CHEPS Pulse: Welcoming CHEPS Managing Director Laura McAndrew, March 2021

In This Issue

Welcoming CHEPS Managing Director Laura McAndrew
Catching Up With CHEPS Faculty & Staff: Quarantine Hobbies
Recent News
Student Blog

Welcoming CHEPS Managing Director Laura McAndrew

We’re delighted to welcome Laura McAndrew to the CHEPS staff as Managing Director. Laura comes to us from the University Health Service’s Wolverine Wellness department where she served as a health educator. She worked with students to produce well-being programs, served on the UHS Quality Improvement Committee, advised the Student Health Advisory Council, led diversity, equity and inclusion and evaluation/assessment work, and saw individual students as a wellness coach. Her experience in public health, health equity, and project management will be a great asset to CHEPS as we continue to grow.

Laura lives in Ann Arbor with her spouse Charles and their little dog with a big personality, Elliot. She’s a Michigan travel and road trip enthusiast who loves the outdoors, including Michigan winters. She says she’s excited to join CHEPS because, “The purpose of healthcare is to reduce suffering and improve human well-being. As a public health professional, I experienced how systems shape our ability to provide the best care. Healthcare organizations have to hold many competing priorities and constraints, and the COVID-19 pandemic is really clarifying how important it is to have effective systems. We need multi-disciplinary thinking and tools to address challenges in healthcare and protect both patient and provider well-being.”

Laura’s hire isn’t the only exciting news at CHEPS. The Center is now housed under the office of the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Education (ADUE) Joanna M. Millunchick in the College of Engineering. This new home gives us a great opportunity to collaborate with other programs focused on the ADUE key areas of preeminent engineering education, experiential learning, academic innovation, and academic opportunities for all. We’d also like to thank the ADUE staff including John Callewaert and Ann Verhey-Henke from C-SED for their help in our Managing Director search.

Catching Up With CHEPS Staff & Faculty: Quarantine Hobbies

In addition to meeting our newest staff member, we thought you might enjoy hearing what the rest of the staff has been up to while CHEPS is working from home. Here are a few highlights from CHEPS staff and faculty life during quarantine.

“I’ve been keeping myself busy during quarantine by taking virtual writing classes from some of my favorite poets. It’s also been fun working with the students to find creative ways to get the CHEPS community together while we’re all working from home!” – Liz Fisher, Marketing & Communications Specialist

“Through a year like no other, we move on, the lucky. I continue to enjoy time in the garden and new plantings (acts of hope), and am now up to five ballet classes a week! (Via Zoom, I actually prefer it…I can swear. I always check the mute.)” – Gene Kim, Administrative Assistant

“I just got some music books and a new keyboard so I’ve been playing that a little bit.” – Laura McAndrew, Managing Director

“I’ve bought a lot of shoes and taken my dog Annie on a lot of walks. And I’ve been planning many trips for once traveling is safe again.” – Billy Pozehl, Research Area Specialist

“I’ve discovered TV! I’ve been binge-watching It’s Ok To Not Be Ok and Schitt’s Creek.” – Amy Cohn, Faculty Director

Recent News

CHEPS Student Blog Posts

CHEPS students blog to share life at CHEPS from the student perspective.

“While some baseline quantitative training is required to gain the skills needed to tackle real-world problems, engineers should leave a degree program with a deep understanding of how our discipline impacts other people.” – Adam VanDeusen, Industrial and Operations Engineering Ph.D. Student

Center for Healthcare Engineering & Patient Safety | University of Michigan
[email protected] | cheps.engin.umich.edu