Karen Bursic

Karen M. Bursic, Ph.D., P.E, is Professor and Undergraduate Program Director in Industrial Engineering. She received her B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Industrial Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh. Prior to joining the department she worked as a Senior Consultant for Ernst and Young and as an Industrial Engineer for General Motors Corporation. She teaches courses in engineering economics and engineering management and has previously taught probability and statistics, engineering analysis, and engineering computing. Dr. Bursic’s research has focused on improving Engineering Education and she has been working in this area since 1994 and has numerous related publications. She has also done research and published work in the areas of Engineering and Project Management. Her most recent work includes “An engineering economy concept inventory”, The Engineering Economist, 65:3, 179-194, which was awarded the Eugene L. Grant Award from the Engineering Economy Division of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) for best paper in the journal in 2020. She was also awarded the Best Paper Award (2017) at the ASEE annual conference for the Engineering Economy Division as well as the Outstanding Teaching Award (2015) from the Engineering Economy Division of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers (IISE). Dr. Bursic is a senior member of IISE and a Fellow of ASEE and has held leadership positions at the division level in both organizations. She serves as Area Editor, Case Studies for The Engineering Economist, and Associate Editor for Economics of Engineering for the Engineering Management Journal. Dr. Bursic is a registered Professional Engineer in the state of Pennsylvania.

  • (2023) Fellow, American Society for Engineering Education.
  • (2020) ASEE Engineering Economy Division Eugene L. Grant Award.
  • (2017) Best Paper Award; ASEE Annual Conference; Engineering Economy Division.
  • (2015) Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers, Engineering Economy Division Outstanding Teaching Award.
  • (2014) Swanson School of Engineering Outstanding Educator Award.
  • (1988 - 1989) Gilbreth Memorial Fellowship.
  • (1988) Albert G. Holzman Scholarship for Excellence.

  • PhD, Industrial Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, 1990
  • Masters, Engineering Management, University of Pittsburgh, 1987
  • B.S., Industrial Engineering, University of Pittsburgh, 1984

  • Bursic, K.M. (2020). An engineering economy concept inventory. ENGINEERING ECONOMIST, 65(3), 179-194.Taylor & Francis. doi: 10.1080/0013791X.2020.1777360.
  • Scala, N.M., Tomasi, S., Goncher, A., & Bursic, K.M. (2018). Motivation and Analytics: Comparing Business and Engineering Students. INFORMS Transactions on Education, 19(1), 1-11.Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS). doi: 10.1287/ited.2017.0187.
  • Clark, R.M., Besterfield-Sacre, M., Budny, D., Bursic, K.M., Clark, W.W., Norman, B.A., Parker, R.S., Patzer, J.F., & Slaughter, W.S. (2016). Flipping engineering courses: A school wide initiative. Advances in Engineering Education, 5(3).
  • Bursic, K.M. (2013). ASEE Engineering Economy Division Annual Business Meeting Minutes. ENGINEERING ECONOMIST, 58(4), 306-311.Taylor & Francis. doi: 10.1080/0013791X.2013.845454.
  • Atman, C.J., & Bursic, K.M. (1998). Verbal Protocol Analysis as a Method to Document Engineering Student Design Processes. Journal of Engineering Education, 87(2), 121-132.Wiley. doi: 10.1002/j.2168-9830.1998.tb00332.x.
  • Atman, C.J., & Bursic, K.M. (1996). Teaching engineering design: Can reading a textbook make a difference?. RESEARCH IN ENGINEERING DESIGN-THEORY APPLICATIONS AND CONCURRENT ENGINEERING, 8(4), 240-250.Springer Nature. doi: 10.1007/BF01597230.
  • BURSIC, K.M. (1992). STRATEGIES AND BENEFITS OF THE SUCCESSFUL USE OF TEAMS IN MANUFACTURING ORGANIZATIONS. IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT, 39(3), 277-289.Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). doi: 10.1109/17.156562.
  • Berkowitz, D.A. (1989). Strategic technology management. Healthc Forum J, 32(5), 14-20.

  • Bursic, K.M. (2017). Work in progress - An engineering economy concept Inventory. In ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Conference Proceedings, 2017-June.
  • Lynch, P.C., Kimpel, J.F., & Bursic, K.M. (2016). Developing essential business and engineering skills through case competitions. In ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Conference Proceedings, 2016-June.
  • Streiner, S., Besterfield-Sacre, M., Shuman, L., & Bursic, K. (2014). An approach to evaluate engineering global preparedness in industrial engineering curricula. In IIE Annual Conference and Expo 2014, (pp. 2389-2396).
  • Bursic, K.M. (2012). Does the use of clickers increase conceptual understanding in the engineering economy classroom?. In ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Conference Proceedings.
  • Bursic, K.M. (2012). Does the use of clickers increase conceptual understanding in the engineering economy classroom?. In ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Conference Proceedings.
  • Shuman, L.J., Besterfield-Sacre, M.E., Bursic, K.M., Vidic, N.S., & Siewiorek, N. (2012). CCLI: Model eliciting activities. In ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Conference Proceedings.
  • Shuman, L.J., Besterfield-Sacre, M.E., Bursic, K.M., Vidic, N.S., & Siewiorek, N. (2012). CCLI: Model eliciting activities. In ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Conference Proceedings.
  • Siewiorek, N., Shuman, L.J., Besterfield-Sacre, M.E., Vidic, N.S., Bursic, K.M., Streiner, S., & Coull, J. (2012). Students' confidence levels in technical concept knowledge with Model Eliciting Activities. In ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Conference Proceedings.
  • Siewiorek, N., Shuman, L.J., Besterfield-Sacre, M.E., Vidic, N.S., Bursic, K.M., Streiner, S., & Coull, J. (2012). Students' confidence levels in technical concept knowledge with Model Eliciting Activities. In ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Conference Proceedings.
  • Bursic, K.M., Shuman, L.J., & Besterfield-Sacre, M. (2011). Improving student attainment of ABET outcomes using Model-Eliciting Activities (MEAs). In ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Conference Proceedings.
  • Bursic, K.M., Shuman, L.J., & Besterfield-Sacre, M. (2011). Improving student attainment of ABET outcomes using Model-Eliciting Activities (MEAs). In ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Conference Proceedings.
  • Shuman, L.J., Besterfield-Sacre, M.E., Yildirim, T.P., Bursic, K.M., & Vidic, N. (2011). CCLI: Model eliciting activities: Experiments and mixed methods to assess student learning - Part II. In ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Conference Proceedings.
  • Shuman, L.J., Besterfield-Sacre, M.E., Yildirim, T.P., Bursic, K.M., & Vidic, N. (2011). CCLI: Model eliciting activities: Experiments and mixed methods to assess student learning - Part II. In ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Conference Proceedings.
  • Vidic, N., Shuman, L., Besterfield-Sacre, M., Bursic, K.M., Yildirim, T.P., & Siewiorek, N. (2011). Learning impacts gained from introducing Model Eliciting Activities (MEAs) in an introductory statistics course. In 61st Annual IIE Conference and Expo Proceedings.
  • Bursic, K.M., Shuman, L., Besterfield-Sacre, M., & Yildirim, T.P. (2010). Improving conceptual learning in engineering economy using model-eliciting activities (MEAs). In IIE Annual Conference and Expo 2010 Proceedings.
  • Shuman, L., Besterfield-Sacre, M., Yildirim, T.P., & Sieworiek, N. (2010). CCLI: Model eliciting activities: Experiments and mixed methods to assess student learning. In ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Conference Proceedings.
  • Shuman, L., Besterfield-Sacre, M., Clark, R., Yildirim, T.P., & Bursic, K. (2009). E-MEAs: Introducing an ethical component to model eliciting activities. In ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Conference Proceedings.
  • Shuman, L., Besterfield-Sacre, M., Clark, R., Yildirim, T.P., & Bursic, K. (2009). E-MEAs: Introducing an ethical component to model eliciting activities. In ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Conference Proceedings.
  • Bursic, K., & Needy, K. (2008). Implementing international requirements in undergraduate industrial engineering programs. In ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Conference Proceedings.
  • Bursic, K., & Needy, K. (2008). Implementing international requirements in undergraduate industrial engineering programs. In ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Conference Proceedings.
  • Bursic, K.M., Needy, K.L.S., Norman, B.A., & Hunsaker, B. (2007). The challenges of undergraduate industrial engineering curriculum reform at the University of Pittsburgh. In IIE Annual Conference and Expo 2007 - Industrial Engineering's Critical Role in a Flat World - Conference Proceedings, (pp. 157-162).
  • Bursic, K. (2006). Applying engineering economic analysis to contemporary problems with global and societal implications. In ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Conference Proceedings.
  • Bursic, K. (2006). Applying engineering economic analysis to contemporary problems with global and societal implications. In ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, Conference Proceedings.
  • Bursic, K.M., Needy, K.L., & Wilson, J.P. (2003). Integrating engineering economic analysis across the engineering curriculum. In ASEE Annual Conference Proceedings, (pp. 113-119).
  • Atman, C.J., Chimka, J.R., & Bursic, K.M. (1997). Results from a verbal protocol study of the design process. In Proceedings - Frontiers in Education Conference, 3, (p. 1283).
  • Chimka, J.R., Atman, C.J., & Bursic, K.M. (1997). Describing student design behavior. In ASEE Annual Conference Proceedings.
  • Atman, C.J., Bursic, K.M., & Lozito, S.L. (1996). An application of protocol analysis to the engineering design process. In ASEE Annual Conference Proceedings, (pp. 443-452).
  • Atman, C.J., & Bursic, K.M. (1995). How effective are textbooks in teaching the engineering design process?. In Proceedings - Frontiers in Education Conference, 1, (p. 475).
  • Atman, C.J., Bursic, K.M., & Lozito, S.L. (1995). Gathering information: what do students do?. In ASEE Annual Conference Proceedings, 1, (pp. 1138-1144).
  • Moore, P.L., Atman, C.J., Bursic, K.M., Shuman, L.J., & Gottfried, B.S. (1995). Do freshmen design texts adequately define the engineering design process?. In ASEE Annual Conference Proceedings, 1, (pp. 164-172).
  • Bursic, K.M., & Cleland, D.I. (1991). Strategic Technology Management. In Engineering Management Journal, 3(2), (pp. 21-29).Taylor & Francis. doi: 10.1080/10429247.1991.11414619.
Research Interests
Engineering practice and education Applied economics
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Contact Karen Bursic
Professor
Undergraduate Program Director
kbursic@pitt.edu
Work: 412-624-9837
Fax: 412-624-9831
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Industrial Engineering