Martha Bidez, Ph.D.

The Office of eLearning and Professional Studies will give traditional students and non-traditional, niche populations access to diverse opportunities via technology in the digital age.

UAB has named Martha Warren Bidez, Ph.D., director of the new Office of eLearning and Professional Studies, which launched uab.edu/online in May.

Bidez, an internationally renowned biomedical engineer who has served as professor and director of the Advanced Safety Engineering and Management graduate track in the UAB School of Engineering, had served as interim director of the Office of eLearning and Professional Studies since the University of Alabama System Board of Trustees established the office in February, 2013.

“Dr. Bidez’s proven success and expertise has built a strong foundation for this office, and she is absolutely the right leader to maximize the long-term potential of this important initiative,” said UAB Provost Linda Lucas.

A newly created and first-of-its-kind graduate-level track of study from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Engineering will educate engineers and safety, health and environmental professionals across industries in the best practices to prevent expansive disasters like the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and Upper Big Branch Mine explosion in West Virginia.

The UAB Master of Engineering degree track in Advanced Safety Engineering and Management (ASEM) will be offered totally online with a curriculum based in experiential learning and peer-to-peer interaction, says the program’s director, Martha Bidez, Ph.D., a professor at the School of Engineering. An undergraduate degree in engineering is not required for acceptance into the program.

Bidez says ASEM will help revolutionize safety practices across sectors with a curriculum focused on the No. 1 way to prevent serious workplace injury and disaster: prevention through design.