Laura Dinsmoor

Educator/Teacher, Engineer, Parent, Project manager

Laura Dinsmoor earned her Bachelor of Science in engineering and Master of Science in systems engineering, both from Oakland University. Dinsmoor has taught at OU since 2000 as a special lecturer/instructor. Prior to coming to Oakland, she was employed by General Electric as a software research and development engineer, then as a software engineer, manager of documentation and training, manager of information systems, and project manager at FANUC Robotics. Dinsmoor's interest is in exploring new ways to teach computer science, and increasing the enrollment of women and minorities in computer science.

Increasing the participation of women and minorities in computer science and engineering.

Project Managament, Software Developent, Teaching

In 2013, my co-organizer Amy Rutledge, approached me about hosting the first TEDx at our workplace, Oakland University. We reached out to faculty and staff to assist us, and a great group of people came forward. While this was not in our job descriptions, the whole group found time to put together the event in March 2014. The university was so excited about our initial event that they agreed to send both of us to Whistler so we can continue to grow TEDx at OU. We held our second TEDx on campus in October 2015 to a sold out audience of 850. It was a huge hit for the university but money is tight and we're working on getting our next event approved.