Outstanding Engineering Educators at MIT

"We've seen a bit of a sea change in educational approaches at the university level," stated Dean of Engineering Thomas L. Magnanti in May 2005 during his testimony before the Congressional Subcommittee on 21st Century Competitiveness. As part of his presentation at a hearing on "Challenges to American Competitiveness in Math and Science," Dean Magnanti gave a few examples of innovative methods MIT educators are using to prepare science and engineering undergraduates for an increasingly competitive global job market. (See examples.)

In addition to embracing novel approaches to instruction, the School of Engineering also honors individual professors for outstanding teaching. Instructors' creative pedagogy, clear transmittal of information, and responsiveness to students' needs are recognized with special awards each year.

This spring, the School of Engineering honored seven faculty in this way. Professor Heidi Nepf of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) received the Seegal Prize. The Junior Bose Award went to Professor Karen Willcox of the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics (Aero and Astro), and the Bose Award went to Professor Dennis Freeman of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) and the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology (HST). Four professors received the Spira Award for Distinguished Teaching: Kimberly Hamad-Schifferli and Anette (Peko) Hosoi of the Department of Mechanical Engineering (ME), Rahul Sarpeshkar of EECS, and George Apostolakis of the Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering (NSE).

The Seegal Prize
The Seegal Prize caps Heidi Nepf's career of outstanding teaching at MIT. She received the Junior Bose Award in 1999, a MacVicar Fellowship in 2000, and the Bose Award in 2003. In addition, she won the CEE Effective Teaching Award in 1995, 1996, and 1998.

"Heidi's skill in lecturing is not just a result of natural talent, but also the fruit of devoted and thoughtful thinking on the philosophy and approaches to education," said CEE Department Head Patrick Jaillet.

Nepf's research examines the hydrodynamic aspects of vegetation in order to understand the effects of vegetation on large-scale marsh and coastal hydrodynamics. She uses this understanding to describe the role of aquatic vegetation in controlling different types of pollution in coastal regions. She is affiliated with the Community Outreach and Education Program, the Center for Environmental Health Sciences, and the Edgerton Center.

One of Nepf's doctoral students said, "Professor Nepf deserves special thanks for her boundless generosity in sharing her expertise and time. Her enthusiasm for the acquisition and sharing of knowledge has made my time at MIT truly an outstanding one."

The Junior Bose Award
Aero and Astro Department Head Wes Harris said that Junior Bose Award winner Karen Willcox is "one of our very best teachers and mentors of students."

She has contributed a number of curriculum modifications to Principles of Automatic Control (16.06), including starting two hands-on-design Quanser laboratories that have become an important part of the course. (A Quanser is a three-degree-of-freedom helicopter mounted on a base and interfaced to a computer via Matlab/Simulink.)

She also co-developed a new graduate subject titled Multidisciplinary System Design Optimization, offered jointly by Aero and Astro and the Engineering Systems Division. Student evaluations praise the course as relevant for a broad range of engineering research areas.

In 2002, Willcox began to research gaps in the mathematic abilities of Aero and Astro undergraduates. She presented her conclusions about the mathematics skills required for the core Aero and Astro undergraduate curriculum to the MIT Presidential Task Force on the Undergraduate Educational Commons and has received positive feedback from the education community at large. Her findings could be adapted across a broad range of institutions and engineering departments.

The Bose Award
Dennis Freeman received the Bose Award in recognition and admiration of the profound impact that he continues to have on undergraduate education in EECS, HST, and across the Institute.

His undergraduate teaching has focused primarily on two subjects: Quantitative Physiology: Cells and Tissues (6.021J) and Signals and Systems (6.003). Freeman's teaching manages the difficult feat of effectively integrating multiple disciplines, developing professional skills, and revealing the interwoven connections between state-of-knowledge, experimental research, technical capabilities, and theoretical analysis.

He helped fill in as acting Chair of the Committee on the Undergraduate Program (CUP), where his educational leadership is helping guide important aspects of undergraduate life. He previously won the Spira Award and the IEEE Best Undergraduate Advisor award.

"Professor Freeman is an example of the ideal professor ‚ enthusiastic, lucid, and genuinely interested in his students' education," said Sripriya Natarajan ('00).

The Spira Awards
Peko Hosoi: ME Department Head Rohan Abeyaratne says that Hosoi's teaching is at the very top of the department, as measured by her Pi Tau Sigma (the honor society for mechanical engineering) undergraduate evaluations. Students consistently rate her at about 6.8 on a 7.0 scale. In Thermal Fluids Engineering II (2.006), Hosoi has adopted the Aero and Astro Department's idea of using MUD cards: students write down the ìmost unclear discussionî on the cards so that it can be revisited later.

Kimberly Hamad-Schifferli: Hamad-Schifferli has been instrumental in the development of a new subject, Thermodynamics of Biomolecular Systems (2.772J), offered jointly with the Biological Engineering Division. In just three years, enrollment has grown to over 70 students, even though the course is not required by any undergraduate program. Also, despite her physical chemistry background, Hamad-Schifferli plunged into teaching the core undergraduate class Mechanics and Materials II (2.002) and has received superb reviews.

Rahul Sarpeshkar: Sarpeshkar has taught broadly in the EECS department and invariably receives some of the highest teaching ratings. As recitation instructor in Solid-State Circuits (6.301), he rated 6.3 out of 7.0 (with nearly 50 responses). One student said that "he was simply amazing at explaining the material," and several claimed he was the best instructor theyíd ever had at MIT. Recently, Rahul has been involved in a project to develop bio-related examples that can be introduced in a variety of subjects in the EECS curriculum.

George Apostolakis: Apostolakis has had a long and distinguished teaching career, first at UCLA and now at MIT's NSE Department. He was a prime mover in developing Engineering Risk-Benefit Analysis, an MIT-wide elective offered under nine course numbers. The probabilistic and statistical analyses that are the heart of this course are widely recognized as a critical factor in engineering theory and practice, especially as engineering interacts with the rest of society. Students say that when Apostolakis lectures, he enriches a subject to its saturation point with context, anecdotes, and the rich history that has surrounded the development of nuclear science and engineering.

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