Ann-Perry Witmer came to engineering in midlife when she enrolled in the University of Illinois’ College of Engineering after a successful career in newspapering. After graduating with honors and becoming the first civil engineering major to win the prestigious Harvey Jordan Award from the College of Engineering, she became a practicing professional engineer in Wisconsin, designing water systems for communities throughout the Midwest. She also served as chair of the American Water Works Association’s state section and continues to play a leadership role in the international AWWA organization. Ann holds Professional Engineer licenses in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Minnesota, and is a LEED Accredited Professional.
While working in consulting, Ann helped to create organizations that work directly with communities in Central America and the Caribbean to provide engineering assistance for disadvantaged communities in need of safe, sustainable drinking water, which led her to her current role at the University of Illinois. In addition to teaching senior design and contextual engineering courses in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Ann leads the robust Contextual Engineering Research Group and acts as faculty advisor to Engineers Without Borders-UIUC and AWWA/WEF student chapters. Her service travels have taken her to Central America, Africa, Asia and South America, where she’s developed a deep understanding of the relationship between technical and social considerations that must be co-evaluated for design effectiveness.
In addition to her B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Illinois, Ann also holds degrees in journalism and art history magna cum laude from Boston University. Her research focus is on investigating the relationship between technical design and non-engineering considerations such as politics, culture and economics.
Research Topics
Identification of community context for the purpose of informing technical, organizational, and/or business practices to better meet community need
Relationship between technical design/implementation/operation and non-technical variability of societal constitution
Application of contextual analysis to design processes for the purpose of improving design sustainability and applicability
Publications
Witmer, A., Andino Martinez, J.G., Coiado, O.C., Mingee, J.M., Andrade, F., and Pollack-Lagushenko, T., (2021) Building STEAM for Global Engineering through Collaboration with the Social Sciences and Humanities during the COVID-19 Pandemic, American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition, Long Beach, CA
Chattopadhyay, A., Witmer, A., and Sauer, P., 2021, The Need for Teaching Place-Based Contextualization for Sustainable Power System Infrastructure Design, IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, In press.
Witmer, A., (2020) Cultivating the Assimilative Perspective in Contextual Engineering – Knowing What You Don’t Know, Journal of Humanitarian Engineering, 8(1). Doi:10.36479/jhe.v8i1.173.
Witmer, A., (2020), Contextual Engineering Leverages Local Knowledge to Guide Water System Design, J Am Water Works Assoc, 112: 42-50. doi:10.1002/awwa.1535
Witmer, A. (2019) An Ethnographic Justification for Establishment of a Contextual Engineering Discipline, Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology, doi 10.1108/JEDT-11-2018-0211
Witmer, A. (2019) Making the Case for Food Security through Contextual Engineering, Journal of Agriculture and Horticulture Research, Vol 2, Issue 1, 1-4.
Witmer, A. (2018). Contextual Engineering To Address Preservation Of Rural Societies. Journal of Academic Perspectives Volume (3), 1.
Witmer, A. (2018) Contextual Engineering Assessment Using an Influence-Identification Tool, Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology, Vol. 16, Issue 6, pp. 889-909. https://doi.org/10.1108/JEDT-05-2018-0091.
Witmer, A. (2018), The Influence of Development Objectives and Local Context Upon International Service Engineering Infrastructure Design, International Journal of Technology Management, Vol. 17, Issue 2, pp. 135-150.
Witmer, A. Women In Engineers Without Borders. Women And Ideas In Engineering: Twelves Stories From Illinois. Laura Hahn and Angie Wolters. Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2018. Print.
Witmer, A. (2017, October), “Considering Context In Engineering Design” presented at 2017 Engineers Without Borders-USA National Conference, Milwaukee, WI.
Witmer, A., & Jahnke, K. (2016, June), “Drawing Upon Non-Engineering Disciplines to Research Sustainability of Engineered Infrastructure in South America” presented at 2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, New Orleans, Louisiana. 10.18260/p.26868
Jahnke, K., & Witmer, A., & Tan, M., & Witmer, G. F. (2016, June), “Bringing a Cross-Disciplinary, Contextual Approach to International Service Engineering Learning” presented at 2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, New Orleans, Louisiana. 10.18260/p.26395
Witmer, A. (2015, April) “Letting Go For Success in International Service” presented at TEDxUIUC Conference, Urbana, IL.
Education
Ph.D. in Agricultural and Biological Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2018
M.S. in Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2016
B.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering, highest honors, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2002
B.S. in Journalism, magna cum laude, Boston University, 1982
B.A. in Art History, magna cum laude, Boston University, 1982
Awards
Peter J. Bosscher Award for Outstanding Faculty Advisor, Engineers Without Borders-USA, 2020
Illinois International Graduate Achievement Award, 2017
J. Frederick Miller Award for distinguished volunteer service, University YMCA, 2017
Leon Smith Award for outstanding service, Wisconsin Water Association, 2008
Harvey Jordan Award, University of Illinois College of Engineering, 2002
Public Service Award, Isaac Walton League of America, Illinois Division, 1990
Lecturer, Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering
Lecturer, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Lecturer, Carle Illinois College of Medicine
Chair, Global STEAM Working Group of the Illinois Global Institute
Illinois Water Scholar, Institute for Sustainability, Energy and Environment
Faculty, Center for African Studies
Faculty, Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies
Faculty, Center for Global Studies
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Schedule 1: Survey Reporting and Deliverables Description
OTM Technology No. 2017-194, titled "Diagnostic Tool for Engineering
Effectiveness in Rural International Societies".
Creator: Ann-Perry Witmer
Brief Description:
The Survey provides a list of 41 questions (rated on 5-point Likert scales)
to evaluate relative influences of critical non-engineering conditions and
guidelines for selection/implementation of technologies within a rural
society. The Survey identifies design and implementation strategies that
enhance engineered infrastructure sustainability and durability.
"Survey Report":
The following information is provided in the Report.
RESULTS
Influence
Community Score
Country Weight
Weighted Score
Cultural
Political
Educational
Technical
Economic
· Column 1 lists the five community influences most likely to affect
design, implementation and acceptance of an engineered infrastructure.
· Column 2 shows the raw scores of each influence for the community, based
upon scores You provided after observing Your client.
· Column 3 draws upon open and free data from World Bank database of World
Development Indicators. Where data are lacking for Your country, those
absences are not included in calculations. Religious composition is
evaluated using open and free Pew Research Center data.
· Column 4 provides a weighted, relative influence score for Your client
community, factoring in national norms to identify the conditions that most
strongly govern your client's approach to an engineered infrastructure.
The following information is also provided: Guidelines for interpreting the
high and low scores of the contextual influences, and Guidelines as to how
to approach the design of the engineering infrastructure.
