Dr. Kristen Rhinehardt, PhD

Director and Founder, Computational Molecular Engineering Lab

Kristen Rhinehardt, Ph. D is a native of High Point, NC where she graduated valedictorian from TW Andrews High School.  She furthered her education at Cornell University with a degree in Biological Engineering (minor in Biomedical Engineering) in 2010. After working in Guilford County Schools, Dr. Rhinehardt attended North Carolina A & T State University where in 2012 she became the first person to earn a Nanoengineering Masters degree from NCAT. She then earned her Ph.D in Nanoengineering, focusing on In-vitro and In-silico biosensor design in 2015. In 2019 she joined the Computational Data Science and Engineering Department and founded the Computational Molecular Engineering Lab which uses  in-silico approaches including molecular dynamics, high performance computing, quantum computing, deep learning, and molecular mechanics to build, analyze, characterize and predict the form and function of biologics and biomaterials for engineering applications and public health.  

Dr. Rhinehardt also serves as the Assistant Director of High Performance Computing in the Visualization and Computation Advancing Research (ViCAR) Center at NCAT and the Recruitment, Outreach and Industrial Partnership coordinator for the CDSE department.  Dr. Rhinehardt’s mission is to cultivate an inclusive, equitable engineering workforce and improve quality of life by working to bring what is possible into fruition by inspiring engineers to look beyond the lab and into the hearts of the lives of those that they are working to aid and understand.

Teaching/Advising Approach

"Teaching is an educational tool that can be used on both personal and professional levels. My personal experience in teaching, coaching and volunteering with the public-school system as well as in higher educational institutions has shaped my teaching philosophy. I require much from my students as much will be expected of them in this discipline. By expecting more of them, I believe my students will develop a reliable standard of excellence. Along with encouragement, I do my best to point out and create opportunities for them to advance and be successful. "