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Teaching Students to Think Like Engineers
Teaching Students to Think Like Engineers
My goal as an educator is to help students move from learning engineering principles to thinking like engineers. I use evidence-based teaching practices to help students connect foundational concepts to complex problems, make decisions grounded in evidence, and develop the confidence to approach questions without predetermined solutions. I am particularly interested in teaching at the interface of engineering and biology, where students must integrate fundamental engineering principles with biological understanding, quantitative analysis, and experimentation.
My goal as an educator is to help students move from learning engineering principles to thinking like engineers. I use evidence-based teaching practices to help students connect foundational concepts to complex problems, make decisions grounded in evidence, and develop the confidence to approach questions without predetermined solutions. I am particularly interested in teaching at the interface of engineering and biology, where students must integrate fundamental engineering principles with biological understanding, quantitative analysis, and experimentation.
Evidence-Based Teaching in Practice
Evidence-Based Teaching in Practice
Teaching Experience
Teaching Experience
Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow - Systems Analysis of Cells and Tissues
Graduate Student Instructor - Introduction to Tissue Engineering
Graduate Student Teaching Apprentice - Engineering the Cellular Microenvironment
Teaching Assistant - Introduction to Bioengineering
Pedagogical Training
Pedagogical Training
Teaching Engineering - Semester-long graduate course
Biomedical Engineering Instructional Innovation Incubator - semester-long training in evidence-based, learner-centered pedagogy and course/module design
My formal training in engineering education has shaped how I design learning experiences, assess student understanding, and refine instruction. I have also contributed to engineering education research focused on student-centered learning and curriculum development, resulting in two peer-reviewed American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) conference publications.
Developing Independent Scientists and Engineers
Developing Independent Scientists and Engineers
I view effective mentorship as an individualized progression toward intellectual independence. Early in training, I provide structure and guidance while helping trainees build technical confidence and foundational skills. As trainees develop, I progressively shift responsibility toward interpreting results, troubleshooting experiments, proposing next steps, and ultimately taking ownership of their scientific questions. To date, I have directly mentored 12 graduate and undergraduate researchers across chemical engineering, biomedical engineering, molecular and cellular biology, and related disciplines. Their accomplishments have included an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship, competitive undergraduate research funding, summer research fellowships, conference presentations, and research awards.
Outreach & Community Engagement
Outreach & Community Engagement
Beyond classroom teaching and research mentorship, I have sought opportunities to make engineering education and research careers more accessible. Through the Científico Latino Graduate Student Mentorship Initiative and the University of Michigan's BME Graduate Application Assistance Program, I have supported prospective graduate students from underrepresented and nontraditional backgrounds in navigating graduate admissions. My involvement with the Society of Women Engineers at UC San Diego included organizing outreach activities and mentoring high school students through engineering design projects. More recently, I have contributed to professional development and community-building initiatives through postdoctoral organizations at the University of Colorado Boulder.
Connecting Engineering Fundamentals to Biological Problems
Connecting Engineering Fundamentals to Biological Problems
As a faculty member, I look forward to teaching across biomaterials, tissue engineering, quantitative methods, physiological systems, and engineering design. I am particularly interested in courses that help students connect foundational engineering concepts to complex biological questions through quantitative analysis, experimentation, and open-ended problem solving.
I am also interested in developing an upper-level elective, Engineering the Cellular Microenvironment, integrating biomaterials, extracellular matrix biology, mechanobiology, and tissue engineering to examine how biochemical and biophysical properties of the microenvironment regulate cell and tissue function. Students would engage with primary literature, experimental data, and design problems to explore how engineered microenvironments can be used both to direct biological behavior and to investigate mechanisms of disease.
Across both the classroom and laboratory, my goal is to prepare students not simply to master existing knowledge, but to confidently apply it to problems whose solutions have yet to be defined.
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