Young Professor Stands Out Nationally as New Mechanics Educator
Thursday, June 04, 2020
Amir Danesh-Yazdi will be the fourth current Rose-Hulman faculty member to earn the Outstanding New Mechanics Educator Award from the American Society of Engineering Education’s Mechanics Division.
Assistant professor of mechanical engineering Amir Danesh-Yazdi will receive the Ferdinand P. Beer and E. Russel Johnston, Jr., Outstanding New Mechanics Educator Award later this month from the American Society of Engineering Education’s Mechanics Division. The national award honors the professor for his early-career commitment to teaching and exceptional contributions to engineering mechanics education.
Danesh-Yazdi will be recognized at the ASEE Virtual Conference on June 22-26.
The Mechanics Division annually highlights up to three professors with no more than five years of academic teaching experience for their exceptional contributions to mechanics education. Three current members of the Rose-Hulman faculty are past recipients of the award: Richard Stamper, provost and vice president for academic affairs (2001); James Hanson, professor of civil engineering (2006); and Daniel Kawano, associate professor of mechanical engineering (2016).
Danesh-Yazdi joined the Rose-Hulman faculty in 2018 and has earned rave reviews from faculty colleagues and students for his teaching of such topics as fluid mechanics and heat transfer, aerodynamics, vibrations, engineering mechanics and measurements and instrumentations.
Mechanical engineering department head Richard Onyancha notes, “Amir has a way of bringing material to life and helping students make connections in ways that few faculty members can. He is very passionate about the classes that he teaches, but he’s especially passionate in teaching mechanics courses at the foundational level, such as statics and strength of materials.”
In a recent evaluation, one of Danesh-Yazdi’s students stated learning the material “like it’s never going to leave me because of how well he (Danesh-Yazdi) ingrained each subject into my knowledge.”
Onyancha adds, “Dr. Danesh-Yazdi understands that passion about a course alone is not sufficient to help the student learn. He knows that while students all have different learning styles, they are all human beings first. Therefore, he applies great effort to connect with the students at a very human level helping them make connections between what they already know and the new material that he is teaching … Amir is an excellent mechanics instructor who is dedicated to providing the highest level of mechanical engineering education.”
Danesh-Yazdi formerly spent three years as a lecturer and assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Penn State University Behrend. He earned a doctorate in mechanical engineering from City University of New York in 2015 after receiving a bachelor’s degree from the institution in 2009.
Danesh-Yazdi will be recognized at the ASEE Virtual Conference on June 22-26.
The Mechanics Division annually highlights up to three professors with no more than five years of academic teaching experience for their exceptional contributions to mechanics education. Three current members of the Rose-Hulman faculty are past recipients of the award: Richard Stamper, provost and vice president for academic affairs (2001); James Hanson, professor of civil engineering (2006); and Daniel Kawano, associate professor of mechanical engineering (2016).
Danesh-Yazdi joined the Rose-Hulman faculty in 2018 and has earned rave reviews from faculty colleagues and students for his teaching of such topics as fluid mechanics and heat transfer, aerodynamics, vibrations, engineering mechanics and measurements and instrumentations.
Mechanical engineering department head Richard Onyancha notes, “Amir has a way of bringing material to life and helping students make connections in ways that few faculty members can. He is very passionate about the classes that he teaches, but he’s especially passionate in teaching mechanics courses at the foundational level, such as statics and strength of materials.”
In a recent evaluation, one of Danesh-Yazdi’s students stated learning the material “like it’s never going to leave me because of how well he (Danesh-Yazdi) ingrained each subject into my knowledge.”
Onyancha adds, “Dr. Danesh-Yazdi understands that passion about a course alone is not sufficient to help the student learn. He knows that while students all have different learning styles, they are all human beings first. Therefore, he applies great effort to connect with the students at a very human level helping them make connections between what they already know and the new material that he is teaching … Amir is an excellent mechanics instructor who is dedicated to providing the highest level of mechanical engineering education.”
Danesh-Yazdi formerly spent three years as a lecturer and assistant professor of mechanical engineering at Penn State University Behrend. He earned a doctorate in mechanical engineering from City University of New York in 2015 after receiving a bachelor’s degree from the institution in 2009.