Celebrating ME teaching professor appointments and promotions

We are excited to celebrate three well-deserved promotions and two new appointments within the Teaching Professor track! These dedicated educators bring curriculum innovation and vital leadership to our hands-on laboratories, capstone design projects, and academic programs. Most importantly, their commitment to teaching directly shapes the success of our students across both Mechanical Engineering and Aerospace Engineering. Please join us in congratulating them as they step into these elevated roles and continue driving educational excellence across our department!

Sonny Nimityongskul, Assistant Teaching Professor

“I believe engineering education is most powerful when students see a clear connection between the classroom and the world around them. Whether it is using vibrations to explain why a washing machine “walks” across the floor or framing a dynamics problem around my daughter flying off a merry-go-round, I work to ground abstract ideas in everyday experiences. These examples spark curiosity and highlight the relevance of engineering fundamentals to both industry and daily life.”

“As I reflect on the past decade, I see a teaching career that has been both rewarding and continually evolving. I am committed to growing as an educator by incorporating innovative pedagogical approaches, contributing to the scholarship of teaching and learning, and continuing to design courses that bring hands-on, real-world engineering into the curriculum. Most importantly, I remain dedicated to helping every student at UW–Madison see the “big picture” of engineering, engage deeply with the material, and find the motivation to succeed.” – Nimityongskul

Mike Sracic, Assistant Teaching Professor

“My teaching philosophy is grounded in five core strategies that emphasize clarity, rigor, engagement, and professional relevance. I view teaching as both a technical and human endeavor: students learn best when complex ideas are presented clearly, reinforced through application and experimentation, and connected to real-world engineering practice. My goal is to create an inclusive, active learning environment in which students with diverse backgrounds develop confidence, curiosity, and the ability to apply theory to meaningful problems.” – Sracic

“Prof. Sracic is a great instructor and person. He will go out of his way to make time for you and answer questions.”

“There was a lot of hard content in this class, but it was taught in a way that was as easy to understand as it could be. I will be taking as many courses as I can with Prof. Sracic before I graduate.” 

Arganthaël Berson, Associate Teaching Professor

“In all of my classes I have strived to ensure that every student has the best learning experience possible, regardless of their background or learning style. Students appreciate my dedication to teaching; in 2018, the UW-Madison Mechanical Engineering’s honor society, Pi Tau Sigma, awarded me the F.M. Young Distinguished Faculty Teaching Award. This award is given once a year to the best instructor as chosen by a vote of all seniors in the department.” – Berson

“Professor Berson excels at explaining the topics and how they apply to the real world.” 

“Fantastic teaching! Concepts were clearly defined and we learned WHY everything was important.” 

Mike Cheadle, Associate Teaching Professor

“The simplest qualitative measure of teaching effectiveness is the learning that it produces. Although a variety of learning outcomes are possible, I believe the most important outcome, the one every educator should strive for, is that of transformative learning. Transformative learning changes the way students view the world, stimulates their desire to change it for the better, and increases their ability to bring about this desired change. To accomplish this, transformative learning requires that teachers not only transfer knowledge but also cultivate an understanding of the value of the knowledge as well. My teaching philosophy is to create learning environments that cultivate this transformative learning.“ – Cheadle

“I loved the collaborative environment of the ME 417 class and being able to explain my thought process and see the thought process of my peers.”

“I think just the experience of working on a team in ME 351 for the entire academic year and being able to grapple with the technical aspect as well as the softer and important skills of communicating that product, risks, advantages, stakeholders, and real-world implications is important. Utilizing resources such as labs/makerspace on campus, faculty consultants, professionals, and professors has been such an important skill I learned and being able to technically communicate issues, thoughts, and new ideas was important.”

Jennifer Detlor, Associate Teaching Professor

“Teaching these core courses to thousands of students has reinforced for me that effective engineering education requires ongoing reflection, thoughtful design, and a commitment to clarity, transparency, and purposeful practice. When we approach our teaching in this way, we create learning experiences that genuinely support students in mastering challenging material and developing as engineers.” – Detlor

“I really enjoy the fact that Professor Detlor pushes students to develop intuition about the problems we go through. I really enjoy the fact that Professor Detlor strives to understand each student’s perspective on a problem before she responds to a question.”

“Professor Detlor is very responsive to question in and out of class and does a good job articulating a response in a way that we can understand.”

Read more about the College’s 2026 promotions

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