Dr. Susan Rivera is a dynamic educator and a highly valued member of the Information Technology Management Department at Central Washington University (CWU). Rivera is a knowledgeable technology manager with over 20 years experience in team building and communication across diverse skill sets. She is known for her effective business communication skills and ability to commercialize sustainable technologies into revenue-generating products covered by a diverse portfolio of Intellectual Property (IP), data-driven business plan strategies and technical marketing collateral. During her tenure in the water and oil industry sectors, Dr. Rivera explored cost-neutral and cost-saving methods to manage industrial processes more sustainably. She now brings this wealth of technical management experience to her students at CWU, where she develops courses and creatively incorporates sustainable decision-making and sustainable IT into her research, service and teaching.• Awarded the Distinguished Faculty Teaching Award for Non-Tenure Track Faculty, 2023-24.• Proposed, designed, and implemented novel intermediate/advanced curriculum for Sustainability Education and Sustainable IT, incorporating input from industry advisory board members, faculty, staff, administrators, and students.• Successfully teaches across various modalities, including fully online, hybrid, in-person, and competency-based formats.• Extensive experience in designing, developing, maintaining, and delivering tailored curriculum in data analytics, business communication/management, and sustainability at both undergraduate and graduate levels.• Effectively communicates complex ideas and technical concepts to a variety of audiences.• Assists students in developing individualized study and research plans that advance sustainable IT and actively engage transdisciplinary stakeholders to achieve goals and develop skills valued by employers.

As the applications manager at MIOX, Rivera built and managed a successful research team that secured over $900K in non-dilutive funding over a three year period. She did this remotely from a home office, traveling nationally and internationally to promote MIOX’s business development and technical sales. This role required knowledge of regulatory frameworks, customer pain points and the ability to creatively problem solve.

As a Biochemist at MIOX, Rivera was heavily involved in scientific technical marketing research directed at evaluation of MIOX’s core chlorine production technology across several market verticals. Specific job responsibilities included developing technical white papers, conducting laboratory and field pilot studies at municipal water treatment facilities, providing technical support in sales, and evaluating regulatory compliance at customer installations. Rivera also served as the acting PI/coordinator on a multi-year Department of Homeland Security Phase II SBIR award.

With a diverse team of security and policy professionals, Rivera spent two years in the field as the lead bioscientist within the International Biological Threat Reduction Program at Sandia National Laboratories. Assignments included secondment to the World Health Organization to help develop international biosecurity guidelines.

In conjunction with a diverse group of scientists, Rivera studied various methods to mimic biological systems by integrating motor proteins, tubulin, and nanoscale inorganic material for the directed assembly of nanomaterials.