Clarkson University Professor Shines with SOAR Teaching Award and Groundbreaking Research Contributions

Dana Barry, a research professor at Clarkson University, has recently achieved notable success. In November 2024, she published five new research papers and received the prestigious Leon LeBeau SOARING Educator Award.

Her publications cover exciting and varied subjects. Two papers focus on education, one on digital innovation in faculty development and another on fostering an entrepreneurial spirit within higher education. The next two delve into the Metaverse and virtual reality. One discusses the Metaverse’s impact on creative engineering, while the other explores game design and the creation of virtual worlds. The fifth paper examines the antibiofilm properties of materials, adding to our understanding of surface characteristics in engineering.

Collaboration has been key for Barry, as she worked with Hideyuki Kanematsu from the National Institute of Technology in Japan on all five papers. They have a long-standing professional relationship, having teamed up for over 20 years and co-authored hundreds of publications, including textbooks. Kanematsu often visits Clarkson University as a guest speaker and visiting professor.

Here’s a look at her recent publications:

• Digital Innovation in Faculty Development: Crafting Academic Portfolios for the Next Era – ScienceDirect
• Fostering Entrepreneurial Spirit in Higher Education: A Case Study of Startup Education in Japan – ScienceDirect
• Application of Metaverse to Creative Engineering: From Second Life to VR Headset Projects (Chapter 7 in *Human-Centered Metaverse*, edited by Chang Nam, Donggil Song, and Heejin Jeong) – Elsevier.
• Creating Virtual Worlds and Designing Games – ScienceDirect
• Exploring the Anti-Biofilm Properties of Austenitic Stainless Steel – Semantic Scholar

In addition to her research, Barry is a dedicated educator. She has received the Leon LeBeau SOARING Educator Award for her exceptional work with the SOAR program, where she teaches various engaging courses like “Japan and the U.S.: Comparison and Differences” and “World of Robots and Artificial Intelligence.” Her passion shines through in subjects that capture the imagination and curiosity of her students.

Barry’s contributions extend beyond Clarkson University. She serves as an Instructional Support Assistant at SUNY Canton and is involved with the American Chemical Society, the Planetary Society, and plays the trumpet in multiple local bands. With over 500 academic publications and five graduate degrees, Barry exemplifies dedication and excellence in her fields.