Future Faculty Program

Current Position: Instructional Assistant Professor, University of Houston, College of Engineering

“When I started my Ph.D program, I did not have a clear idea what I wanted to pursue professionally. The Future Faculty Program provided me an opportunity to explore the expectations and rigor od different academic and industry positions so that I could pursue a position that fit with my passion. It was through the instructional practicum that I was able to reaffirm my interest in teaching while developing skills for curriculum development and course management. It was through this program I developed the skills that were acknowledge at the time with an outstanding teaching assistant award from the college and has lead to faculty teaching awards most recently at the college and university-wide. I strongly believe my success is due in large part to the experience I gained through the FFP program. Ultimately, the program provided me confidence in my ability to apply my technical knowledge to teaching in an effective and large-scale way. The experience provided us a community of other PhD students motivated to learn different pathways in apply our knowledge. Like all experience, you only get out of it as much as you put in. It is important to take advantage of every conversation and person you meet. Being engaged and fully participating in discussions and activities created the best opportunity for me to discover the best path forward.”