Teaching
Through all my teaching experiences I hold at the center the importance of making students think like scientists while learning their course materials. Prior to giving a lecture, I ask myself:
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How do I motivate students to understand concepts which are often too abstract? Often I start off with where we will conclude at the end of the lecture and the type of real-world problems that can be addressed using the concepts.
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How do I connect concepts that are to be taught in the present lecture to other concepts that the students have come across previously in this course or elsewhere? How do I convey to students that these are not independent concepts, but rather closely related and often arising out of the same basic principles?
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Where does what we are discussing today fit into the big picture? How can we relate these different concepts and discover the underlying theme?
Courses Taught
The course covered the fundamentals of modern microfluidic devices with applications to biomedical measurements, e.g., electrophoretic systems, flow cytometers, and immunoassays. The course provided a review of the fundamental properties of microfluidic systems including the effects of fluid mechanics, heat transfer, and electromagnetic phenomena on biological systems. Students were given theoretical and hands-on training on photolithography, chemical and plasma etching, chemical and vapor deposition, micromolding, and surface bonding; as well as an introduction to microfluidic design, including microflows, actuation and valving. Students carried out hands-on projects in the ASRC NanoFabrication Facility, fabricating their own microfluidic devices.
Principles of Device Microfabrication
(Graduate, Fall 2015 - 2019)
Columbia University
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
The course covers the science and technology of conventional and advanced micro- and nanofabrication techniques for electronics, integrated, and discrete components. Topics include diffusion, ion implantation, thin-film growth, optical and advanced lithography, and plasma and wet etching. The course is intended to provide a general introduction to semiconductor processing technology, but also expose students to the broad range of applications this technology has been adapted for in the biomedical, energy, and photonics industries. The course is primarily descriptive but includes enough quantitative aspects to provide the students with some understanding of the practical aspects.
Microfluidic Devices in Biotechnology
(Graduate and Undergraduate, Fall 2016, 2017)
City College of New York
Department of Biomedical Engineering
The course covered a broad range of research areas within nanotechnology, including survey lectures on biomolecular nanotechnology, organic chemistry for nanotechnology, nanophotonics, semiconductor processing and more. Students were also introduced to the fundamentals of electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and many top-down nanofabrication techniques, which included hands-on training on several pieces of equipment. The course culminated with group projects where students perform fabrication and/or characterization of devices or materials. Their work was then presented as a final project.