Announcing the 2023-24 Goldstein Outstanding Graduate Student Teaching Award Winners

Mechanical Engineering graduate students Thiruvasakan Perumal and Ryne Juidici have been selected as the 2023-2024 winners of the Goldstein Outstanding Graduate Student Teaching Award. The title comes with a $3500 honorarium, certificate, and their names immortalized alongside previous winners on a plaque in the ME Student Services Office.  

During fall and spring semesters, the ME Department collects student evaluations and instructor recommendations nominating graduate student teaching assistants that have exhibited excellence in teaching and made a significant difference in student learning. Winners are selected by a committee consisting of the directors and program managers of both graduate and undergraduate studies in mechanical engineering. For more information regarding this award, visit z.umn.edu/GOGSTA.

In Thiru’s nominations, students were incredibly impressed with his dedication, adding that he always came ”prepared and ready to teach” and was “willing to help during every aspect of the class.” He was also recognized for going above and beyond by staying beyond class time to ensure everyone understood the material and even holding extra sessions for particularly hard concepts. When students were asked what he could do to improve, most responded with some version of the following: “There wasn't more he could have done, he’s fantastic!”

Thiru's research is on design and testing of a facile and durable anti-icing coating. He works in the Li Research Group under his advisor, Professor Jun Li. When he is not working on mechanical engineering projects, he enjoys hiking and exploring National Parks.

In his nominations, Ryne was described as always willing to go "above and beyond" and "there was never a problem he was not willing to solve."  Additionally, Ryne was always “willing to put a lot of effort into our understanding” and was “always patient and explain[ed] everything carefully.”

Ryne is a first-year PhD student whose focus is on aerosol instrument development and calibration. He works under Professor David Y.H. Pui as a research assistant in the Particle Technology Lab. When not doing research or studying for classes, he can be found playing a few rounds of disc golf or reading obscure science fiction novels.