7/16/2021 Huan Song
Congratulations Eliot Bethke, Aidan Brougham-Cook, Eileen Johnson, Kurt Kostan, Peyton Muehlhauser, Benjamin David, Vince Kelly, Jason Wang and Yi Wen!
Written by Huan Song
The department of bioengineering is proud to recognize outstanding bioengineering graduate students for teaching and leadership excellence. The Teaching Excellence Fellowship and the Bioengineering Student Leadership Award are given annually to students to have gone above and beyond in their roles as course instructors and members of the campus community. The purpose of the Teaching Excellence Fellowship is to recognize bioengineering students in good academic standing and have demonstrated exemplary teaching assistant skills and a commitment to excellence in undergraduate instruction. The Bioengineering Student Leadership Award recognizes bioengineering students who have demonstrated their leadership skills through active involvement within the department. These roles may include active involvement in GradBMES, exceptional peer or undergraduate mentoring, or through notable involvement with the department's outreach efforts such as with bioengineering summer camps and programs.
Meet the recipients of the 2020-21 Teaching Excellence Fellowship
Eliot Bethke
Nominated for BIOE 198 Biomedical Data Analysis
“Eliot’s personality is warm and engaging, such that students feel very comfortable approaching him for assistance.”
Aidan Brougham-Cook
Nominated for BIOE 100 Bioengineering Freshman Seminar and BIOE 498/598 Soft Robotics
“He went above and beyond...for students that enhanced their learning experience during a difficult semester for students. The resources he developed were used by 170 students this year and will be included as resources as I teach these courses each year.”
Eileen Johnson
Nominated for BIOE 202 Cell and Tissue Engineering Lab
“Eileen has excellent patience when working with students and provides great explanations. Students have repeatedly expressed gratitude for Eileen’s dedication to the online lab section, which was also recognized in her Fall 2020 ICES scores where she was listed on the CITL Teachers Ranked Excellent for her high scores from student evaluations.”
Kurt Kostan
Nominated for BIOE 210 Linear Algebra for Biomedical Data Science
“Online learning is tough, and I worry our students are caught in the cycle of “Zoom and gloom.” It took a lot of courage to do what Kurt did. I believe that brightening even one student’s day is worth recognizing during these difficult times.”
Peyton Muehlhauser
Nominated for BIOE 202
“In the classroom, from day one, Peyton displayed high-level energy that was contagious. She is incredibly knowledgeable and was always very well prepared for class, which combined with a very friendly personality made her very approachable and effective.”
Meet the recipients of the 2020-21 Bioengineering Student Leadership Award
Benjamin David
Ph.D. candidate working with professor Paul Jensen
Over the past few years and especially during the switch to remote learning, Benjamin has developed numerous resources for students in the Cell and Tissue Engineering Course, BIOE 202. He has also more recently been involved in the BMES professional mentorship program as a mentor to undergrads who are exploring future career options.
Vince Kelly
Ph.D. candidate working with professor Shannon Sirk
Vince has been an undergraduate research mentor since 2019 through ISUR and the Clare Boothe Luce Research Scholars program. He is a part of the Microbial Early-Career Researchers Association on campus and regularly finds opportunities to share his research on campus, including at the Bioengineering Graduate Research Symposium and the Microbial Systems Initiative Symposium.
Jason Wang
Ph.D. candidate working with professor Roy Dar
Along with his PhD work, Jason has been mentoring three undergraduates students and provide guidance on research and professional endeavors. He oversees their individual projects and weekly progress. He is proud to see them succeed as one has been accepted into a MPH program and another has received the Carl R. Woese Undergraduate Research Scholarship.
Yi Wen
Ph.D. candidate working with professor Joseph Irudayaraj
Yi Wen led GradBMES as the president from 2018 to 2020 to develop new professional and social activities to increase the sense of bioengineering graduate student community. He also served as a committee member on the Engineering Graduate Student Advisory Committee (EGSAC) representing the bioengineering department. During his graduate studies, he has mentored a dozen undergraduate and graduate students.