Five graduate students received AAE Quarter Time Teaching Assistant Awards, recognizing their outstanding service as a teaching assistant in the School.

Suman Chakraborty, Jeff Hall, Jeremy Marcum, Islam Nazmy and Smriti Nandan Paul were selected by AAE’s graduate committee, led by Gregory Blaisdell, a professor in AAE and associate head for the Gambaro Graduate Program of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

Each student received $2,000.

Suman Chakraborty, a Ph.D student whose advisor is Professor Li Qiao: “I am really honored and thrilled for receiving the Quarter Time TA award. I am very much grateful and would like to thank the awards committee for selecting me for the award. As a TA, being able to help and guide the students in a class, bounce ideas back and forth and see them grow over the length of the semester is a great experience, even more so because the learning happens on both ends. Going ahead in my career, I do want to stay in academia and become a professor, so experiences as a TA do provide much-needed experience and being awarded for the efforts serve as a good source of motivation to strive for the better and continue working towards the goal with a renewed sense of determination.”  

Jeff Hall, a Ph.D. student in Shaoshaui Mou's group: “I want to give a huge thanks to the students and faculty who support me. Throughout my education, I built relationships with excellent mentors, professors and role models who taught me in and beyond a classroom setting. Being a teaching assistant at Purdue has been a golden opportunity to share my inspiration with students. Recognition for this award means a lot to my career as a PhD student and motivates me further to make a positive impact for my students, peers and professors.”

Jeremy Marcum, a Ph.D. student under advisor Timothee Pourpoint: “As a graduate student, I have spent years as a student with little insight into what it is like to teach. Experiencing class as the teacher was a rewarding experience that I will carry with me for a long time. It is exciting to look back and realize how much everyone in the class learned throughout the semester, and I am grateful to have had the opportunity.”

Islam Nazmy, a master’s student whose advisor is Professor Karen Marais: “I am extremely grateful to the AAE department for receiving this award, but even more grateful to the students who made my career path clear. I look forward to continuing my role as a TA at Purdue, and to my future in academia.”

Smriti Nandan Paul, a Ph.D. student in Carolin Frueh's group: “I am thankful to the department for honoring me with this award. I am also thankful to the students and professors who recommended me for this award. For me, it had always been a great satisfaction to see students succeed in their attempts to solve a problem or understand a concept. The interactions with the students helped me understand various aspects of teaching, which is an essential part of my future goal (to be a professor).”