In the Biopep group, as well as in the Chemical Engineering department and NC State as a whole, we strive to make one of our most valuable products be the whole person that graduates from their experience here.  An important part of graduate education is leadership through teaching and guiding undergraduate students, and here at the Biopep group we’re no strangers to striving for excellence in every field.

This week, our lab was singularly honored when not just one but two of our graduate students were nominated as part of the 6 finalists for the Praxair Exceptional Teaching Assistant award.

John Schneible, nominated for his work with graduate transport, was asked what his keys to successful teaching are.  In repy, he said, “First, always prepare ahead of time – it’s very important to have an idea of what kinds of questions to expect.  Next, you need to encourage those questions and be friendly; students can be intimidated by teachers, so it helps to be friendly and willing.”

“Teaching is a lot of hard work,” Hannah Reese, who was nominated for her efforts in first semester undergraduate transport, said.  “Balancing time between research, teaching, and keeping yourself sane can be a real challenge.   If you don’t have encouragement from your research professor to do well in teaching, you will have a much harder job – and Dr. Menegatti was really accepting of some of the time I needed to make this a good semester.”

John further agreed, “Manage your time well, and treat your time teaching as very valuable.  It improves working relationships with your students and instills respect for you.”

Most importantly, though, the success to good teaching is to have fun!  Enjoy what you do and let that shine through to your students.

Looks like they pulled it off!  Good luck to Hannah and John as they are considered for the top prize which will be awarded on August 24th.