Inspire 2026 Faculty on E4 Teamwork and Leadership in Engineering Summer Course
"Do it! We need engineers who are creative, curious, risk-takers." - Leyf Starling
E4 Teamwork and Leadership in Engineering combines the basics of engineering with critical leadership and teamwork skills. Read about the importance of leadership in the engineering field here. Below, meet Leyf Starling, the instructor for Summer 2026!
Meet Professor Leyf Starling:
Q: Tell us about your journey into the world of engineering and how you developed your expertise in the field?
A: When I was young, my dad, who was a professor of Environmental Engineering at Duke University, would take my sister and me into his lab and talk about how amazing the field of engineering is and how many people we can help as engineers. My mother, who taught students with visual impairments and blindness, often talked about the need for better educational tools—physical things to help her students learn. Our dinner conversations often centered around the big question: how can we engineer solutions to making education better and more accessible for all students? This concept—developing and engineering novel solutions to help students—became my passion. I eventually followed my passion for problem-solving and helping people by going into Mechanical Engineering at UVA. During this time, I also worked on a capstone that was focused on engineering a teaching kit that could help get engineering concepts and mindsets into the middle school classroom. This led me into a career of teaching, engineering, and a constant goal of making engineering education accessible to all students. Throughout the years, I have taught at public and private schools, also earned my MAT in Special Education with a focus on ADHD and learning differences, consulted with various NSF-funded Research Experience for Teachers programs, served as an editor for TeachEngineering.org, was actively involved in the University of Washington DO-IT center conferences, helped start a robotics team, and through all of my experience as an educator, consultant, and coach, have developed and grown in all areas.
Q: What knowledge and skills can students expect to learn in E4 Teamwork and Leadership in Engineering this summer?
A: This course is aimed at developing a better understanding of the engineering design process and how leadership and teamwork are essential to successful engineering. Students will have opportunities to practice their creative problem-solving skills while also developing essential teamwork strategies and leadership skills.
Q: Do students need a background in engineering to be successful in this class?
A: No! They just need to be curious and willing to try new things!
Q: What advice do you have for students interested in taking E4 Teamwork and Leadership in Engineering this summer?
A: Do it! We need engineers who are creative, curious, risk-takers who are willing to work with others and continue to develop their communication and leadership skills. This course will help with all of that!
Q: What are you most looking forward to about Inspire this summer?
A: Meeting the students that participate and seeing how they approach problems, work together, and find joy in learning. This is, in the end, a very fun endeavor!
This course is part of a four-part series: E4 Exploring Exciting Engineering Essentials. Other courses in the series include:
- Mission: Engineering
- Design Thinking & Rapid Prototyping: From Idea to Innovation
- Engineering for Human Health: A Dive into Biomedical Engineering (Leyf is also teaching this course!)