“We give each student team [of three to four students] $1,000 worth of material to build a robot for the competition,” said the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering professor who has taught design for 17 years. “Before the competition, the projects are evaluated by the competition sponsors during a science fair, and the sponsors get to ask questions. The sponsors can then easily identify the best students they want to hire for their company. Essentially, it’s like a specialized career fair where students bring a machine they just built.”
Singhose is at home interacting with the sponsors, spearheading the competition, and most of all, teaching the students. But, he did not reach this comfort level overnight.
“I think I started learning how to teach well when I was a postdoc at MIT,” he said. “I taught the capstone design course in conjunction with other faculty. I got to help students build a machine, and they had to exhibit the machine and explain how it worked to a panel of judges. The whole experience was very rewarding. I can’t say I was a great teacher at that point, but I realized it was a very fun thing to do.”
After a year at MIT, Singhose came to Georgia Tech and began teaching similar classes, helping students create machines.
“I’m not one of those teachers who does a lot of theory and proofs,” he said. “I think that because I don’t teach those classes I have a lot more fun with my students because we get to build something. Almost all of my classes involve building or using real machines,” said Singhose, who also teaches a graduate-level controls course and a rehabilitation engineering course.
At Tech, he has received accolades for teaching, including the CETL/BP Junior Faculty Teaching Excellence Award and the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering’s Zeigler Outstanding Educator Award.
“My approach is to try to relate to the students and explain a topic in terms of something they will understand at an intuitive level,” Singhose said. “Fifteen or 20 years ago, we probably could have used automobiles a lot as examples, but students don’t work on their cars any more. So, we have to think of new things. I try to bring in topics that are current. A lot of the examples I use now have to do with cellphones since everyone has one.”
Singhose said he also cites examples from his own experiences working at different companies. This past summer, he spent two weeks in Alaska working as a commercial fisherman, where he worked 20-hour shifts and caught 275,000 pounds of salmon during a particularly prolific eight-day span.
“I use a lot of cranes as examples in my teaching,” he said. “The fishing boat has a crane that lifts up the fish. I learned how to operate that crane and how to pick up the fish and spill them into the boat. I learned a lot about fluid dynamics and how to maneuver the net to keep it from tangling. In my introductory class, I have a lecture on safety. I imagine I will show some videos on what can go wrong [when fishing commercially] and how dangerous the real world is.”
Because of Singhose’s approach of using his personal experiences to reach his students, he introduces new design challenges to them every year that are inspired by his latest adventures and current events.
But is he, in fact, getting through to them?
“When I’m teaching 300 students, it’s difficult for me to know if they’re getting it, Singhose said. “In the smaller classes, I make a lot of eye contact, and I will prompt them with questions. Mine is one of those annoying classes where you sometimes have to speak up and ask or answer a question.”
The 300 students in ME 2110 are divided into subgroups of 20 that meet in the design studio to run tests and develop their robots. At that level, Singhose can have more interaction with the students and see if they understand the material.
“Over the years, you develop certain techniques, stories, and examples where you know they will be interested,” he said. “As long as they can stay awake, at least you have that much of their attention.”
Singhose has had only a couple of instances where he realized he didn’t get through to the students during his lecture.
In one case — after most of the class failed the same question on a quiz — he reviewed the exam during the next lecture. The third question was the one most of the students did not answer correctly. To bring some humor to the scenario, when reviewing that particular question with the class, Singhose converted it into Japanese and said: “For some reason, you did not understand this question, and I don’t know why.”
Singhose does not have one “magic piece of advice” that suits all new faculty. His advice changes depending on the faculty and the class.
“If a young faculty member is teaching a class that is already pretty successful — based on what other faculty have done in the past — my advice is don’t change much,” he said. “If you try to change everything and make it the world’s greatest class, you’re going to make too much work for yourself. You’re probably going to make some mistakes, and you’re going to annoy the other faculty who taught the class before you because they developed things that work. And, now you’re spitting in their face by changing everything. Learn from others and appreciate what they’ve done, then slowly make it your own class.”
And the personal experience approach is another key piece of advice that can work particularly well for young faculty members, says Singhose. He points out that young faculty at Tech are around 30 years old, with 10 or more years of work experience that they should use to make the material relatable.
“A lot of people are afraid to use their own experience, thinking it’s not professional enough, or it’s not in the book. Don’t worry about that. If it had meaning to you, use it.”
]]>Scientists from engineering, biology, chemistry, and computing won’t discover new vaccines and medical devices — or advance what we know about diseases — by working on their own. The next biomedical breakthroughs to provide accessible health care for billions of people worldwide will come from the collaboration between different laboratories and disciplines.
That core belief led to the creation of the Engineered Biosystems Building (EBB), the newest building at the Georgia Institute of Technology. The site opened in May and a formal dedication ceremony was held today.
EBB houses labs for research in chemical biology, cell and developmental biology, and systems biology. The building allows Georgia Tech to consolidate its biomedical research efforts in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, infections, and other life-threatening conditions.
President G.P. “Bud” Peterson said the building symbolizes what Georgia Tech is all about — collaboration and innovation.
“The EBB will drive innovation and have an undeniable impact on biomedical science and human health,” Peterson said. “EBB brings together some of the world’s finest researchers in a collaborative environment, and these collaborations will result in incredible breakthroughs.”
The building provides nearly 219,000 square feet of multidisciplinary research space and enhances the Institute’s partnerships with Emory University Hospital and with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
“Together, we are changing the lives of children,” said Donna Hyland, president and CEO of Children’s Healthcare. “The space within this building helps bring our new Pediatric Technology Center to life and gives researchers another place to combine expertise in clinical care, research, and technology to solve problems that will help make kids better today and healthier tomorrow.”
The building is located on 10th Street, at the north end of the existing biotechnology complex. Other buildings in the complex include: the Parker H. Petit Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience, the U.A. Whitaker Biomedical Engineering Building, the Ford Environmental Science and Technology Building, and the Molecular Science and Engineering Building.
More than 140 faculty and nearly 1,000 graduate students from 10 different academic units work in the labs and facilities there.
“EBB puts Georgia Tech at the forefront of biosciences and bioengineering research,” said M.G. Finn, professor and chair of the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry.
The building’s unique design allows Georgia Tech researchers to expand their work, he said.
EBB contains “research neighborhoods” designed around a specific focus or topic. These neighborhoods bring together scientists, engineers, and researchers from different disciplines around common themes or areas of interest. They share laboratories, offices, and common spaces.
Stairs alternate on various floors, encouraging people to move within the neighborhoods and throughout the building and interact with one another. Small and informal meeting areas are located near the stairwells, to further encourage researchers to talk with one another.
“We will help, influence, and support one another and bring new insights in a way that can’t happen if a building is restricted to a particular department or discipline,” Finn said.
“Ultimately we are all working to fight disease and save lives,” he said. “EBB is designed to foster the research to do just that.”
EBB is the largest building investment in Georgia Tech history. The $113 million building was made possible because of a partnership between the Institute, the Georgia Tech Foundation, and the State of Georgia, Peterson said.
State appropriations provided $64 million for the project. Georgia Tech provided $15 million in Institute funds, and private funding raised another $34 million in commitments pledged over five years.
EBB will help drive Georgia’s economy, Peterson said.
“It will foster economic development through the formation of startup enterprises, the creation of high-skilled, high-paying jobs, and the commercialization of new devices, drugs, and technologies,” Peterson said.
]]>Hu, an assistant professor in the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, has been awarded the Ig Nobel Prize for his research on the hydrodynamics of mammal urination. The award was given by Improbable Research, which celebrates research that "makes people laugh and then think." The idea is to challenge what is considered important scientific research and illustrate that valuable information can come from more trivial subject matters. Every year there are 9,000 nominations, and only 10 teams are selected as winners.
Hu was assisted by Patricia Yang, a mechanical engineering graduate student, and biomedical engineering undergraduates Jerome Choo and Jonathan Pham.
Hu's research was directed by his interest in the link between the gravitational pull during urination and the advancement of efficient water systems. With camera in hand, Hu and his students ventured out to Zoo Atlanta to record and study 32 different mammals including elephants, cows and rats. By examining the video of the urine streams in slow motion, they were able to determine a relation between the length of the urethra and the flow rate of the urine. Their conclusion was that all mammals empty their bladders in about 20 seconds. The research could ultimately lead to better engineered systems for water tanks, backpacks, and fire hoses that can be built for more efficiency.
Hu and his students were awarded the prize at the 25th annual Ig Nobel Prize ceremony on Sept. 17. He will give a public lecture on his research and his "journey with wacky science" on Monday, Oct. 19, at 7 p.m. in Room 144, Clough Undergraduate Learning Commons.
Read more about Hu's animal urination study from June 2014.
]]>But it has, and it’s taking Atlanta along with it – to a place that’s more physically active, more economically prosperous, more creatively engaged, and more community-oriented than before.
Come along with us as we explore the many facets of Atlanta's game-changing BeltLine:
The BeltLine Impact: How a Tech Student Changed Atlanta Forever
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