Academics

Behnoud Kermani receives graduate assistant teaching award

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Civil engineering doctoral candidate Behnoud Kermani was chosen as the recipient of the Harold F. Martin Graduate Assistant Outstanding Teaching Award by the Penn State Graduate Fellowships and Awards Administration.

The award recognizes exceptional contributions by a teaching assistant to their students. Candidates are evaluated on their interaction with students, desire for and demonstration of involvement with teaching beyond the minimal requirements, resourcefulness, dependability, and the originality they bring to the teaching assistant position.

Students must be nominated for the award by their academic adviser or a faculty member to be eligible for consideration. Kermani was nominated by his two advisers, Shelley Stoffels, associate professor of civil engineering, and Ming Xiao, associate professor of civil engineering. In addition, Kermani was required to submit a formal application and provide letters of recommendation from a former student and from faculty members who supervised the classes he instructed.

“I greatly appreciate my academic advisers, faculty supervisors and my former student for their help and support,” said Kermani.  

Kermani has taught multiple classes during his time at Penn State. He was an instructor for CE 337 - Civil Engineering Material Laboratory for four semesters and is a teaching assistant for CE 439 - Geotechnical and Materials Capstone Design. Additionally, he has prepared and taught multiple lectures in CE 335 - Engineering Mechanics of Soil, CE 435 - Foundation Engineering, and CE 100 - Topics and Contemporary Issues in Civil and Environmental Engineering.

When he isn’t in the classroom, Kermani works on his doctoral research on geotechnical and pavement engineering. His doctoral dissertation topic is “Experimental and Numerical Study of Subgrade Soil Migration into Pavement Subbase and Mitigation using Geotextile.” He passed his doctoral defense in January and will be graduating in May 2018.

Kermani was notified that he was selected as the recipient of the award by an email from the Office of Graduate Fellowships and Award Administration.

“I was so thrilled and honored when I realized that I was named the recipient of this award,” said Kermani.

He will be honored at the Graduate Student Awards Luncheon. In addition, he will receive a $500 prize.

“I’m not really focused on the monetary prize. The honor of being named the recipient of this award is worth much more than the money. In addition, as someone who is looking for a career in academia, I believe this award will strengthen my resume,” said Kermani.

Last Updated April 10, 2018

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