I have showcased the glimpses of being a successful leader and highly committed to continuous professional development. A key area of my professional development includes teaching and mentoring activities.
I am mentoring Shingo Tabuchi, a Masters student at the UTokyo.
Being selected as a URSS (Undergraduate Research Support Scheme) Fellow at the University of Warwick during the summer is a prestigious and valuable opportunity for undergraduate students. This fellowship provides aspiring young researchers with the chance to engage in hands-on research experiences, work closely with faculty members, and contribute to ongoing research projects at the university. It is an excellent platform for undergraduate students to explore their research interests, build a strong foundation for future academic and professional endeavors, and immerse themselves in the world of academia. I am glad to mentor a URSS fellow (Dan Tomlinson) to study drying droplets and pattern formation of human urine in relation to chronic kidney disease.
Academic Teaching:
I boast a diversified cultural background and understand the value of special attention required for individual students' overall growth. Apart from these outreach activities, I was a teaching assistant (TA) in the Department of Physics. Four different lab sessions were taught for four years in each term (4 terms in a year). Each group generally consists of 26 students hailing from a diversified cultural and social setup. I have taught Introductory Physics Laboratory in Mechanics and Introductory Physics Laboratory in Electrodynamics as a lead teacher. In addition, I have shared the course, delivering a few lectures on the Principles of Thermodynamics and Statistical Physics. I have planned the course, assigned homework, set tutorials, and graded the quizzes and homework.
Graduate Instructor and Mentor:
WRAMP (Women's Research and Mentorship Program) as a Graduate Teacher and Mentor: I was awarded for the same three times in the year 2018-2020. Each session is for a semester where I mentored and trained one undergraduate and two high school students each time with the fundamental concepts of drying droplets, design experiments, hands-on experience in the research lab, microscopy, data analysis, and data acquisition techniques in the area of soft matter, with an emphasis on the Understanding Bio-inspired Soft systems using Drying Droplets. I have mentored 11 students (6 high school students and 5 undergraduates). Many of the students had come back twice or thrice to learn more. One of the undergraduates and one of the high school students have contributed as an author to my research publications (RSC Advances and MRS Communications, respectively).
Administrative Activities:
Graduate Liaison for Early Research Experience in E-Term (EREE) program in summer 2019: Through this program, I provided professional skills, logistic support for weekly meetings, scheduling and troubleshooting speakers for workshops to the group of 20 first-generation and under-represented students.
Online Project Course Instructor:
The MOSTEC (MIT Online Science, Technology, and Engineering Community) program at MIT is a prestigious and highly competitive summer program designed for high school students interested in pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. This program offers a unique opportunity for exceptionally talented and motivated students to engage in a rigorous academic experience and gain exposure to cutting-edge research and innovation. It is an online program that allows high-achieving students from around the world to participate in MIT's academic curriculum. It offers a series of online courses, lectures, and interactive activities led by MIT faculty and experts. I was glad to be part of the MIT expert community. In this program, I have taught Image Processing and Pattern Recognition of Droplets as an online course, designed lectures, instructed for doing hands-on experiments, and trained 17 high-school students on big data analysis and image processing tools.