Teaching

I find teaching enjoyable and incredibly rewarding. Achieving excellence in teaching requires tremendous sincere efforts and a high level of commitment to the students. My teaching interests include plasma science, fluid mechanics, aerodynamics, rocket propulsion, heat transfer, energy conversion, combustion, laser diagnostics, and CFD. I am a strong supporter of specialized hands-on learning in the form of design, build, and test (DBT) classes, e.g., hybrid and ion propulsion, experimental plasma physics, advanced energy systems, etc.

I focus on two critical factors in my teaching: passion and preparation. Showing love while teaching my subjects and being prepared, organized, and ready for any question has helped me to run a successful teaching session. I have come across many eager, enthusiastic students with various experiences and backgrounds throughout my entire teaching career. It is a challenge to teach students of diverse age groups, educational and cultural backgrounds. I have always tried to provide an environment so that the students feel comfortable and confident in asking questions and seeking guidance. I honestly believe I will be successful as a teacher only after all my students are provided with the opportunity to think and enjoy learning.

As a teacher, my goal is to spread knowledge and encourage learning. Every moment that I find myself standing in a classroom lecturing, managing discussion forums online, helping students solving homework, writing supplementary lecture notes, or sitting with an individual during my office hours, I try to keep three questions in mind,

• ‘Am I being clear and concise?’
• ‘Do I engage the minds of the students on the subject?
• ‘Is my teaching strategy useful?’

I find the students spend considerable effort in establishing a mental picture, or mental model, of how the parts of an aerospace or thermodynamic system work. When I sense that students are unable to understand a particular concept satisfactorily, I may reteach that material from an entirely new angle. I try to connect the previous knowledge of the students with the present material. There is no one way of explaining and teaching; I believe teachers should remain flexible about how concepts are explained. This effort is a simple yet exceedingly useful strategy. It is the willingness to go the extra mile for the welfare of the student’s learning process that leads to excellence in teaching.

As an instructor, I take it upon myself to inspire young minds by showing them the wonders of cutting-edge research and the real-world impacts of the material that the course encompasses. I feel that unity in diversity is the key to becoming successful since teacher plays many distinct roles, such as an instructor, a mentor, a researcher, or an inspirational person in a student’s life. My previous experience of teaching distance students who are working full-time in the aerospace industry has allowed me to communicate effectively with diverse groups of students. Furthermore, active learning methods such as group discussions, team projects, presentations, creative hands-on experiments, etc., encourage teamwork, professional and personal development, rational critical thinking, and enhance the problem-solving skills of our young future engineers and scientists. Frequent and productive student-to-faculty interactions in and outside the classroom are an essential part of my teaching process.

Teaching is an exhilarating experience. I feel energized after a teaching session that has gone well. Working with undergraduate and graduate students has helped me develop my thought process and gain a unique perspective on multiple ways to approach an engineering problem. The aspect of teaching I love most is the questions from the students. Questions, discussions, arguments, and skepticism are the backbones of the scientific learning process. Questions from students help me understand how the students think, compel me to think, provide an alternate explanation, and broaden my perspective. It also helps modify my teaching methods and strategies. As an instructor, teaching is a learning experience. When students start asking questions, it indicates that my teaching has successfully evoked their interest and curiosity. I get immense satisfaction when a student understands a difficult concept or learns how to solve a problem. I like watching the students grow and evolve through the coursework and eventually succeed in their life.