Dr. Tilbury leads the U.S. National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Directorate for Engineering in its mission to support engineering research and education critical to the nation's future and foster innovations to benefit society. The Engineering Directorate provides about 40 percent of the federal funding for fundamental research in engineering at academic institutions, and distributes about 1,600 research awards each year. The Engineering Directorate also helps to advance NSF’s Ten Big Ideas, including the Future of Work at the Human-Technology Frontier, the Quantum Leap, and NSF INCLUDES. A professor at the University of Michigan since 1995, in both mechanical and electrical engineering, Dr. Tilbury has a background in systems and control engineering. She is the inaugural chair of the Robotics Steering Committee and served as an associate dean for research in the College of Engineering. Dr. Tilbury retains her position with the University of Michigan, and shall return after her term with NSF expires.