Conference, Seattle, Wash., 2015
- Lord, S., Ohland, M. and Layton, R., “Student Demographics and Outcomes in Electrical and Computer Engineering,” (Panel Discussion) American Society of Engineering Education Conference, Indianapolis, 2014
- Layton, R. “Your Data Deserve Better than Pies and Bars: An R Graphics Workshop for the Timid,” Frontiers in Education Conference, Madrid, Spain, 2014
- Ohland, M., Loughry, M., Woehr, D., Finelli, C., Bullard, L., Felder, R., Layton, R., Pomeranz, H. and Schmucker, D., “The Comprehensive Assessment of Team Member Effectiveness: Development of a Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale for Self and Peer Evaluation,” Academy of Management Learning & Education, Vol. 11(4), 609-630, 2012
- Ohland, M., Brawner, C., Camacho, M., Layton, R., Long, R., Lord, S. and Wasburn, M., “Race, Gender and Measures of Success in Engineering Education,” Journal of Engineering Education, Vol. 100(2), 225-252, 2011
- Brawner, C., Layton, R., Lord, S. and Ohland, M., “MIDFIELD Researchers Discuss Pockets of Success for Women,” (Panel Discussion) American Society of Engineering Education Conference, Vancouver, British Columbia, 2011
Teaching Interests
- Experiment design and instrumentation
- Reproducible research and data visualization
- Engineering design
- System dynamics