BIOE Announces Spring 2022 Instructional Impact Awards

The Fischell Department of Bioengineering (BIOE) announced the newest recipients of the department’s Instructional Impact Awards. The semi-annual awards were established to honor a BIOE tenure-track faculty member, graduate teaching assistant, and undergraduate teaching assistant who made impressive contributions in and out of the classroom. Award recipients are determined based on student nominations.

BIOE Associate Professor and DEI Associate Chair Alisa Clyne was awarded the Faculty Instructional Impact Award. Clyne leads the Vascular Kinetics Lab, which investigates integrated mechanical and biochemical interactions among cells and proteins of the cardiovascular system. Clyne was recognized by students in her BIOE 331: Biofluids course who noted a love for her organization as well as her clear consideration for students’ well-being. “I think this award is particularly special since this semester was so tough for students,” Clyne said. “Having a largely flipped classroom, in which we spent most of our time solving problems in groups, and relaxing course rules helped students do their best work.”

Kurt Kunkel (M.Eng. ‘22), a recent M.Eng. in bioengineering graduate, received the Graduate Teaching Assistant Instructional Impact Award. Kunkel was recognized for his contributions to the BIOE121: Biology for Engineers Laboratory course. Kunkel took on this role in addition to his duties as the 121 Instructional lab manager. Students nominated Kunkel for his outstanding ability to help them hone their lab skills. Student nominations also cited Kunkel’s willingness to readily answer their questions, give encouraging feedback, and demonstrate extreme patience in mentoring. “I was honestly surprised when I was notified about the award,” Kunkel said. “I was truly working off the example set by my professors throughout my six years of undergrad and grad school at UMD.”

Yusuf Mastoor (B.S. ‘22), a recent BIOE graduate, was named the recipient of the Undergraduate Teaching Assistant Instructional Impact Award in recognition of his work with Clyne’s Biofluidics course.. In his teaching assistant role, Mastoor created a math review to help students and ran an invaluable studio section, which incorporated fun learning elements like Kahoot, a game-based learning platform. Mastoor also provided students with detailed feedback on their semester-long design project, and he offered one-on-one tutoring for students. “I had really amazing students who pushed themselves to learn and actively sought out help, which helped make my work easy,” he said.