Faculty Awards & Honors

“Ruth and Joel Spira Outstanding Teaching Award in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering in 2009”

Rajit Manohar, Associate Professor receives the Ruth and Joel Spira Outstanding Teaching Award in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering in 2009. This award is presented annually to a faculty member who has made extraordinary efforts in teaching.

Manohar has taught a variety of courses in the School. ECE/CS 314 - Computer Organization, ECE 571 - Asynchronous VLSI Design, ECE 474 - Digital VLSI, ECE 697 - Topics in Computer Systems, ECE 320 - Systems and Networks, ECE 475 - Computer Architecture, ECE 439/539 - VLSI Digital System Design and ECE 308 - Fundamentals of Computer Engineering.

The theme from Professor Manohar student evaluations comment on his excellent lecture style, his preparedness and that he takes the time to connect with the students and make sure that they understand the topic before moving on.

In addition to teaching, Manohar serves on various School, College and University committees. He is currently the Director of Graduate Studies for Electrical and Computer Engineering.

“Ruth and Joel Spira Outstanding Teaching Award in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering in 2008”

Wesley Swartz, Senior Research Associate receives the Ruth and Joel Spira Outstanding Teaching Award in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering in 2008. This Award was made in recognition of Wesley’s dedication to teaching and willingness to capture the students’ interest, guide and offer assistance to help them succeed.

Swartz received his B.S. from Drexel University in Electrical Engineering and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Penn State. Swartz joined the School in 1972. During that time he has grown and enhanced the curriculum for our students. Swartz teaches ECE 303, Electromagnetic Fields and Waves and ENGRD 230, Introduction to Digital Logic Design in the fall and ECE 488, RF Circuits and Systems in the spring semester. One student commented, "Professor Swartz is one of the best professors I have had at Cornell. Not only was he prepared for each lecture and stimulated my interest in the subject, he extended above and beyond his role as professor to help students succeed in the course. He showed that he truly cares about his students and really made me like my major more than before this course." The general theme from student evaluations is that Professor Swartz's lectures were well organized and that he made himself available for all of his students.

“Ruth and Joel Spira Outstanding Teaching Award in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering in 2007”

Professor David A. Hammer received the Ruth and Joel Spira Outstanding Teaching Award in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering in 2007. This Award was made in recognition of Professor Hammer's dedication to teaching and willingness to help students and to provide them with a course they will reflect back upon as one of their most interesting undergraduate classroom experiences.

Over the past several years, Professor Hammer has taught two courses in the Spring semesters: ECE 484, Introduction to controlled Fusion: Principles and Technology, and ECE 588 Energy Seminar II; and he teaches one course in the Fall semesters: ECE 581 Introduction to Plasma Physics, which is the cornerstone to the University’s plasma physics program. To ECE 484 and 588 he brings his research experience into the undergraduate classroom with great effectiveness. In the energy seminar he captivated the students’ interest in energy issues by organizing excellent speakers and in 484 he enlightens students about “the holy grail of energy production” as one student puts it. A consistent theme from the student evaluations is that Professor Hammer cares deeply about students.

“Bruce Land Receives Ruth and Joel Spira Outstanding Teaching Award in 2006”

Bruce has been teaching in the School in various capacities for the last 20 years. For the last 8 years he has taught our capstone course ECE 476 Digital Systems Design using MicroControllers. This has become the most popular course in the school, due primarily to Bruce's enthusiasm, teaching skills, and personal guidance in the lab.

In ECE 476, Bruce teaches the students about designing systems using microcontrollers, and then allows each student to build and test a self-generated design projects. Bruce has helped students build robots, health monitors, computer games, energy controllers, and "smart trains". It’s an amazing array of projects that he leads each year. His web page, http://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/courses/ee476/FinalProjects/ shows most of the projects from over the years.

Each year Bruce encourages all students to submit their designs for publication. Many students have seen their projects published in national magazines.

This award is not the first time Bruce has been recognized for his outstanding teaching. In 1993 he was awarded the “Faculty of the Year” teaching award in Computer Science. In 1996 he won first place in "Instructional Materials" at the national ACM SIG User Conference XXIV. In 1995 he presented a series of lectures on "Innovation in Undergraduate Teaching" at Oregon State University. Bruce is a leader in instruction.