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Dr. Philip Koshy honoured with President's Award for Excellence in Instruction
May 23, 2012
Dr. Philip Koshy, associate professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, has been selected as a 2012 recipient of the President's Award for Excellence in Instruction. The award, established in 1993, provides the opportunity for McMaster to recognize outstanding contributions to education.
Dr. Philip Koshy is a gifted and caring professor who exudes passion and enthusiasm in his teaching. His dedication to students, along with his caring and thoughtful approach to teaching and his ability to proactively develop a rapport with his students are reflected in the consistently high teaching evaluation scores he receives each year. Dr. Habibi, Chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, affirms that Phil "is blessed with a knack for explaining seemingly difficult-to-comprehend concepts in simple terms with no loss of rigor, and actually rendering it fun. He engages students and inspires them to learn, often time even being able to positively reverse any initial adverse sentiment they may have had towards the course material."
He is an active researcher with a substantial portfolio of research publications, patents, and research honours awarded by his discipline. It is this love ofresearch and scholarship that he shares with his students. They recognize the difficulty of the materials included in his courses, yet they praise the influence he has had on their thinking and their career development. Dr. Koshy challenges his students to do their best with difficult material and then rewards them by showing them that they can perform beyond their own expectations. He leads them to be the best they can be and they appreciate it. He makes himself available to help them individually, even into the wee hours of the morning, working with them until the last student's needs are met, irrespective of the time commitment it requires. He works with them to develop research skills, resulting in numerous student authorships that greatly further his students' academic and professional careers. From recruitment through to and beyond graduation, he has not only been able to witness, but has also contributed to the development of his students into mature, productive citizens.
Dr. Koshy is a scholar, an internationally recognized researcher, and a model o fthe teaching we value at McMaster; instruction that integrates teaching with the excellent research environment provided by our professors. Dr. Koshy exemplifies this wedding of teaching with research and is clearly deserving of a 2012 President's Award in Instruction.
