Principal Investigator
Nicholas Massa holds both BS and MS Degrees in Electrical Engineering from Western New England University and a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership/Adult Learning from the University of Connecticut. He retired in 2025 as chairman of the Optics and Photonics Department Springfield Technical Community College. He has been principal and co-principal investigator on over a dozen NSF grants. He has received numerous awards including the 2010 Maria Yzuel Educator Award from the International Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE) and the 2021 OSA Esther Hoffman Beller Medal for outstanding contributions to education in optical science and engineering.
Co-Principal Investigator
Judy Donnelly is retired from Three Rivers Community College where she was professor of physics and technology for 36 years and Program Coordinator for the Laser and Fiber Optic Technology associate degree program. She is a senior member and fellow of both of SPIE (the international society for optics and photonics) and Optica and has served on outreach and education committees of both societies as well as other national and international STEM education initiatives. She was awarded the Maria Yzuel Educator Award by SPIE (2003) and the Optica Esther Hoffman Beller Medal (2012) for outstanding contributions to education in optical science and engineering. .
Co-Principal Investigator
Gary Mullet is a faculty member of the Electronics Group at Springfield Technical Community College and Co-Department Chair with major responsibility for curriculum development. His academic interests include networked sensors and the use of these sensors to implement complex cyber-physical systems such as Lidar based collision avoidance systems for vehicles. A founding Co-Director of an NSF Center of Excellence, he has been very active in the development and dissemination of cutting edge curriculum.
Former Principal Investigator
Fenna D. Hanes, formerly Senior Director at the New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE), was a founding member of the PBL Projects team. From 1995 through her retirement in 2015 she managed the PHOTON and PBL Projects, a total of six NSF-ATE grants, that brought educators and industry from several geographic locations together to facilitate photonics technology education and create pathways for students. It was her belief that teachers and industry could learn from each other to the benefit of both. She received the 2009 Maria Yzuel award from SPIE for fostering the growth of optics education in secondary schools and colleges throughout the United States.
