Now that Elias Keedy is a lecturer for the Industrial Engineering Department at the Cullen College of Engineering, he keeps one thing at the forefront of his mind when teaching classes.
“I constantly ask myself, 'If I were still a student, what would I want to get from my education?' The answer to this key question encourages me to look for more pedagogical elements to help my classes' contents fulfill our students' mission in education.”
Keedy's relatable approach in the classroom has been recognized by the administration of the College, as he was one of four faculty members to earn a Teaching Excellence Award this year. Keedy earned his doctorate in Industrial Engineering from UH in 2013, after earning his master's degree in Industrial Engineering 2010. He also earned a master's degree in Electrical Engineering in 2008 and a B.S. in Electrical and Electronics Engineering in 2006, both from the University of Balamand in Lebanon.
“I am humbled to receive this award from the department in which I was once a student,” he said of the honor. “Peer-to-peer interaction as well as real-word case applications have been a priority in my approach to enable the IE Department's mission of helping students gain knowledge and skills to contribute to our society.”
Keedy has been a lecturer for the Cullen College of Engineering since Fall 2014. He also served as a lecturer for the University of Houston-Downtown for about seven years, and still works there as an MBA professor, a role he has held for more than four years.
Keedy is currently the Operations Manager of the HCL plant at Covestro Industrial Site in Baytown (formerly known as Bayer MaterialScience). He started his career at Bayer in 2011 as a I&E trainer, took the role of Unit Engineer, and then I&E Reliability & Functional Safety site lead.