Teaching Assistant

During graduate school I was a teaching assistant for an introductory fluid mechanics class and introductory thermodynamics class. My duties involved holding office hours, running experimental lab sections, leading tutorial sections, and writing exam problems. Some of the lab sections involve modeling a water cannon and modeling the cardiovascular system.

Being a teaching assistant was a valuable experience for me because it taught me how to explain complicated ideas to people with various levels of understanding and familiarity with the topic. If a student was struggling with an idea, I tried to simplify it to the point where the an answer would be intuitive, and then build back up to the original ideal. I believe that a good intuition is one of the most valuable assets a engineer can have, so I try to build that muscle. Most of engineering is done in teams, and I believe that this communication skill I gained is essential to effectively discuss and debate with teammates to come up with best method of approaching a problem.

In addition I enjoyed explaining concepts to students, because often times I learned new things as I tried to simplify ideas, and once in a while I caught my own mistakes, too. Although I was teaching a introductory level engineering class, the repetition of teaching has vastly and solidified my understanding as well.