Expanding its role as a campus-wide hub, the Keller Center grows its leadership team

Princeton Engineering has expanded the leadership team for its Keller Center for Innovation in Engineering Education, appointing a new director and introducing an associate director role. Sigrid Adriaenssens, a professor of civil and environmental engineering, has been appointed the center’s new director, and Janet Vertesi, associate professor of sociology, has been appointed associate director.

The move marks an inflection point for the center as it approaches its 20th anniversary, said Andrea Goldsmith, dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Science. Serving as a bridge between engineering and the wider University, the center is expanding its role as a hub for solving problems through the discipline of design. The dual appointment of an engineer and sociologist as leaders underscores the center’s commitment to bringing together faculty, postdocs, and students with different perspectives and knowledge to solve real-world problems.

Adriaenssens succeeds Naveen Verma, the Ralph H. and Freda I. Augustine Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering, whose tenure as director since 2020 has been transformative for the center. Under Verma's leadership, Keller built its strength in the field of design, a structured approach to developing sustainable solutions to societal problems and avoiding unintended consequences of technology. Verma launched Keller's Design for Impact program, which brings together faculty and researchers at Princeton, regardless of discipline, to have direct, real-world impact beyond the academy, whether for-profit or non-profit.

“I am grateful to Naveen for his visionary leadership and am delighted that Sigrid and Janet have agreed to take on these critical roles,” said Goldsmith. “Sigrid’s work reflects a keen understanding of design, extraordinary innovation, and great strength in building relationships across and beyond Princeton. Janet’s research at the intersection of science, technology, and society is critically important and perfectly aligns with Keller’s mission. Together, they will build on Keller’s foundation to support the entire Princeton community in conceiving and executing ventures that truly benefit society.”

Adriaenssens, who joined Princeton’s faculty in 2009, has long embraced cross-disciplinary collaboration. She partners with architects, artists, and technologists to reimagine large-scale structures for greater efficiency and sustainability. She sees such collaborations as key to the Keller Center’s future work.

“We are at a moment where our cross-disciplinary ideas must be put into practice,” said Adriaenssens. “Solving today’s complex challenges requires more than a single perspective—we must draw from multiple disciplines to drive innovation that truly serves society. At Keller, students from every major across campus bring their unique expertise and perspectives, enriching our collaborative approach to problem-solving.”

In the new associate director role, Vertesi will spearhead Keller’s efforts to establish a world-class design program, reinforcing Princeton’s commitment to shaping the future through intentional and thoughtful innovation.

“I’m excited to build upon Keller’s strengths—deep interdisciplinary collaboration, groundbreaking research, and the drive to teach students how to create lasting change,” said Vertesi, who has been engaged with the Keller Center since 2010 through her work in the center’s Technology and Society certificate program.

In its 20 years, the Keller Center has built a wide range of programs that bridge disciplines within engineering and connect them with the wider University, with the overall goal of providing students with the experience and skills to achieve impact beyond their academic disciplines. For example, the center offers an alternative first-year engineering curriculum that integrates foundational math and science with practical engineering problems.

The center also established an extensive set of courses and hands-on programs around entrepreneurship. This includes a certificate program in entrepreneurship; incubator and summer accelerator programs in which students develop and launch ventures; a global startup internship program; and a campus-wide Innovation Forum, at which faculty and researchers showcase research work with the potential for commercialization or social impact.

Vertesi’s role at Keller will be to grow the center’s courses and programming in the field of design. These initiatives offer students and faculty the opportunity to explore ways to collaborate with campus and community partners to create meaningful innovations and avoid unintended consequences of technologies.

“I love how Keller stays focused on impact through understanding,” Vertesi said. “Keller is a meeting place for engineers who engage with the social sciences and humanities and for humanists and social scientists who engage with engineering, like me. Most of today’s complex problems require that kind of multidisciplinary thinking.”

Adriaenssens sees the center increasing this cross-disciplinary engagement and further integrating design, entrepreneurship, and technology as it guides the Princeton community to achieve greater impact.

“One of my key goals is to build new synergies across departments and institutes, fostering opportunities and collaborations within and beyond Princeton,” she said.