Engineering graduate students Morgan Sanger and Changyue Song are among the winners of the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s 2018 Campus-Wide Teaching Assistant Awards.
Morgan Sanger
Sanger, a master’s student in geological engineering, received an Early Excellence in Teaching Award. She studies geotechnical engineering, conducting research on the chemistry of recycled concrete aggregate leachate, which is liquid that has extracted some substances from a material. Sanger has taught Soil Mechanics and Problem Solving Using Computer Tools.
“I enjoy the challenge and learning opportunity presented in teaching,” she says. “As individuals, my students challenge me to consider the same concept from many different perspectives, to communicate in different ways, to be adaptable and persistent. Their questions inspire new curiosities and refresh my interest in familiar concepts.”
Changyue Song
Song, a PhD student in industrial engineering, won the Innovation in Teaching Award. He specializes in big data analytics for system improvement, constructing statistical models for systems and processes that detect faults, predict failures, and find the best way to improve efficiency. This work requires integrating statistics, optimization, and engineering knowledge. He has taught Fundamentals of Industrial Data Analytics.
Song is motivated as a teacher to share the relatively new area of data analytics with students and help them gain skills in this high-demand field. He believes more student involvement will help the field develop.
“During teaching, I enjoy the smiling face of the student when a puzzle is solved,” he says. “I am happy for the students when their efforts pay off and they learn more knowledge from the course.”
Sanger and Song will receive their awards at a reception March 7, 2019, at Van Vleck Hall.