Advisor: Dr. Grace Panther

Areas of Research Interest

• Faculty sensemaking and instructional decision-making in engineering education 
• Engineering ethics education and its translation into professional practice 
• Students’ metacognitive development and self-regulated learning 
• Design and evaluation of student assessments in engineering education 
• Ethical and responsible use of AI in feedback and assessment in engineering education 

Professional Memberships

• Society of Women Engineers (SWE) 
• Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (IEEE)
• American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) 
• Kern Entrepreneurial Engineering Network (KEEN)

Professional Experience

• Graduate Research Assistant- Engineering Education Research 2024- Present 
• Assistant Lecturer Mbarara University of Science and Technology 2011-2023 
• Course Taught: Communication Systems Engineering, Technical Report Writing, Engineering Ethics, Circuit Theory, Circuit Principles, Telecommunication Systems, Computer Networks and Data Communications 
• Co-Author, The Routledge International Handbook of Engineering Ethics Education   
• Co- PI, Strengthening Engineering Education and Research (SEER)  

Leadership Roles

• The Prairie Initiative: Pioneering AI for Engineering UNL Student Advisory Board Member, College of Engineering (Feb 2026–Present)
• Assistant Advisor to Undergraduate SWE at UNL (2025-2026)
• Chair IEEE Women in Engineering (2022-2023)
• Vice-Chair IEEE Women in Engineering (2015-2021)

Grants

• SEER Project (Strengthening Engineering Education & Research) Grant - Awarded by Engineers Without Borders, Canada, 2021 - 2023

Certificates and Teaching Programs

• UNL College of Engineering Graduate Teaching Fellows Program, 2026
• CIRTL@ Nebraska Associate Status, 2026

Awards

• Milton E. Mohr Fellowship, 2026
• UNL Dean's Fellowship, 2025 - 2026
• DAAD Germany In-Country Scholar for Master's Degree

Journal Publications  

Matemba, E., Smith, L., Wolff, K., Inglis, H., Mogashana, D., Fouché, L., Gwynne-Evans, A., Campbell, A.L., Kwuimy, C., Nassar, S., Magara, I., Kloot, B., Hattingh, T., Raji, A., Musa, T. and Nyamapfene, A. 2023. “Reflecting on a community of practice for engineering education research capacity in Africa: Where are we and where are we going?” Australasian Journal of Engineering Education, 28(1), 74-84. https://doi.org/10.1080/22054952.2023.2233340 

Gwynne-Evans, A., Magara, I., Matemba, E., & Junaid, S. (2024). Assessing engineering ethics education leveraging stakeholder engagement in engineering programs. In The Routledge International Handbook of Engineering Ethics Education (pp.536-555). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003464259-36 

Peer-Reviewed Conference Proceedings  

Magara, I., Brower, T., Diefes-Dux, H. A., Panther, G., & Perry, L. A. (2026, June). Metacognitive development through structured reflection: A case study in Biological and Agricultural Engineering. Proceedings of the 133rd ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition. 

Magara, I., & Panther, G. (2025). Emotional patterns of engineering university instructors through cluster analysis. In 2025 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE). https://doi.org/10.1109/FIE63693.2025.11328643 

Magara, I., Rutagangibwa, V., & Marlin, T. E. (2025, June). Strengthening professional skills in engineering internships: A university-industry approach from Uganda with global relevance. In 2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Montreal, QC. https://peer.asee.org/57677 

Bombaerts, G., Magara, I., Membrillo-Hernández, J., & Doulougeri, K. (2024). When doing challenge-based learning, you need critical morality to contribute to societal challenges.  In 2024 IEEE Global Engineering Education Conference (EDUCON) (pp. 01-07), Kos Island, Greece. https://doi.org/10.1109/EDUCON60312.2024.10578754 

Nyamapfene, A. & Magara, I. (2022). Engineering ethics education for systemic change: A case for Sub-Saharan Africa.  Proceedings of the 50th Annual SEFI Conference, September 19-22, 2022 (pp. 2101-2107). Barcelona, Spain.