(2jl) Teaching-Focused Faculty Candidate: Using Computational Tools in Chemical Engineering Classrooms

As a teacher, my primary aim is to make the content both engaging and accessible to all my students, both inside and outside of the classroom. My experiences as a TA and course instructor at UVA have taught me the importance of understanding each student's individual learning style and pace. I have learned to be patient when repeating explanations and to focus on helping students grasp the concepts rather than simply giving them the solution to a problem. I find it more important to teach them problem-solving techniques, which they can then apply to other similar problems.

Beyond the classroom, I encourage my students to take advantage of office hours. I want them to understand that it's okay to not fully comprehend the material right away, and that I am always available to meet with them outside of class to provide additional support. I emphasize the importance of asking questions, even those they deem "simple," as it could help me identify areas that need further clarification for the entire class. During office hour meetings, I review key concepts and ask questions to gauge each student’s understanding and ensure that they are comfortable with the material. Their questions and feedback both in and outside the classroom allow me to identify concepts that need more attention, leading to a more focused and effective learning experience for all.

Teaching is an incredibly rewarding and fulfilling experience – one of the greatest joys is watching the growth and progress of students over the course of the semester. My goal in every class I teach is to make the material engaging and relevant to my students, so they can see the practical applications of what they are learning. I aspire to have the same positive impact on my students as my own professors had on me and inspire them to develop a love for learning and a curious mindset. The satisfaction I receive from watching my students grow and succeed is unmatched and is what makes teaching such a rewarding responsibility.

Teaching and mentoring experience

During my undergraduate years, I served as a peer tutor for Organic Chemistry and Multivariable Calculus. I was paired up with a current student in the class and met with them weekly/biweekly depending on their needs and helped them review class material and prepare for quizzes and exams. In my fourth year, I served as the TA for organic chemistry labs for both the Fall and Spring semesters. I helped 22 students every week set up their experiments and answer questions regarding the procedure and data collection. I found immense reward in being able to guide them and being the person that they were not hesitant to ask questions. There were instances when I had to repeat my explanation multiple times, but I valued this experience because it taught me patience and taught me that some students just needed someone to sit with them and guide them through the material more than once. It made me realize that different students learn different ways and can understand new content at different rates.

During my undergraduate, I did not have the opportunity to take a Material and Energy Balances class. Therefore, when I was assigned as the TA for the course in Fall 2021, I attended all the lectures and learned the material alongside the students. This experience proved to be valuable a year later when I became an instructor for the same class. I had a firsthand understanding of the concepts that required additional time and attention, allowing me to provide better guidance to my students. My experience with the material as a TA ensured that I was well-prepared for my lectures and flexible in making adjustments based on the questions that arose during class. For example, I designed lectures that allocated more time to better clarify the points of confusion for the more difficult concepts that I had identified the previous year. I also created in-class worksheets that assessed student comprehension and facilitated group discussions during lectures. One of the best ways to learn is to teach, and these activities encouraged students to work together in small groups and learn from and teach one another.

To enhance the students' comprehension of the material, we created exam and homework questions based on the example problems covered during class to gauge their understanding of the concepts. While grading exams, we utilized mathematical solvers such as python and spreadsheets to differentiate between mathematical errors and conceptual errors. This enabled us to provide detailed and comprehensive feedback, highlighting any gaps in their understanding and assisting them in setting specific goals for future learning.

Starting Fall 2020 I worked with two undergraduate students in my lab. I met with them weekly to discuss research questions and help them to get set up with their calculations. Since then, I have continued mentoring undergraduate students in the group. Through these interactions, I have strengthened my ability to explain fundamental concepts, and to set up tasks for the students to apply the concepts in their calculations. I make sure to set time aside to plan effective discussions every week and have learned to ask them questions to ensure that they were following my examples and explanations. While mentoring undergraduate students can be challenging, given that they do not have the same fundamental training in the research subject, I have really reveled in teaching them the subject, as well as to think critically, ask scientific questions and set up methods to try to answer those questions.

Research Interests

My Ph.D. research focuses on understanding the speciation of the active site of oxide supported tungsten oxide catalysts via thermodynamic modeling and quantum calculations. Supported tungsten oxides have been studied as catalysts for a variety of reactions that involve H₂, such as the reduction of carboxylic acids. The active sites for carboxylic acid reduction are influenced by the presence of H₂ in the feed, which can affect the speciation of the WO_x clusters. We used a combination of Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations, global optimization methods, and ab initio thermodynamic modeling to evaluate the speciation and thermodynamic stability of titania and silica supported WO₃ clusters.

We constructed molecular models for different WO_x domain sizes (monomers, dimers, trimers) supported on titania and silica, consistent with the small WO₃ clusters we observed by STEM on our experimentally synthesized materials. To evaluate reactivity of the supported WO₃ clusters with hydrogen, we globally optimized a library of structures with variable numbers of Brønsted acid sites and Lewis acid sites (from oxygen vacancies). Ab initio thermodynamic modeling showed that WO₃ speciation on TiO₂ forms acid sites at milder conditions than WO₃ on silica. Bader charge analyses of WO₃ on titania indicated that the oxidation state of W was not significantly affected by the removal of O atoms or addition of H atoms, whereas the W is reduced under similar conditions when supported on silica. Our results are corroborated by in-situ XPS of W, which revealed that the titania supported WO₃ species did not change from its initial oxidation state. However, in-situ XPS for silica supported WO_x showed that W is reduced, which is supported by Bader charge analysis.

Future Directions

In terms of courses, I enjoy teaching Materials and Energy Balances, and my dissertation research and undergraduate degree has trained me in thermodynamics, numerical methods, and computational chemistry. As a faculty member I would be interested in teaching/developing courses in data science and give students the opportunity to learn and use programming languages such as Python and MATLAB. I am excited to teach and mentor undergraduates and expand the use of computational tools in chemical engineering classrooms.