The University of Rhode Island’s College of Engineering has created a new position to help the College expand the recruiting and retention of students in the undergraduate engineering program by 20 percent over the next five years.  Dr. Mercedes Rivero-Hudec is the newly appointed associate dean of students and diversity.

After 13 years as a faculty member of chemical engineering, Dr. Rivero-Hudec is eager to start working with all the departments to reach the College’s goal of expanding and improving the recruiting and retention of undergraduate students.  She will also be working on the reaccreditations of all the engineering programs, requiring input from every single department.

In her new position, Dr. Rivero-Hudec will help facilitate diversity within the College, which in turn will impact the recruitment and retention of undergraduate students.   Dr. Rivero-Hudec will coordinate the freshmen and the capstone design courses in engineering as well as scholarship awards for students.

Teaching is very important to Dr. Rivero-Hudec.  In addition to her new responsibilities, she plans to continue teaching a required course in the master’s degree program in chemical engineering, “Dynamics of Chemical Engineering Applications.”

Dr. Rivero-Hudec is involved in the International Engineering Program (IEP) as well, having played an important part in the establishment of the IEP in Spanish (IEPS). She developed and teaches “Advanced Technical Spanish” for the IEPS.

She is also involved with the graduate program in the Clinical Laboratory Sciences offered by the department of cell and molecular biology in the College of Environmental and Life Sciences.

Along with teaching, Dr. Rivero-Hudec is an advisor of graduate and undergraduate students.  She is also the advisor of the chemical engineering class of 2005.

Dr. Rivero-Hudec was born and raised in Venezuela, where she earned her undergraduate degree in chemical engineering at the University Simon Bolivar. After two years of work in Venezuela, Dr. Rivero-Hudec came to the United States for her master’s and doctorate degrees, which she earned at the University of Pennsylvania.

Dr. Rivero-Hudec joined the faculty at University of Rhode Island in 1991.  For the past eight years, her research interests have been in the environmental area, with focus on material deterioration and waste recovery.  More specifically, Dr. Rivero-Hudec has concentrated on the biological processes in engineering.  “My current project involves microorganisms in the environment.  I’d like to keep expanding in the area of biological processes, either the effects of microorganisms on materials or the recovery of materials by microorganisms,” she said.  NSF, RIDOT/URITC, FIPSE and The Champlin Foundation have supported Dr. Rivero-Hudec’s research and educational projects.

When she is not devoting all of her attention to engineering, Dr. Rivero-Hudec focuses on nature at small and large scales; she grows orchids, enjoys astronomy and has recently started to learn about wildlife rehabilitation.

Dr. Rivero-Hudec has a positive feeling about her new position as dean of students and diversity.  As for her expectations, she is confident that she will be able to assist the College in reaching the goals they have set over the next five years.