Rate My Professor Roger Gonzalez

Roger V. Gonzalez, Ph.D., P.E., serves as the Mike Loya Distinguished Chair in Engineering and the Inaugural Chair and Professor of the Department of Engineering Education and Leadership at The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). He earned a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from UTEP in 1986, an M.S. in Biomedical Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin in 1990, and a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from The University of Texas at Austin in 1994, with a focus on computational musculoskeletal biomechanics. He completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago and Northwestern University Medical School in 1996. A registered Professional Engineer in Texas since 1993, Gonzalez has a distinguished career in academia, industry, and humanitarian engineering. Previously, he was Professor of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering at UTEP from 2012 to 2015, CEO and President of LIMBS International from 2003 to 2018, where he pioneered low-cost prosthetic limbs for underserved populations, Faculty Fellow at University College London from 2022 to 2023 researching engineering education, and held tenured faculty positions at LeTourneau University from 1996 to 2012, including as Associate Dean of the School of Engineering and Engineering Technology and Program Director of Biomedical Engineering.

Gonzalez's research specializations encompass biomechanics, prosthetic device design and optimization, additive manufacturing techniques, and engineering education leadership. Notable publications include "Adapting Engineering Education to a Rapidly Changing World" (Springer, 2025), "Engineering Education in the Age of Accelerations" (Springer Nature Switzerland, 2025), "Preparing Engineering Students for Leadership" (Springer Nature Switzerland, 2025), "Transfemoral Amputee Stumble Detection through Machine-Learning Classification: Initial Exploration with Three Subjects" (Prosthesis, 2024), "Optimization of a Cost-Constrained, Hydraulic Knee Prosthesis Using a Kinematic Analysis Model" (Biomechanics, 2023), and "Local Composition Control using an Active-Mixing Hotend in Fused Filament Fabrication" (Additive Manufacturing Letters, 2023). His contributions have earned major awards such as Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (2018), Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (2016), TIAA Difference Maker Award (2018), Drucker Prize for nonprofit innovation (2019), Minnie Stevens Piper Foundation Professor of the Year (2008), and UTEP/UCL Faculty Fellowship (2022-2023). Through founding LIMBS International and leading UTEP's pioneering Engineering Innovation and Leadership programs—the first of their kind nationally—Gonzalez has significantly influenced accessible engineering education, humanitarian technology, and professional development in the field. He has delivered public lectures including TEDxUTEP "Access makes the Difference" (2019) and TEDxEl Paso "The Deception of Technology" (2015).