Rate My Professor Trevor Harding

Trevor S. Harding is Chair and Professor of Materials Engineering at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. He teaches courses in polymeric materials, life cycle design, biopolymers, and nanocomposites. His technical research focuses on the degradation of biomedical materials in vitro and the development of biodegradable and renewable polymeric nanocomposites, including the use of nanomaterials to enhance the strength, stability, and degradation of biopolymers such as chitosan from waste shrimp shells and PHBV grown from bacterial waste streams. Harding also researches innovative teaching practices, including methods to foster habits of reflection for professional formation in engineering students. Earlier in his career, he contributed significantly to engineering ethics education, publishing numerous manuscripts on the ethical development of engineering undergraduates using psycho-social models of moral expertise, as well as studies on academic dishonesty, student motivation, service learning, and project-based learning.

Prior to Cal Poly, Harding served as Associate Professor of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering at Kettering University. He earned his Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Michigan in 2000, M.S. in Materials Engineering from Kettering University in 1994, and B.S. in Materials Engineering from Kettering University in 1990. Harding has held leadership roles such as past-Chair of the ASEE Materials Division and Community Engagement Division, and currently serves as Associate Editor of Advances in Engineering Education. His contributions to education earned him the 2008 Cal Poly President’s Service Learning Award, 2004 Templeton Research Fellowship from the Center for Academic Integrity at Duke University, 1999 Apprentice Faculty Grant, and 2000 New Faculty Fellow Award. In 2024, he secured a $306,816 NSF Major Research Instrumentation grant for a Field Emission-Variable Pressure Scanning Electron Microscope. Key publications include 'Two Years Later: A Longitudinal Look at the Impact of Engineering Ethics Education' (2013), 'Converting Traditional Materials Labs to Project-based Learning Experiences' (2007), and 'On the Frequency and Causes of Academic Dishonesty' (2001).