Shana L. McAlexander

Assistant Research Professor in the Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science

As Associate Director, Shana leads grant operations for the Harnessing AI for Understanding & Designing Materials (aiM Program), a Research Traineeship program supported by the National Science Foundation.

Appointments and Affiliations

  • Assistant Research Professor in the Thomas Lord Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science

Contact Information

  • Email Address: shana.mcalexander@duke.edu
  • Websites:

Education

  • B.S. Pacific University, 2007
  • M.B.A. Elon University, 2014
  • M.Ed. North Carolina State University, 2015
  • Ph.D. North Carolina State University, 2021

Research Interests

STEM Education, Representation in science and engineering careers, Access to internships, Undergraduate/Graduate student professional development, Team Science/Convergence/Interdisciplinarity.

Courses Taught

  • ME 555: Advanced Topics in Mechanical Engineering
  • COMPSCI 590: Advanced Topics in Computer Science

In the News

Representative Publications

  • McAlexander, S. L., M. R. Blanchard, and R. A. Venditti. “Transfer Students’ Perceptions of Science and Engineering Internships.” Sustainability (Switzerland) 16, no. 15 (August 1, 2024). https://doi.org/10.3390/su16156429.
  • Slates, Angela M., Shana L McAlexander, Jennifer Nolan, Juan de Pablo, Junhong Chen, Harley T. Johnson, and L Catherine Brinson. “Partnerships and collaboration drive innovative graduate training in materials informatics.” Science Advances 10, no. 18 (May 2024): eadp7446. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.adp7446.
  • McAlexander, Shana L., Katherine McCance, Margaret R. Blanchard, and Richard A. Venditti. “Investigating the Experiences, Beliefs, and Career Intentions of Historically Underrepresented Science and Engineering Undergraduates Engaged in an Academic and Internship Program.” Sustainability 14, no. 3 (January 27, 2022): 1486–1486. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14031486.
  • McAlexander, Shana, Margaret Blanchard, Richard Venditti, Katherine McCance, and Karen Collier. “An Interdisciplinary Model to Diversify STEM Participation: College, High School, and Industry Partnerships.” In Handbook of Research on Student, Scientist, & Teacher Partnerships (Pp. 95-132), edited by D. Farland-Smith, 2021. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-4966-7.ch007.
  • McCance, Katherine R., Antonio Suarez, Shana L. McAlexander, Georganna Davis, Margaret R. Blanchard, and Richard A. Venditti. “Modeling a Biorefinery: Converting Pineapple Waste to Bioproducts and Biofuel.” Journal of Chemical Education 98, no. 6 (June 8, 2021): 2047–54. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.1c00020.