Kathryn W. Jablokow

Kathryn Jablokow headshot
Professor of Engineering Design and Mechanical Engineering, Engineering
Main Building, 220 G

Kathryn W. Jablokow (Ph.D., electrical engineering) joined Penn State in 1990 following a year as an NSF-NATO Postdoctoral Fellow at RWTH Aachen, Germany. Dr. Jablokow is the author of four graduate-level engineering courses focused on problem solving, creativity, and invention, and she is a collaborator in the creation of multiple new minors and degree programs across the University. She is one of three Penn State engineering faculty who developed a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on creativity, innovation, and change that has attracted over 300,000 learners since 2013. Dr. Jablokow played a key role in developing the Multidisciplinary Engineering Design option of Penn State’s undergraduate Engineering degree, and she serves as a Member of the Steering Committee of the North American Chapter of the Design Society. Her current research in design cognition, engineering innovativeness, and high performance design teams is supported by multiple grants from the National Science Foundation.

Awards

2020 ASME Design Education Conference Best Paper Award for DETC2020-19435, “Best Fits and Dark Horses: Can Design Teams Tell the Difference?” by Daniel Henderson, Thomas Booth, Kathryn Jablokow, and Neeraj Sonalkar

2018 Penn State Engineering Alumni Society World-Class Engineering Faculty Award

2016 American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Ruth and Joel Spira Outstanding Design Educator Award

2008 Election to ASME Fellow

  • Design cognition
  • Engineering creativity
  • High performance design teams
  • Cognitive diversity

Selected Publications

Prabhu, Rohan, Jennifer Bracken, Clinton B. Armstrong, Kathryn Jablokow, Timothy W. Simpson, and Nicholas A. Meisel. “Additive Creativity: Investigating the Use of Design for Additive Manufacturing to Encourage Creativity in the Engineering Design Industry.” International Journal of Design Creativity and Innovation 8, no. 4 (2020): 198–222. https://doi.org/10.1080/21650349.2020.1813633.

Jablokow, K. W., X. Zhu, and J. V. Matson. “The Prototype for X Framework: Assessing Impact on Self-Reported Prototyping Behavior of Student Designers.” International Journal of Design Creativity and Innovation 8, no. 2 (2020).

Menold, J., K. W. Jablokow, and T. W. Simpson. “The Prototype for X Framework: Assessing Impact on Self-Reported Prototyping Behavior of Student Designers.” Journal of Mechanical Design 141 (April 2019).

Henderson, D., K. W. Jablokow, S. Daly, S. McKilligan, E. Silk, and J. Bracken. “Comparing the Effects of Design Interventions on the Quality of Design Concepts as a Reflection of Ideation Flexibility.” Journal of Mechanical Design 141 (March 2019).

Menold, J., and K. W. Jablokow. “Exploring the Effects of Cognitive Style Diversity and Self-Efficacy Beliefs on Final Design Attributes in Student Design Teams.” Design Studies 60 (2019). http://doi.org/10.1016/j.destud.2018.08.001.

Silk, E., S. Daly, K. W. Jablokow, S. Yilmaz, and J. Wegner. “Incremental to Radical Ideas: Paradigm-Relatedness Metrics for Investigating Ideation Creativity and Diversity.” International Journal of Design Creativity and Innovation 7, no. 1-2 (2019).

Jablokow, K. W., N. Sonalkar, J. Edelman, A. Mabogunje, and L. Leifer. “Investigating the Influence of Designers' Cognitive Characteristics and Interaction Behaviors in Design Concept Generation.” Journal of Mechanical Design, 2019.

Lapp, S., K. W. Jablokow, and C. McComb. “KABOOM: An Agent-Based Model for Simulating Cognitive Style in Team Problem Solving.” Design Science, 2019.

Menold, J., K. W. Jablokow, and T. W. Simpson. “Prototype for X (PFX): A Holistic Framework for Structuring Prototyping Methods to Support Engineering Design.” Design Studies 50 (2017): 70–112.

Ferguson, D., M. Ohland, S. Purzer, and K. W. Jablokow. “Identifying the Characteristics of Engineering Innovativeness.” Engineering Studies, 2017. https://doi.org/10.1080/19378629.2017.1312419.

  • B.S., Electrical Engineering, Ohio State University
  • M.S., Electrical Engineering, Ohio State University
  • Ph.D., Electrical Engineering, Ohio State University