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When Amir Abdi speaks about teaching and being an instructor, one thing is clear: he loves it. Amir’s passion and dedication to teaching has not gone unrecognized. He was the recipient of the Killam Graduate Teaching Assistant for the 2017/2018 school year.

“It is indeed an honour to be the recipient of the Killam GTA award and I’m humbly grateful that my efforts have not gone unnoticed,” says Amir.

The award is awarded annually by UBC and recognizes graduate students for their outstanding teaching, research and service to the community. Amir is currently a PhD student in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, co-supervised by Dr. Sidney Fels and Dr. Purang Abolmaesumi.

Amir’s fondness for teaching has continually pushed him to become a better instructor. He acknowledges that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to teaching and learning. Instead, he recognizes that his role is fluid and he has to adapt to the needs of his students.

“The most vital thing I learned was to respect students’ differences in their approaches towards learning,” explains Amir. “Our learning tactics are not necessarily in sync with one another, which makes it challenging as you naturally expect your audience to learn along the same path as you did. That’s when you need to switch roles, put a facilitator’s hat on, and let the students go through a self-paced learning process in a flipped classroom setting.”

Amir, a computer engineer, has not taken a traditional path to become a PhD candidate at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. His interdisciplinary background in dental surgery and computer engineering has helped shape his research path.

“I am hoping to make an exciting fusion between what is known as reinforcement learning with the worlds of biomechanics and dentistry.” says Amir. “I am investigating the possibility of predicting the outcomes of clinical interventions on the patient’s jaw based on a functional biomechanical model of the subject. The end goal is to create a virtual surgery tool that provides the clinicians with feedback regarding the post-operative quality of life of patients.”

Although his love and passion for teaching and research will likely steer Amir towards a path in academia, he’s also had the opportunity to explore the possibilities and potentials of being an industry researcher as a PhD intern in Google.

“It is hard to ignore the tempting opportunities of industry because I like to build stuff,” he acknowledges. “But I see myself aiming for a faculty position sooner or later.”

“Regardless, I will be where I can make the most contributions and feel more productive.”

Francisco “Pancho” Paz

Francisco “Pancho” Paz, a PhD student in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at UBC, recently received a Killam Graduate Teaching Assistant Award recognizing his outstanding work as a Teaching Assistant and instructor for 2017/2018. The award is awarded annually to 16 UBC Teaching Assistants.

Pancho, who is committed to acadamia, is grateful for the countless opportunities to give back and contribute to post-secondary education. He is humbled by the recognition and credits the people around him for his success.

“I’m going to be honest, I never feel like I’m a good teacher,” says Pancho. “I felt very honoured to receive the award because a huge part of this comes from the recommendation of my supervisor, instructors, colleagues and students.”

Pancho continues to learn and grow from his teaching experiences in order to be a more effective educator. He draws inspiration from teachers that he’s had in the past.

“When I think of past instructors and what stands out the most, they were people who were really passionate and would transmit their work in a meaningful and interesting way,” reflects Pancho. “What makes instructors great is when they care for the student and have a passion for the process of teaching and what they’re teaching.”

Dr. Martin Ordonez, Pancho’s supervisor for the past six years, nominated him for the award and continues to be impressed by his patience and ability to communicate complex concepts to students. It’s clear to him that students and colleagues enjoy working with Pancho.

“Pancho is a leader and role model for other teaching assistants,” says Dr. Ordonez. “He develops strong connections with students and establishes a comfortable, stressless learning environment where students can feel safe to ask questions and are both encouraged and motivated.”

Pancho believes in the importance of putting yourself outside of your comfort zone to learn and grow. As a scholar at the Liu Institute for Global Issues, he is able to collaborate with people from other disciplines. He finds that the biggest challenge is communicating and understanding different ways of thinking.

“The whole social sciences framework is different from natural sciences, which can be very dry as we want to communicate in the most succinct way possible,” explains Paz. “It can be hard to collaborate and find common ground when you come from different backgrounds, but it’s a fantastic opportunity for me to work with people from areas outside of engineering.”

Despite having spent most of his life in academics, Pancho still wakes up excited to go to work everyday. In addition to teaching duties, he is working on research that focuses on power electronics and renewable energy. He’s on the path to graduate at the end of the year and is open to working in the industry, but Paz believes his true calling is in academia.

“I really love teaching and research, so the role of the academic professor will be what I look for first after graduating.”