Visiting Scholar & Lab Manager
Biography
Joan Stanescu is currently the Visiting Scholar in Lehigh’s Nano | Human Interfaces (NHI) Presidential Initiative. The Nano | Human Interfaces program is a Lehigh University Presidential Initiative created through funding from the university and the U.S. Government. NHI is focused on developing both discovery and academic tools for enhancing research and improving the human to machine interface.
Joan has a proven track record of delivering critical new product development, engineering and manufacturing milestones while advancing at Fortune 500 technology firms like Agere Systems, Lucent Technologies, Chartered Silicon Partners a Hewlett-Packard joint venture, Micrus, IBM and DuPont. She has excelled as a technology manager across semiconductor, optoelectronics and MEMs industry sectors with hands-on expertise in characterization and fabrication equipment such as SEM, TEM, FTIR, AFM, FIB, CMP, Implant, Metallization, Anneal and Additive Manufacturing.
She also establishes and cultivates integrated industry-government-academic relationships to advance program and technology development. In her role at Lehigh University’s Center for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology she expanded the Lehigh Nano Network (LNN) five-fold.
Her global breadth stems as an American citizen who was born in Romania and has lived and worked in Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, France and Switzerland along with several U.S. cities.
Joan recently completed her Master of Engineering in Technical Entrepreneurship at Lehigh University in 2020 where she also holds both her Master of Science and Bachelor of Science degrees in Materials Science and Engineering.
In each of her leadership positions, Joan has been recognized as a leader who embraces innovation and teamwork. Throughout her career, she has developed and strengthened her organization through communication and alignment on solutions.
Joan’s non-profit work supports education, women’s health, STEM and the arts. Jointly with her husband, she serves on the Parent’s Board at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the two have sponsored the Georgia Tech Biomedical Engineering Design Garden for academic collaboration. The two have also been jointly recognized with Lehigh University’s Materials Science and Engineering Distinguished Alumni Award. Additionally, Joan is an avid musician and violinist.