Engel obtained a German Diploma in Mathematics in 1977 and teaching credentials as a high school teacher at the University of Bonn. After his graduation he joined Eirene – International Christian Service for Peace and worked as volunteer with troubled teenagers in Ohio and with a community serving the homeless in Los Angeles. Back to academic life, he obtained a master's degree at the University of Southern California in 1986 and his PhD in Applied Mathematics in 1988. He then worked in the US and Germany as a research fellow and obtained his German Habilitation in Mathematics Education from Ludwigsburg University in 1998.
Academic contributions
In his early work Joachim Engel specialized in nonparametric curve estimation and signal detection applying methods of Harmonic Analysis and kernel regression to biomedical growth curves and economics. Recently he is best known for his contributions in Statistics Education, investigating students’ comprehension of randomness and variability and introducing computer intensive methods, based, for instance, on bootstrap procedures. His experience on didactical methods for explaining functions and their uses for modeling real world problems is reflected in his widely used highly successful textbook on applying functions for modeling based on data. He also wrote a well-known textbook on Complex Variables. He has been an active member of the International Association for Statistical Education and a coordinator of ProCivicStat, a strategic Partnership sponsored under the Erasmus+ program of the EU, aimed and empowering people to understand statistics about society. Since September 2019 he is president of IASE.
Books
Engel, J. Anwendungsorientierte Mathematik: Von Daten zur Funktion. Eine Einführung in die mathematische Modellbildung für Lehramtsstudierende. Springer: Heidelberg, 2nd Edition
Engel, J. & Fest, A.. Komplexe Zahlen und ebene Geometrie. De Gruyter, Berlin, 33rd Edition
Engel, J.. Tree Structured Function Estimation with Haar Wavelets. Verlag Dr. Kovač: Hamburg
Articles
Engel, J., Funktionen, Daten und Modelle: Vernetzende Zugänge zu zentralen Themen der Mathematik. Journal für Mathematik-Didaktik, 107–139
Kneip, A. & Engel, J., Model estimation in nonlinear regression under shape invariance. Annals of Statistics, 23, 551–570.
