2020 Faculty Award Winners

Johns Hopkins Engineering for Professionals’ 2020 Faculty Awards honor 10 outstanding online and part-time instructors for their dedication in the classroom this past year.

Instructors in the online and part-time programs at Johns Hopkins Engineering are notable for their skill in incorporating their real-world expertise and experience into their classes, allowing their students to learn from these practicing engineers and scientists working at the top of their fields.

For more information about each instructor, please click on their name.

Exceptional Online Course Design Award

	Sean McGervey Systems Engineering 645.632 Applied Analytics For Model Based Systems Engineering
“I also really like Sean’s enthusiasm for the topic and both his experience and expertise contributed to allowing him to provide a lot of useful training and feedback.”
	Kristin Fretz Space Systems Engineering 675.713 Fault Management And Autonomy: Improving Spacecraft Survivability
“The course was fantastic as an introduction into fault management. It provided real-world examples in use today. Also, it was very good at getting in depth/in the details.”

New Instructor Award

	Emanuela Colla Applied Biomedical Engineering 585.685 Methods In Neurobiology
“I love the range of videos the professor gave for consumption. Her lectures were comprehensive of all of the current literature on the topic which was astounding, while the YouTube/Jove videos she located to simplify some of the more dense topics were so accessible.”
	Carl Engelbrecht Space Systems Engineering 675.731 Spacecraft Propulsion
“The best class I have taken at Hopkins. Carl was funny, engaging, and thoughtful. He provided responses to questions in a matter of minutes. The class provided more hands on and real-world experience than a lot of theory classes I have taken. I am a better engineer for having taken this class.”

Outstanding Instructor Award

	Martha Connolly Applied Biomedical Engineering 585.761 Bioentrenpreneurship
“Dr. Connolly is a kind, caring, invested professor and I highly recommend taking this course with her!”
	Perry Wilson Information Systems Engineering 605.788 Big Data Processing Using Hadoop
“Small class, engaging assignments that took student interests into consideration, a rare opportunity to interact synchronously within a course, …a very knowledgeable, down to earth and hands-on professor.”
	Amir-Homayoon Najmi Electrical and Computer Engineering 525.721 Advanced Digital Signal Processing and 525.762 Introduction To Wavelets
“I really like Dr. Najmi’s teaching method—it shows all of the theory, but reduces it down to the set that’s required. The homework assignments then are challenging in a different way as it pertains to the content, really forcing us to understand what we are doing prior to working on the homework. It works really well for me, and I really learned a lot! Also, all of the real-world examples were extremely helpful.”
	Thomas “Buck” Buchanan Engineering Management 595.660 Planning And Managing Projects
“Professor Buchanan made this course enjoyable by imparting…knowledge and wisdom.”
	Bonnie Kranzer Boland Environmental Engineering, Science, and Management 575.731 Water Resources Planning
“[Professor Boland] went out of their way to engage with students through in-depth discussion posts and provided thoughtful feedback on semester long project. The term paper was well explained and multiple smaller assignments earlier in the course provided ample opportunity for feedback and improvement.”

Sustained Excellence Award

	Christian “CJ” Utara Systems Engineering 645.667 Management Of Systems Projects
“CJ was enthusiastic and effectively presented the material with very clear expectations. The great presentation of material and assignments made the class challenging and effective without any unnecessary stress trying to guess any expectations of the instructors. I most enjoyed when the material in the lectures and office hours was related or applied to real-world examples.”