manufacturing and design division (M&D) outstanding teaching award

The Manufacturing & Design (M&D) Outstanding Teaching Award (OTA) recognizes M&D Division members for excellence in manufacturing or design education and training. This includes curriculum development and the dissemination of courses in either area. The award will be presented annually during the M&D Townhall Meeting at the IISE Annual Conference.

Eligibility Criteria

  • The nominee must be a member of IISE and the M&D Division at the time of submission.
  • May not have won the OTA during the previous three years.
  • The course for which the nominee is being recognized must be a manufacturing or design course within an engineering program.
  • The candidate must have:
    • Developed at least thirty percent (30%) of the course curriculum, content and learning materials.
    • Taught the course at least three times during the three calendar years prior to the year in which the OTA will be presented. The period of performance for the 2025 OTA is from January 1, 2022 until December 31, 2024.
  • The candidate must be nominated by either a:
    • Faculty member in the college/school/department responsible for the administration or presentation of the course.
    • Professional colleague with first-hand knowledge/experience of the nominee’s contributions to the course.
    • A student who is currently or was previously enrolled in the course when the nominee is (currently) or was (previously) the student’s instructor.

Nominations are due by February 9, 2025 at 11:59pm Eastern Standard Time (UTC -5).

Application Process

  • The candidate must be nominated by either a:
    • Faculty member in the college/school/department responsible for the administration or presentation of the course.
    • Professional colleague with first-hand knowledge/experience of the nominee’s contributions to the course.
    • A student who is currently or was previously enrolled in the course when the nominee is (currently) or was (previously) the student’s instructor.
    The nomination package must include in a single PDF file:
  • An OTA nomination form that is completed and signed by the nominator.
  • A letter limited to a maximum of three pages that includes statements regarding:
    • The nominee’s contributions to the developing and/or teaching the course that satisfy the applicable eligibility criteria.
    • The nominee’s teaching philosophy.
  • A copy of the nominee’s current curriculum vitae or resume limited to:
    • A maximum of six pages
    • Only covering the past 5 years
  • Most recent course description with a hyperlink as a citation to the institution’s course catalog or equivalent.
  • Course Syllabus from an offering during the period of performance.
  • Course material samples such as:
    • Lecture notes and/or instructor guides.
    • Instructional materials provided to students
    • Presentation materials, charts, slides
  • At least two copies of teaching evaluations during the period of performance.
  • As least two letters of support from academic or professional colleagues highlighting the impacts of the course.

The nomination package shall be submitted to the OTA Selection Committee Chairperson, Dr. Abishek Balsamy-Kamaraj, by February 9, 2025 11:59pm ET (UTC -5).

Evaluation Process

  • Nominees will be evaluated by the committee based on the following criteria:
    • Innovation (30%): Innovation in teaching course content and the methods of delivery to the students.
    • Impacts (20%): Broader impacts on teaching the course; including but not limited to publications, presentations, industrial collaboration, etc.
    • Quality (20%): This is the relevance that the course content has in educating the target audience.
    • Applied Learning (20%): The development and use of materials to empower students to apply and implement lessons learning into manufacturing or design (e.g., games, simulations, assignments, projects)
    • Leadership (10%): Demonstrating or fostering excellence in students, or evaluations from students or other faculty
  • The selection committee will:
    • Evaluate each nominee against the evaluation criteria.
    • Assign a final score to each candidate based on the evaluation criteria and their weighting.
  • The Selection Committee Chairperson will rank the nominees according to their final scores.
    • The nominee with the highest score will be declared the winner.
    • In the event of a tie, the committee will deliberate the determine the winner.
  • The Selection Committee Chairperson will inform the winner. Notification will occur no later than March 15, 2025
  • Either the selection committee chairperson or the M&D President-Elect will notify IISE regarding the winner per IISE policies.

Important Dates (Deadlines)

  • Nominees who have not won the OTA during the previous three years may continue to be nominated for the OTA if criteria for future awards are met. Periods of performance (POP) may overlap. For example, a nominee who did not win the 2024 OTA may be nominated for 2025.
    • The POP for the 2025 OTA is January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2024.
    • The POP for the 2024 OTA was January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2023.
    • The period during January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2024 may be used for both nominations.

Recognition

  • First prize winner(s) will receive a certificate with a hardback cover at the M&D townhall meeting at the 2025 Annual Conference.
  • Second and Third prize winners will receive a digital certificate and be recognized at the M&D townhall meeting at the 2025 Annual Conference, May 31 - June 3, 2025, Atlanta, GA.
  • First, second, and third prize winners will be recognized on the M&D webpage and in the M&D newsletter
  • First, second, and third prize winners will be recognized in ISE magazine.

Committee Chair

Dr. Abishek Balsamy-Kamaraj.

Conflict of Interest Policy

Societies and divisions must follow standard conflict of interest guidelines. Those guidelines include, but are not limited to:

  • Officers and Board members of the Division should be ineligible for awards during the period of their service, without approval by the Senior VP for Technical Operations (SVP). Exceptions may only be made by the SVP when awards are time sensitive, and the impacted board member(s) or officer(s) must recuse themselves from the award process. For awards that are not time-sensitive, the nominee should wait until their Officer or Board service is complete to be nominated.
  • The awards committee (or judging committee) should not include members who have either a personal or professional relationship with the nominees. For example, a faculty member should not be judging a paper competition where a participant from the same university is a nominee for best paper award.
  • The awards committee (or judging committee) should actively change its membership on a rotating basis from year to year to ensure fairness, equity, and diversity. That is, some members of the judging committee should roll off the committee and new members should roll on.

2023 Winner

Dr. Alaa Elwany
Texas A&M University