Verena has held industrial design faculty positions at the University of Texas at Austin, Drexel University and Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD). Her research focuses on the diffusion of design thinking and doing practices in design and non-design-oriented disciplines, with an emphasis on exploring visualization as a gateway to learning, comprehension and creative confidence. Paepcke-Hjeltness frequently plans and facilitates workshops on sketchnoting, design thinking and strategic planning in both academia and industry. She has worked both in Germany and the U.S. as an industrial designer with a focus on aviation and transportation design.