Rose-Hulman Faculty Earn National KEEN Recognition
Wednesday, October 07, 2026
Two Rose-Hulman faculty earned national recognition from the Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network in recognition of their commitment to excellence and entrepreneurship in engineering education.
Two Rose-Hulman faculty earned national recognition from the Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN), reflecting their dedication to student success and Rose-Hulman's commitment to excellence in engineering education. Assistant Professor of Biology and Biomedical Engineering Adel Alhalawani, PhD, was named Rose-Hulman's 2026 Campus KEEN Rising Star, and Roland E. Hutchins Endowed Chair and Associate Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering Michelle Marincel Payne, PhD, was named the principal investigator for a grant awarded through the Kern Family Foundation.
Alhalawani was named as one of 19 Campus KEEN Rising Stars across the nation for his exemplification of the spirit of an entrepreneurial mindset in engineering education. KEEN Campus Rising Stars are faculty with less than 10 years of experience who are selected by their institution's KEEN leaders as someone who has gone above and beyond in instilling an entrepreneurial mindset. Alhalawani will be recognized at the 2027 KEEN National Conference and will receive a commemorative trophy and certificate.
In 2023, Alhalawani was named an Engineering Unleashed Fellow and led a grant from the Kern Family Foundation to pilot a Design Your Rose Life training workshop at Rose-Hulman, helping students design a path that worked for them and provided access to professors and professionals.
Meanwhile, as principal investigator of the Kern Family Foundation grant, Marincel Payne will continue the Engineering Unleashed Ambassador program. Through this generous funding, Marincel Payne will continue her work developing educational projects that help students identify opportunities, solve problems, and create long-lasting value as agents of societal good.
Marincel Payne was also named an Engineering Unleashed Fellow in 2023, expanding her efforts to use storytelling to promote learning and connection in her classes. She also utilized the grant to teach students how to foster psychological safety and resolve conflict in teams, using storytelling as the baseline.
Like Rose-Hulman, KEEN champions an entrepreneurial mindset in science, technology, and engineering students, utilizing classroom learning opportunities to nurture innovation. The partnership between Rose-Hulman and KEEN is natural and longstanding, with Rose-Hulman faculty receiving KEEN recognition for six consecutive years. Support from KEEN amplifies Rose-Hulman's mission to foster an environment that provides students with unique experiences in innovation, discovery, and entrepreneurship.
The Kern Family Foundation invests in the rising generation of Americans, equipping them to become tomorrow's leaders and innovators. Established in 1999, the Foundation is based in Wisconsin and invests in fields that impact human flourishing, including medicine, educational leadership, and engineering education.
The Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network is a partnership of more than 70 universities and college undergraduate engineering programs around the United States. KEEN focuses on one mission: to graduate engineers with an entrepreneurial mindset so they can create personal, economic, and societal value through a lifetime of meaningful work.
Alhalawani was named as one of 19 Campus KEEN Rising Stars across the nation for his exemplification of the spirit of an entrepreneurial mindset in engineering education. KEEN Campus Rising Stars are faculty with less than 10 years of experience who are selected by their institution's KEEN leaders as someone who has gone above and beyond in instilling an entrepreneurial mindset. Alhalawani will be recognized at the 2027 KEEN National Conference and will receive a commemorative trophy and certificate.
In 2023, Alhalawani was named an Engineering Unleashed Fellow and led a grant from the Kern Family Foundation to pilot a Design Your Rose Life training workshop at Rose-Hulman, helping students design a path that worked for them and provided access to professors and professionals.
Meanwhile, as principal investigator of the Kern Family Foundation grant, Marincel Payne will continue the Engineering Unleashed Ambassador program. Through this generous funding, Marincel Payne will continue her work developing educational projects that help students identify opportunities, solve problems, and create long-lasting value as agents of societal good.
Marincel Payne was also named an Engineering Unleashed Fellow in 2023, expanding her efforts to use storytelling to promote learning and connection in her classes. She also utilized the grant to teach students how to foster psychological safety and resolve conflict in teams, using storytelling as the baseline.
Like Rose-Hulman, KEEN champions an entrepreneurial mindset in science, technology, and engineering students, utilizing classroom learning opportunities to nurture innovation. The partnership between Rose-Hulman and KEEN is natural and longstanding, with Rose-Hulman faculty receiving KEEN recognition for six consecutive years. Support from KEEN amplifies Rose-Hulman's mission to foster an environment that provides students with unique experiences in innovation, discovery, and entrepreneurship.
The Kern Family Foundation invests in the rising generation of Americans, equipping them to become tomorrow's leaders and innovators. Established in 1999, the Foundation is based in Wisconsin and invests in fields that impact human flourishing, including medicine, educational leadership, and engineering education.
The Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network is a partnership of more than 70 universities and college undergraduate engineering programs around the United States. KEEN focuses on one mission: to graduate engineers with an entrepreneurial mindset so they can create personal, economic, and societal value through a lifetime of meaningful work.