Ph.D. Portfolio
Kevin Jay Kaufman-Ortiz
This portfolio details the competencies that I developed, a working on, and will keep developing throughout the Engineering Education Ph.D. program at Purdue University. If you are looking for more about my overall experiences and achievements, go to my Linkedin page. If you are looking to connect with me personally, please write me an email at kaufmano@purdue.edu.
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Last Update: December 2021
A little about me
The summarized version
Influences from undergrad
As I was doing my undergraduate degree at the University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez Campus, several people were pillars in shaping who I am today. I can not name them all but if I have crossed your path, feel free to go to my forums page and leave an experience or memory we have had together!
Natural disasters have widened the inequality gap for students in rural areas of Puerto Rico, sometimes months without necessities. These people are my main drive to do engineering education research today.
Research Interests
My original research interests I wish to impact education in rural, low-resource areas of Puerto Rico. I am interested in understanding how people's intersecting identities affect their ability to become engineers or scientists. Alot of students in K-12 in these areas do not have access to valuable resources that might be more accessible in more urban areas.
Career Goals
Many situations are happening in Puerto Rico right now; the most evident is the impact of PC-1003. Therefore, I plan to pursue a tenure-track position in Puerto Rico as it is a unique place in terms of quality of education and language opportunities. I am not closed to other jobs in non-profits, community colleges, or organizations that can also help me realize the impact I want to make.
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See more at: https://www.thenation.com/article/activism/university-puerto-rico-protests/
STEAM
Although I am working on socio-technical aspects that can directly impact education, I firmly believe in fostering creativity through teaching arts. Creativity is an important part of the engineering design brainstorming process and adding arts to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEAM) will always be a part of my future instruction.
Competencies
Please see the "JEDI & Competencies" tab on the TOP RIGHT section of the web page to see how each competency has been met throughout Kevin's career.
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These competencies will allow me to grow and eventually become a role model to others from underrepresented populations once I graduate and face the real-world.
JEDI Principle
Overarching Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) considerations are necessary so that related initiatives can always counteract JEDI-related inequities where possible. The competencies above may not explicitly address these because I apply them as wholly as possible in everything I do.