Ada Hurst

Welcome!

Affiliation

I am an associate professor, teaching stream  in the Department of Management Science and Engineering, currently serving in the role of Associate Chair Undergraduate Studies. I am pleased to promote the Management Engineering program any chance I get. 

Education

• BASc, Electrical Engineering, University of Waterloo
• MASc & PhD, Management Sciences, University of Waterloo

Teaching

I have taught the capstone design project courses for the Management Engineering program since 2011. I also teach courses in organizational theory, technology, and behaviour. Occasionally, I offer special directed readings courses, such as on the study of design and designing, sustainable design, and data-driven design, at both undergraduate and graduate levels.

Research

My research interests  are in the areas of (engineering) design cognition, design management, and design learning/education. Simply put, I'm interested in learning about how people design, how they learn to design, and how we can make the teaching and management of design better. Recently, I have become especially interested in the impact of AI on design, both as a tool to assist with design practice, and to facilitate conducting research on design. Much of this research has been funded by University of Waterloo LITE grants and more recently a SSHRC Insight Development Grant. My work has been published in design and engineering/design education journals including AIEDAM, Design Studies, Design Science, IEEE Transactions on Education, Studies in Engineering Education, Decision Sciences Journal of Innovative Education, and International Journal of Engineering Education.

Service & Administration

I am co-founder and co-chair of the Canadian Design Workshop, a biennial conference that supports a network of design educators and researchers in Canada. I also serve as Associate Editor for the Studies in Engineering Education journal. I have previously served as Chair of the Selection Committee for NSERC's Collaborative Research and Training Experience (CREATE) program.