September 2007 Issue
the summit series
Their Success is His Success
Connecting with students is what being an engineering professor is all about, says Summit Award winner Uttandaraman Sundararaj, P.Eng. Sometimes, that means employing some unorthodox approaches.
BY FRANCINE MAXWELL
The PEGG
 |
THE TRUE REWARDS |
As a child, he was fascinated with the status and material things being an engineer might afford him. But the fascination grew into a passion — one that respects what being an engineer means at a much deeper level.
“My uncle was an engineer with the Indian Army in India,” says Uttandaraman Sundararaj, P.Eng., a chemicals and materials engineering professor at the University of Alberta. “When I was four years old, he used to drive me around my neighbourhood in his jeep while all my friends cheered. I thought, Wow, you get to drive a fancy car! Engineering must be pretty good!
“Later I saw how my mother was so proud of my father, who is a civil engineer. I saw him poring over designs and how interested he was. I wanted that too,” says Dr. Sundararaj. His father, Palanimuthu Sundararaj, P.Eng., is also an APEGGA member.
Engineering has kept holding Dr. Sundararaj’s interest, and it’s also led him into a career he says is beyond rewarding. Dr. Sundararaj is one of the University of Alberta’s most popular engineering professors. His passion for the work, in fact, earned him the 2007 Excellence in Education Summit Award.
In the same way a picture is worth a thousand words, when it comes to
teaching students engineering, a video or a demonstration is worth a thousand
calculations.
-Dr. Uttandaraman Sundararaj, P.Eng.
Fields and Halls
These days, Dr. Sundararaj works with students who haul bags of books and sit in amphitheatres and classrooms to hear him. It wasn’t always the case.
In the field, Dr. Sundararaj taught Six Sigma Black Belt processes, which are processes for solving problems with data and statistics. It was then he discovered his teaching destiny.
“While I was working as a polymer engineer for the General Electric Company, I was involved with teaching but it wasn’t the same thing. I missed the opportunity to interact with students eager to learn engineering and to focus on their career and goals. It’s the interaction with students I enjoy the most and that’s why I came back to the U of A,” says Dr. Sundararaj.
“You’re shaping their lives in a way,” says Dr. Sundararaj, “When you see them succeed, that’s the best part. You know you’ve made a difference.”
Dr. Sundararaj attributes his award-winning teaching skills to being well
prepared and making sure his students are engaged. Sometimes, grabbing their
attention has led to unorthodox methods and props.
With the help of his wife, Suzy, Dr. Sundararaj once worked out how to demonstrate
a fluid mechanics idea in the backyard, using good old garden hoses. “In
the same way a picture is worth a thousand words, when it comes to teaching students
engineering, a video or a demonstration is worth a thousand calculations.”
Leave No One Behind
From using interactive quizzes and chat sessions on the Internet to putting ordinary household items to work to demonstrate a point, very little is off-limits. Dr. Sundararaj makes sure that each student understands the lessons — that no one is left out.
“You need to reach all people through their own methods of learning. You need to figure out how to teach them and have it make sense to them.”
Dr. Sundararaj’s teaching skills aren’t only applicable to future engineers. He may be a professor of engineering, but he’s also been spotted in other faculties.
“I recently taught part of a course in pharmacy. It was an advanced undergraduate course in delivery systems of drugs to the body through the use of polymers. It was an interesting change.”
And if that weren’t diverse enough, Dr. Sundararaj also regularly organizes sports events for students and faculty at the university, helping foster camaraderie. That camaraderie translates into students being more comfortable in approaching their professors — and gaining a better understanding of course materials.
“Being interactive with the students in class — you feel energized by it. I tell them that the only bad question is the question you don’t ask. That way, during or after class, students feel comfortable in coming to you with their problems.”
Rutherford Winner Too
It’s adding up to recognition, and not only from APEGGA. Dr. Sundararaj has also earned the Rutherford Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. This is the highest teaching award at U of A, presented to publicly recognize excellence in teaching by full-time academic staff.
Dr. Sundararaj chairs the Teaching Initiatives Committee within his department and is leading a faculty effort on effective engineering education. The committee’s mandate is to move learning forward, to ensure that all professors are kept abreast of the best methodology for keeping their students on track academically.
It all sounds interesting — but even the best teachers have something they
don’t like about their jobs.
“The overwhelming task of marking 150 exams at once is daunting, and getting
motivated and looking at that big pile is tough,” Dr. Sundararaj admits. “But
of course you want to get them back to the students as soon as you can.”
His students don’t seem to lack feedback. Nor do they lack dedicated teaching,
the accolades and awards prove. But Dr. Sundararaj says he gets back something
far better than recognition.
“My goal is to make sure our students are the best educated in Canada.
The personal rewards that come with that are much higher than material ones.”
That’s right. It’s not about fancy cars, after all.
The Excellence in Education Award is presented to members who have made exemplary contributions to teaching and learning at a recognized post-secondary teaching establishment in Alberta.