Western New England University College of Engineering Assistant Professor of Construction Management Dr. Qin Yin has been named a 2026 Engineering Unleashed Fellow. This designation recognizes leadership in undergraduate engineering education through Engineering Unleashed.
Engineering Unleashed is a community of engineering educators supported by the Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN) that promotes the integration of an entrepreneurial mindset into undergraduate engineering education.
Dr. Yin is among 30 individuals from 23 higher education institutions across the country selected as 2026 Engineering Unleashed Fellows. Fellows are distinguished through both a Fellows Project and their interactions with the broader Engineering Unleashed community.
"Dr. Yin is helping students learn how to thoughtfully integrate AI into the design process, using it to explore ideas, evaluate alternatives, and tackle complex real-world challenges," said Mike Rust, PhD, director of Experiential & Entrepreneurial Learning in the College of Engineering. "By teaching students how to use these emerging tools critically and creatively, he is preparing them to be more effective problem-solvers and innovators. We are proud to see his contributions recognized on a national level."
A 2025 Engineering Unleashed Golden Ticket Award recipient, Dr. Yin continued to build on his work within the organization's faculty development programs and online community before being selected as a 2026 Engineering Unleashed Fellow. The faculty development workshops are designed and delivered by a collaborative group of subject matter experts from more than 20 institutions and bring together educators from across the country to explore and apply entrepreneurial mindset principles in teaching, research, industry, and leadership.
Working with peer coaches for up to a year, Dr. Yin completed a project titled, “Ideation GPT: An AI Design Coach to Assist Project Teams with Brainstorming” and contributed to the Engineering Unleashed community through the online publication known as EngineeringUnleashed.com. Following his participation, the workshop's peer coaches nominated Dr. Yin for the fellowship. His subsequent application was recognized by an independent review committee composed of past Fellows.
Each fellowship includes national recognition through an announcement on the Engineering Unleashed website, opportunities to further develop and promote fellowship projects, and collaboration with fellow educators.
Through their home institutions, Fellows also receive a $10,000 grant to support project advancement, conference participation, undergraduate student assistants, and related activities.
In addition, the 2026 Engineering Unleashed Fellows cohort will meet in person October 27-29, 2026, giving Fellows opportunities to share ideas, learn about one another's projects, and strengthen the Engineering Unleashed community.
Please join the College of Engineering in congratulating Dr. Yin on being named a 2026 Engineering Unleashed Fellow.
