Dr. Michael Cabral is an Associate Professor and Director of the Undergraduate Program for the Electrical and Computer Engineering department in the College of Engineering at Virginia Commonwealth University. He participated in a dual-degree undergraduate program, earning a B.A. in Physics from Central College, Iowa, and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Washington University in St. Louis. He then earned both an M.S. and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering at the University of Virginia. After receiving his doctorate, he continued his research in developing novel nanofabrication techniques for four years as a post-doctoral research associate and Research Scientist at the University of Virginia.

After teaching several courses at the University of Virginia and Piedmont Virginia Community College as an Adjunct Professor, Dr. Cabral began his full-time teaching career as an Associate Professor of Physics at Piedmont Virginia Community College where he taught classes in physics and engineering. In 2011, Dr. Cabral joined Virginia Commonwealth University as an Associate Professor, where he has focused on teaching and engineering education. Since beginning at VCU, Dr. Cabral has taught an average of six undergraduate courses per year to more than 4500 students, and has served as a mentor for dozens of capstone projects. The classroom and lab material that he created has been incorporated for use at numerous colleges and universities in Virginia for both in-person and online courses. Dr. Cabral consistently receives outstanding student evaluations for teaching, and he has won several teaching awards.

Outside of the classroom and laboratory, Dr. Cabral has served the VCU community in a number of roles related mostly to curriculum development. He served five years on the University Undergraduate Curriculum Committee, and is currently the College of Engineering representative on the VCU General Education Assessment Committee, which is responsible for program-level assessment of Gen Ed learning goals associated with more than 100 courses at VCU. As the Electrical and Computer Engineering Undergraduate Program Director, he has helped improve the curricula for both undergraduate and graduate degrees, craft transfer and dual-degree agreements with partner institutions, and develop policies for the undergraduate engineering programs. He is a member of IEEE, HKN, and ASEE.