Graduate students selected by classmates as "favorite TAs"
AAE students have favorites.
At least according to an end-of-the-semester survey that asked sophomores and juniors in AAE200 and AAE300 to select their favorite teaching assistants.
Wenjie Cai and Noah Marquand received the most votes in their respective course levels from Fall 2020. Cai was the top vote-getter in the AAE300 survey, and Marquand was tabbed by the AAE200 group.
Cai, a Ph.D. student whose advisor is Professor Tom Shih, was selected for his TA role in AAE333, “Introduction to Fluid Mechanics,” taught by Professors Sergey Macheret and Joseph Jewell.
“I'm greatly honored to be selected as students' favorite TA,” Cai said. “I'm glad that I have the chance to help students get a glance at a wonderfully bizarre subject such as fluid dynamics. I hope students can benefit from their experience in the course, one way or another, and I'm proud to be a part of it.
"Additionally, discussing fundamental concepts in fluid dynamics with fresh minds is surprisingly intriguing and rewarding for me. Thus, I would continue to strive to do my best in my future teaching.”
Master’s student Marquand was the TA for AAE251, “Introduction to Aerospace Design.” The course is taught by Professor Karen Marais, Marquand's advisor.
“I’m humbled by this selection. I really am,” Marquand said. “These students are great, and it was a wonderful experience introducing them to the aero field officially. This class has always been a favorite of mine; it really captures the core of what makes this field so exciting.
"I’m glad that I got to be there for everybody, and I’m hoping that I can do well for the incoming group this spring when I TA the class again.”