Teaching Philosophy

I have always loved teaching, and this has been a crucial factor in my choice of an academic career. Over the years I have developed active-learning techniques for motivating students and for explaining difficult concepts in terms that are easy to grasp. I try to employ a proactive teaching style that incorporates student participation, humor, showmanship, and a constant search for ways to improve.
Good teaching is essential to molding top-notch future scientists and engineers out of young, impressionable minds. Teaching should therefore not take a back-seat to research, especially at the undergraduate level. I strongly believe that teaching and research are not independent endeavors, but rather are synergetic processes: my experience has shown that teaching can lead to good research topics, and conversely, research often provides new ways of explaining and teaching. Moreover, in my view teachers are much more than information sources: they also serve as mentors and role models to their students. Indeed, a good teacher can have a tremendous long-term impact on a student's life. I therefore resolved very early in my career to try to excel not only as a researcher, but also as a teacher, as an educator, and as a role model.

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