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This work in progress (WIP) paper describes a National Science Foundation funded RED (Revolutionizing Engineering Departments) Adaptation and Implementation (A&I) grant focused on changing the culture of a large traditional mechanical engineering department at Texas A&M University (TAMU) and is an adaptation of the “Additive Innovations” model developed by Arizona State University in their RED project[1]. The TAMU RED project is focused entirely on culture change via faculty development, with the goal of shifting from a culture where teaching is secondary to research and courses evolve via sporadic, undocumented, individual innovations to a culture that recognizes teaching’s role in both faculty and student success and encourages a sustained process of incremental improvement and responsiveness to student learning through experimentation, measurement, and sharing. Two key levers in this culture change are (a) a faculty development series focused on innovation and data-driven change and (b) the creation of communities of practice[] or “soft wired’’ teams that support each other and sustain incremental change across semesters as faculty cycle in and out of courses. Ultimately, the goal of this project is to enhance a departmental culture in Mechanical Engineering where faculty regularly discuss current curricular effectiveness and are empowered to develop pedagogical innovations that enable all students and faculty to thrive.