Vice
Provost of Education, Carnegie
Mellon University; Professor, Engineering
and Public Policy
Health
and environmental risk assessment, engineering education,
pre-college and public science education, and ethics
of technology.
B.Sc. (Physics
and Mathematics) 1960 and M.Sc. (Physics) 1963, University
of Bombay, India
M.S. (Physics) 1969, Kansas State University
Ph.D. (Physics) 1972, Northwestern University.
Carnegie
Mellon, 1978 -.
Professor
Nair's research and teaching focus in the areas of
environmental science, policy and individual decision
making; green design; the risks of low-frequency electric
and magnetic fields; risk assessment and communication;
pre-college science and technology education; engineering
education and assessment, including factors for attachment
and retention of students; student development, and
engineering and environmental ethics. She is also
involved in the teaching of science and mathematics
at the pre-college levels. The teaching of ethics,
and enabling students to reflect on the long-term
consequences of the career decisions they make, are
central to her interests at Carnegie Mellon.
After
receiving her Ph.D., Professor Nair taught high school
physics, chemistry, and biology for several years.
Since coming to Carnegie Mellon, most of her work
has been in research on science and engineering education,
women in engineering, and the biological effects of
low-frequency magnetic fields. She has been active
in developing and teaching innovative undergraduate
courses, in curriculum design in the local schools,
and in enabling and encouraging students of all ages
to participate in technology in a responsible way.
The Carnegie Mellon Chapter of Student Pugwash was
founded by Professor Nair to give students a forum
for discussion.
Representative
Publications
I. Nair,
"LCA and Green Design: A Context for Teaching Design,
Environment and Ethics," Journal of Engineering
Education, October 1998.
I. Nair,
"Decision Making in the Engineering Classroom" Journal
of Engineering Education, pp. 349-356, October
1997.
J. Zhang,
I. Nair and J. Sahl, "Effects Function Analysis of
60 HZ Magnetic Field Exposure in the Electric Utility
Work Environment," Bioelectromagnetics, vol.
18, pp. 365-375, 1997.
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