Professor Goodyer joined York University on Oct. 1 to take up the position of Dean of the Lassonde School of Engineering. Previously, she was based at Massey University in New Zealand, where she was a professor and, since 2017, has served as head of school in the School of Engineering and Advanced Technology. In this position, she was a member of the College of Sciences’ executive team. She has led strategic planning to reposition organizational structures and teaching and research in the school, increase enrolments and build stronger international collaborations. Prior to this appointment, she served as the school’s associate dean for undergraduate teaching and learning, with responsibility for curriculum and student success and welfare, where she led a redesign of the curriculum, incorporating blended learning and project-based learning, resulting in improved student satisfaction and retention. Before her appointment at Massey University in 2006, she held an appointment at Coventry University in the U.K., where she was part of a research centre working with automotive businesses to apply cutting-edge research in advanced joining technologies for body-in-white manufacture.

Professor Goodyer holds a BEng (Hons.) in production engineering from Coventry Polytechnic and a PhD in manufacturing systems design engineering from Coventry University. Her research has evolved from a focus on manufacturing engineering to an interest in influencing change in engineering education at a national level in New Zealand, bringing academia and industry closer through employer-led degree apprenticeships. She is currently leading a new initiative in this area for the government’s Tertiary Education Commission. She has been closely involved in university-industry partnerships throughout her career in both New Zealand and the U.K.

Professor Goodyer is dedicated to the advancement of women in engineering and encouraging girls to consider a career in engineering. To this end, she recently launched a national humanitarian engineering outreach program for 10- to 14-year-old girls. She has also been active with New Zealand’s accrediting body (EngNZ) and its higher education funding body (Tertiary Education Commission), as an adviser on key issues such as the national technology curriculum.