Odesma Dalrymple, PhD

Odesma Dalrymple
Phone: (619) 260-7654
Office: Belanich Engineering Center 217

Associate Professor, Industrial and Systems Engineering

  • PhD, Purdue University
  • MENG, Morgan State University
  • BS, Morgan State University

Originally from Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. Dalrymple is a proponent of education equity as a key mechanism for ensuring just social growth and development. As a trained engineering education scholar, Dr. Dalrymple’s professional and service work is focused on transforming engineering education and its public image; making it more inclusive, and socially connected. This mission is partially actualized through her research that seeks to identify, develop and evaluate tools, techniques and pathways that can facilitate deep learning and sustained interest in engineering and other STEAM fields, particularly for populations that have been historically under-represented in the STEM workforce in the United States. Towards the aforementioned goal she pursues the following lines of research:

  1. Exploring the wealth of embodied knowledge, skills and practices that under-represented/marginalized communities can bring to bear on engineering practice. This work is focused on developing asset-based engineering learning experiences for middle and high school populations that predominantly comprise students of color from low-socioeconomic neighborhoods, and creating guides on how engineers can collaboratively work with communities on grass roots socio-technical challenges.
  2. Transfer of engineering design practices in K-12 teachers: from professional development to classroom practice. The Next Generation Science Standards now incorporate engineering practices in the teaching and learning of science at the K-12 levels. In response to this change, Dr. Dalrymple’s work focuses on pre- and in-service teacher professional development (PD) in engineering design, and the evaluation of how middle and high school science teachers / informal STEM facilitators, transfer their understanding of engineering practice, gained through the PD, to the learning they facilitate with their students.

Dr. Dalrymple currently serves as the faculty lead of the Engineering Exchange for Social Justice. She has also co-developed and co-maintained three successful STEAM (i.e., science, technology, engineering, arts and math) education outreach programs: STEAM TEAM Academy, the STEAM Youth and Community Conference, and STEAM Labs. Dr. Dalrymple holds a PhD in Engineering Education from Purdue University and a MEng in Industrial & Systems Engineering and a BS in Electrical Engineering, both from Morgan State University.

Scholarly Work

Office Hours

Section 01R
8/17 - 11/13 M T W TH 2:00 pm - 3:15 pmTBD - TBD
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