Chemical Engineering Teaching Assistant of the Year award winners announced

The awards were introduced in Spring 2020 to recognise and celebrate excellence in teaching in the Department of Chemical Engineering.

There are two award categories, Best PhD Teaching Assistant and Best Postdoctoral Teaching Assistant (PDTA), each of which has a £500 prize.

The PhD selected for TA of the Year will automatically be put forward for the Faculty of Engineering GTA of the Year award in August and the PhD runner up will be put forward for the John Lever memorial award. 

This year’s winners are PhD student Parth Shah and Postdoctoral Teaching Assistant Dr Alain Li.

Graduate Teaching Assistant of the Year 

Parth Shah was awarded Best PhD Teaching Assistant for his consistently outstanding commitment to and performance in undergraduate teaching over the years of his PhD studies. 

Parth’s nomination read: “Parth taught throughout all the years of his PhD studies in labs, tutorials, as well as final year design and prioritised his teaching commitments over everything else. He used his extensive industrial experience to prepare thoroughly for each teaching session and how best to interact with students.

In practical education Parth created, tested and delivered new experiments with real-world relevance, making the teaching labs more authentic and relatable for undergraduates. His contribution to educational research has yielded a novel teaching and learning framework published in several peer-reviewed articles. To quote a student, 'Parth enriches the knowledge of all those who seek his help and has been an invaluable presence in the department'”.

Post-doctoral Teaching Assistant of the Year

Dr Alain Li was awarded Best Postdoctoral Teaching Assistant (PDTA) for his outstanding contribution to first-year organic chemistry lectures.

Alain’s nomination read: “Alain showed outstanding capacity for delivering lectures, working in conjunction with other course lecturers. He revised, updated and condensed teaching material to better illustrate the various concepts covered in the class. He took extra time before and after classes to address student questions and maintained student engagement during lockdown. He co-designed practice and actual exams and with his cheerful yet focused personality, fulfilled his role of teammate in a professional and responsible manner."