TU/e Best Teacher Awards

ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

Oded's course ‘Intro Telecommunications’ is perceived as a challenging course by most students, but Oded helps the students immensely by creating multiple paths to understand hard-to-grasp concepts, and actively asking the students how he can improve the course to make it as comprehensible and enjoyable as possible. This course evolves a lot, feels dynamic and has a perfectly stable foundation.

Because Oded offers so many different routes to learn the content, like lectures, readers, mini labs, recorded lectures and pen casts, every student can find the way to learn that works best for them, which is a great benefit. Oded's lectures are fun and accessible, and students like his way of explaining exercises. There is also always a recap of the previous module at the beginning of every lecture, which provides students with a perfect summary.

Oded is a very open and approachable person. He is always ready to engage in a conversation and is enthusiastic to hear the opinions of others on not only his courses but also educational ideas.

Oded's lectures are fun and accessible, and students like his way of explaining exercises.

INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING

Before Claudia’s arrival, the course 1CV40 was seen as one of the hardest courses in the bachelor program. Claudia completely transformed the course by implementing the ‘flipped classroom’ concept combining the flexibility of digital learning with physical interaction and collaborative learning. This drastically improved the course quality: students were very positive about the new structure and the course evaluation score notably increased along with the incredible doubling of the course's pass rate, while keeping the content to a very high and challenging level.

Students describe Claudia as a very warm and dedicated teacher who truly strives for all students to feel involved and deeply understand the subject and its relevance. With practical examples across various fields, she conveys her enthusiasm for the subject’s relevance in real life.

Her openness to feedback is a feature widely praised by students: during lectures she directly asks for feedback on the clarity of the lecture and proactively asks students about their understanding, thus providing alternative explanation and/or further material if needed. This gives the opportunity to implement improvements straight away if possible and strengthen connection with students, who feel free and comfortable to interact.

Yet, it's her exceptional commitment to her students that truly sets her apart. Always willing to go the extra mile, Claudia provides personalized support, both inside and outside the lecture halls, ensuring every student can thrive in their own way.

Moreover, Claudia stimulates an inclusive and welcoming atmosphere in her classroom, where students feel valued and heard. Her passion for education and tireless dedication makes her an outstanding inspiration for both students and staff.

It's Claudia's exceptional commitment to her students that truly sets her apart.

APPLIED PHYSICS

Andrea is very passionate about the booming photonics industry and connecting his students to it. The photonics industry needs specialized engineers and Andrea wants to show his students the possibilities. Therefore, he has started a new national MasterPlus Optics & Photonics initiative, which connects students to the industry and Brainport.

Andrea is not only focused on teaching students the theory but giving them the option to learn about possible research positions and/or industry positions. He also has numerical challenges for his students to actively keep them working on the theory. At the end of Andrea's courses, students should not only know the theory of the course but also how this information could influence their career.

The sheer passion of Andrea for his students, education in general, the photonics industry and research is almost unparalleled to any other teacher. He is constantly innovating his courses, which keeps the students coming to his classroom. His lectures are very interactive and consist of two hours of lectures and a two-hour discussion/work session. Andrea brings companies to the students and vice versa to submerge the students in the industry. Andrea’s personal involvement in his students' prospects is evident in the time he always makes to help them out, acquiring internships, setting up a MasterPlus initiative and organizing a photonics retreat. On top of all this, he still has time to deliver lectures with a lot of passion, and mentor students’ external internships and master projects.

Andrea’s personal involvement in his students' prospects is evident in the time he always makes to help them out.

INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING

Melvin's passion for teaching is evident in his dedication to students' success, both academically and personally. He always goes the extra mile to engage with his students. One of the ways he shows this is through his (past) mentorship of more than 20 students, guiding them through their master's program and assisting with any problems they may face. Feedback from his mentees highlights his exceptional dedication and approachability, praising his commitment to support them comprehensively.

Furthermore, Melvin makes it clear to all students that he's always available for help, inviting them to contact him via email or visit his office with any inquiries. This extends to everyone, not just those in his courses or under his mentorship.

Melvin excels in engaging students through interactive teaching, ensuring they develop a deep understanding of the material. He actively seeks feedback to tailor his methods, enhancing learning with relatable and timely examples like ticket pricing and inventory shortages. His use of Mentimeter and in-class discussions fosters a dynamic learning environment that allows for individual learning experiences. Melvin also highly values interaction with students outside the lecture halls and tries to actively engage with students, for example by joining study association study trips.

Melvin's unique blend of recent academic achievement, deep connection with students and genuine enthusiasm for research and teaching sets him apart and makes him an incredibly talented teacher and researcher.

Melvin always goes the extra mile to engage with his students.