As an academic, I firmly believe that if your students do well, you do well !  In practice, I accomplish this by being deeply committed to teaching at both the graduate and undergraduate levels, mentoring of graduate students and seeing them through transitions, and for the undergraduates, in integrating research, teaching and learning.


Approach

All my courses are structured to not only help students learn fundamental concepts and problem solving skills, but also to help them develop a useful level of intuition for the subject. The latter, I find, is the most difficult to accomplish. In addition to making sure that the class as a whole achieves a basic level of understanding of the subject matter, I try my best to ensure that the more advanced and serious students are also challenged by its content. Some students are motivated by applications and learn best if they do know how the information they have been exposed to is used in various applications. I am sensitive to this need and, in every class, try to point out the technological relevance of what is being learnt. I welcome questions and am available in class or outside for further discussions. Of the many courses that I have taken in college many years ago, there are only a select few that I still remember today. The faculty who taught those courses were enthusiastic about the subject matter, very well-prepared, organized, demanding yet fair, welcoming of questions, ready to admit their inability to answer a specific question in class but always returned with an answer after having thought of the question at home, available outside class and willing to provide extra help for those who needed it, flexible overall and not particularly stingy with grades. These are the guiding attributes that I strive to incorporate in my teaching and I will be most happy if a few of my current students will remember my courses later in their professional life as well.


       Practice

           I try to prepare as thoroughly as possible for each class and am as demanding of the students as I am of myself. I teach every course differently and I use the best available method that I believe will significantly enhance student learning in that specific course. For example at UW, I teach the magnetism course (MSE550) in the traditional style of writing/deriving everything on the blackboard such that the information is transferred at a human pace. For the bonding and crystallography course (MSE510) I use polished power-point presentations since significant distant learning and the drawing of complicated crystal structures are involved. Finally, for the comprehensive nanotechnology (MSE481) course I employ cooperative-learning techniques involving extensive student participation in class. Most importantly, I teach all my courses with great enthusiasm and try to communicate the inherent excitement contained in understanding the ideas underlying the field.  Finally, I have successfully involved graduate students, including a graduate student in Communication, in the design and development of courses and have a scholarly interest in studying the effectiveness of student-centered, cooperative learning strategies.


Current Portfolio of Courses at UW


The Nanoworld (Gen Stud. 197D, Freshman seminar,

    Winter) , 1 credit

Introduction and appreciation of the science and technology of the small, the very small and the very, very small – one of the rapidly developing areas of interdisciplinary science and technology.


Science and technology of nanostructures (MSE 481,

    Winter), 3 credits

Developed and introduced this new interdisciplinary course. Prepared five extensive reading modules and taught it in a “cooperative learning” format emphasizing student-centered learning. Worked with the Engineering and iSchool Writing Center to help the students with their writing assignments (the course now meets the A&S writing requirements). I received the Faculty of the Year award from the Senior Class of 2010 for this course.


Bonding, crystallography and symmetry-related properties

    (MSE 510, Fall) , 3 credits

This is the first required foundation course for all MSE graduate students at UW. Also taken by students in Chem. Eng., Bioeng., Physics etc. Developed the course from scratch to serve as a foundation for the graduate program in MSE.


Magnetism, magnetic materials and related technologies

    (MSE 550, Spring) , 3 credits

A comprehensive introduction to magnetism, magnetic materials and related applications.  A description of magnetic phenomena on a macroscopic scale will be followed by discussions of modern experimental methods for magnetic measurements.  Intrinsic and phenomenological concepts of magnetism such as electronic magnetic moments and classical, quantum and band theories of magnetic behavior will also be introduced.  The course will then cover ordered magnetic materials (emphasizing their structure-sensitive properties) and magnetic phenomena, including magnetic anisotropy, magnetic domain structures & dynamics and magnetostriction. Finally, the magnetic behavior of small particles & thin films and a range of applications, including magnetic recording, permanent magnets, biomagnetics, and spin electronics is presented. 


Advanced magnetism and magnetic materials (MSE

    599N, Offered as necessary), 3 credits

Seminar format addressing recent developments and trends in magnetism, magnetic materials, biomedical nanomagnetics and spin electronics,  based on readings, discussions and presentations of scientific papers and reviews.


Introduction to Materials Characterization (MSE 333,

   Spring 2008) , 3 credits

In preparation.


Seminar in materials science and engineering (MSE 520A, All Quarters) , 1 credit

Completely changed the organization of this seminar to involve significant graduate student participation in its conception and organization. Involved substantial training and supervision of graduate students in the first two quarters. This seminar has made a major impact on the confidence, team work, collegiality and content of the graduate program in the department.



       Teaching Evaluations


       At UW, all courses are ranked by students on a scale of 1-5,

     5 = excellent,  4= v.good,  3=good,  2=fair, 1 =poor)


       Qrtr     Course/Title  Credits  Students  Instructor’s     Overall

                                                                   Contribution   Course


       Sp02     MSE550            3            18            4.6                4.9

                   MSE520A          1            37            N/A              N/A

       Au02    MSE510             3           15            5.0                4.8

                   MSE520A          1            37            N/A              N/A

       W03     MSE481            3            16            3.8                3.9

                   MSE520A          1            37            N/A              N/A

       Sp03     MSE550            3            13            4.8                4.8

                   MSE520A          1            37            N/A              N/A

       Au03    MSE510             3            23            4.3                4.1

                   MSE520A          1            37            N/A              N/A

        W04    MSE481            3             6              4.8               4.1

                   MSE520A          1            37            N/A              N/A

        Sp04    MSE599            3              8              --                 --

                   MSE520A          1            37            N/A              N/A

        Au04   MSE510             3           14             4.3                3.8

                   MSE520A          1            37            N/A              N/A

        Au05   MSE510             3            20            4.7                4.1

                   MSE520A          1            37            N/A              N/A

         W06   MSE481            3            27            4.2                3.9

                   MSE520A          1            37            N/A              N/A

         Au06  MSE510             3            21            4.7                4.6

          W07  MSE481            3            27             3.6                3.9

          Sp07  MSE550            3            13             4.9                4.9

         Au07  MSE510            3            19             5.0                4.4

         W08   MSE481            3            27            3.6                3.3

          Sp08   MSE550           3            10             4.9               4.8

         Au09   MSE510           3            14             4.6                4.7

         W10   MSE481            3           18              4.8               4.6

         Sp10   MSE550            3             7              4.9               4.6

         Au10  MSE510            3             14            4.6               3.8

         W11   MSE481           3             20             4.9              4.9


                                             AVERAGE        4.5             4.4


              



Mentoring


I individually mentor all the members of my group, be they post-docs, graduate or undergraduate students. In these efforts I am guided by one cardinal rule: my aim is to help them achieve their long-term career goals, one step at a time. I am also quite flexible and have an established track record in redirecting student research if their interests were to change in the midst of their program.  I work actively with them, guide them through transitions in their academic program (and later in their career), expose them to different work cultures, including raising funds to send graduate students abroad, and when appropriate promote them in appropriate forums. This is evident from the successful placements of both my undergraduate and graduate students at UW and the various awards that they have received. I am very committed to diversity and have a high success not only in recruiting women/minorities to join my research group but also in successfully seeing them through the program and beyond.  I am also recognized for my mentoring at UW. For example, in 2006, my students and colleagues nominated (and was a finalist) me for the UW Graduate School Marsha Landolt Graduate Mentor Award; in 2009,  I was nominated for the AAAS Mentor award and I have also been selected as a faculty mentor for the prestigious UW-Amgen Undergraduate Scholar program.

 

Philosophy

Dissertation Committees


As Chair


2011   R.M. Ferguson

          (Ph.D. in MSE & Nanotechnology, UW)

           Magnetic Particle Imaging: a novel microscope for

        biomedical diagnostics


2011   Yi-cheng Lee

          (Ph. D. in Materials Science &Engineering, UW)

          Synthesis, characterizations and application MnO nanocrystals as pH-responsive, time-dependent T1 MRI contrast agents


2010   Tianlong Wen

          (Ph.D. in MSE & Nanotechnology, UW)

          Cobalt-based magnetic nanocomposites:

           fabrication, fundamentals and application


2009   Bradley K. Roberts

          (Ph.D. in Materials Science &Engineering, UW)

           Defect-mediated magnetism of transition metal doped ZnO thin films


2007   Ms. Marcela Gonzales 

          (Ph.D in Materials Science and Engineering, UW)

           Magnetic Fluid Hyperthermia: Synthesis, Modeling and Quantification


2007    Yonsoo Chun 

           (Ph.D . in Materials Science and Engineering, UW)

           Domain wall stability and resistance in perpendicularly-coupled metal/oxide bilayers"


2007   Xiaosong Ji 

          (Dual Ph.D.  in Materials Science and Engineering and Nanotechnology, UW)

           Perpendicular anisotropy and exchange bias in

           magnetic thin film heterostructures"


2007   Ms. Kelli Griffin 

          (Ph.D in Materials Science & Engineering, UW)

           Cobalt doped TiO2 anatase thin films:  ferromagnetism, spin-electronics and the environment.


2006    Ms. Yuping Bao

           (Ph. D., in Materials Science & Engineering and Nanotechnology, UW),

           Synthesis, Self-assembly and Potential Applications of Cobalt-based Nanoparticles with Tailored Magnetic Properties.


2005   Zachary Lingley

          (M.S. in Materials Science & Engineering, UW)

           Spin-resolved quantum conductance.


2005    John Kamencik

          (M.S. in Materials Science & Engineering, UW), 

           Zinc oxide based transparent thin film transistor: a materials and device study


1997    Ms. Marilee Brewer

           (Ph. D. in Materials Science & Engineering, UCSB),

           Giant moment in Fe16N2 epitaxial thin films.


As member


2011    Shivang Dave

               (Ph.D. in Bioengineering, UW)


2011    Adam Rauerdink

               (Ph.D. in Engineering, Dartmouth)