Dr
Leah
Ridgway
Academic biography
Leah holds an MEng degree and a PhD in Electronic Engineering from the University of Nottingham, UK.
Joining DCU in 2022, Leah was a part of the core curriculum design team for the BSc Global Challenges programme; an interdisciplinary programme aiming to produce the next generation of adaptive problem solvers our world needs. Leah designed the technical electronics part of the degree; leaning into their research interests in providing high quality engineering learning experiences to non-specialists.
Within the School of Electronic Engineering at DCU Leah excels in design, delivery and assessment of large classes including both lectures and laboratories, drawing on their professional experience and research interests. Introduction to Electronics is taken by all (around 250) first year students studying engineering at DCU. Whereas their second year Circuit Analysis Techniques module is taken by a much smaller class of around 170 students. Even with large classes, Leah is passionate about the importance of providing physical laboratories in engineering and argues these can be designed and delivered well, and are vital to student development.
Previously, Leah has been an academic within electrical and electronic engineering at the University of Nottingham, Ningbo China (UNNC); the University of Liverpool; and the University of Nottingham UK.
At the University of Nottingham Leah joined the Department of Foundation Engineering and Physical Sciences (common entry year 0 for engineering, physics and computer science) - responsible for teaching electrical and electronic engineering curriculum areas. Working as part of a small interdisciplinary team, Leah learnt a lot about how to engage students with a subject that is not their main area of interest. Highlighting the interdisciplinary nature of modern engineering is a key theme in their teaching.
In 2017 Leah returned to the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the University of Nottingham where they graduated from and remained there until 2022. They worked with students from all year groups and ran final year projects in intuitive control of electronic devices - the glove controlled 3D printed hand being one of the most popular and visible around the Department at the time.
Leah's teaching interests include circuit fundamentals, ethics, sustainability and business planning for engineers.
Current teaching specialisms
Large class teaching in electronic engineering
Leah has redesigned and delivers large class modules in electronic engineering fundamentals, incorporating lectures and laboratory teaching. This includes the first year module, Introduction to Electronics (250 students from all engineering disciplines), and the second year Circuit Analysis Techniques (170 students from electronics, mechatronics and biomedical programmes).
Final year projects in mechatronics and electronics
Leah supervises a range of industrially orientated final year projects in both mechatronic engineering and electronic and computer engineering. These span a range of topics incorporating sensors and how people interact with electronic systems and are often solution agnostic where a problem is presented and she works in partnership with students to develop a project that can be build to solve the problem based on the interests of the project student. Sample past project titles include:
- Find My Item: A Cold Chain Logistics Solution to Last-Mile Delivery using IoT Technology
- Human-Machine Interaction: Gesture Controlled Robotic Arm
- Implementation of Electronic & Mechanical Components in an Exergame to Aid the Rehabilitation of Stroke Victims
- Sensor System Design for Head Motion Analysis During a Rally
- Mechatronic System for
Research interests
Leah is part of the DCU Centre for the Advancement of STEM Teaching & Learning (CASTeL), Ireland's largest STEM education research group which covers education from early years through to adult education across all STEM subjects.
Leah is a mixed methods researcher, comfortable working with both quantitative and qualitative data. This approach is important to address research questions about how do students learn in engineering. During their modular teaching, they wanted to understand how students learn from circuit diagrams and how they approach rearranging them, which has lead to collaboration with the School of Psychology at DCU to look in more depth at spatial thinking skills in engineering students. The ultimate goal is that if this is better understood, how can we change our curriculums to support more students to learn more effectively.
Leah has also authored work on practical skills and laboratory learning; the conceptual understanding of students learning electronics; transversal skills; and the importance of the human element in engineering design at undergraduate level.