Teaching Accomplishments & Philosophy

Graduate: 
  1. Graduate Introduction To Finite Element Analysis (Fall 2011) (outstanding GSI award)
  2. Computational Design of Multifunctional Materials (Spring 2012)
Undergraduate:
  1. Experimentation & Measurements (Fall 2008, Spring 2009, Fall 2009)
  2. Measurement Systems For Mechatronics (Spring 2010)
  3. Microprocessor Based Mechanical Systems (Spring 2010)
Other teaching experiences:
  1. Math Instructor for the Pre-Collegiate Academy, Incentive Awards Program, U.C. Berkeley, which aimed at high performing high-school students from low-income backgrounds. I developed and taught a complete 6-week course on Calculus. (Summer 2010)
  2. Co-organizer and Instructor for the Freshman Energy Engineering seminar series for the College of Engineering, U.C. Berkeley (Fall 2013)
  3. Organizer of a bootcamp session on basic Matlab programming for students at the Transfer To Excellence (TTE) Summer Research Program, funded by NSF. (Summer 2014)
Picture
With the students from PCA program for summer 2010

Comments from courses taught

During my various teaching experiences, I have been fortunate to earn excellent reviews from students I taught. Some of the most enthusiastic comments have been listed below (all course information have been blanked out):
An absolute pro. Any GSI who can handle this course, can handle any teaching assignment in the future. This guy deserves a generous stipend for staying after hours and working tirelessly with students.
Debanjan was my primary source of all [course-name] knowledge. Without him, finishing the homework projects on time would have been impossible. His knowledge of material applicable in real-life added an extra dimension to the class. He made himself available for help all the time and quickly answered emails. One of the best GSI’s I’ve had in my 5 years at Cal
Debanjan goes way beyond the GSI call of duty I think. He has a gift for explaining topics clearly, consistently stays late after discussion or office hours to continue helping, and answers emails very promptly. Additionally, he approaches students with kindness & understanding. This class would have been even more difficult without his help.

Teaching philosophy

A primary goal of engineering education is to have students apply concepts learnt in classroom to solve complex real-world problems. Successful engineering education will, thus, entail a strong emphasis on critical thinking and application. As an educator, I therefore strive to transition towards experiential learning as opposed to solely focusing on didactic/rote learning. This enables students to move higher along the categorizations in Bloom's taxonomy (figure below). I believe that an effective way of achieving this is through attaining a good balance between conventional lecturing and active-learning strategies in my classroom. 

Mentorship

Undergraduate Researchers:
As a post-doctoral scholar I have been the mentor for three undergraduate researchers who have been working in the general area of image-based cardiovascular fluid mechanics related to blood flow to the cerebral vasculature.
  • Neel D. Jani
  • Kartiga Selvaganesan
  • Abhinav Koppu
  • Christopher Lee Weng (currently pursuing graduate program at Johns Hopkins University)

Mentor for the Transfer To Excellence Research Research Experience for Undergraduates (TTE-REU):
I have also been a mentor for the NSF funded TTE-REU program at U.C. Berkeley, where I got the chance to mentor the following students:
  • Jose Padilla 
  • Tiffany Pan
  • ​Jocelyn Garduno
In particular, the work that Jose Padilla contributed to as a part of this program, went on to become a successful journal publication, and he has thereafter successfully transferred to U.C. Berkeley to complete his undergraduate program. 

Capstone project for M.Eng. program:
During Fall 2012 and Spring 2013 I helped in supervising and mentoring students for a M.Eng. capstone project on gas-turbine thermo-mechanical design, in collaboration with Siemens Corporation.