The Georgia Tech Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) and BP America have awarded Daniel Guggenheim School of Aerospace Engineering professor Claudio Di Leo with the Junior Faculty Teaching Excellence Award.

The $3,000 award is granted annually to junior faculty members for their excellence in teaching and educational innovation. Other areas of consideration include impact on students’ lives, passion for teaching and learning, connections between research and teaching, and accessibility to all students.

These qualities were highlighted throughout Di Leo’s nomination packet, which included letters of recommendation from the School of Aerospace Engineering’s faculty members, students, and School Chair, Mark Costello.

“I want to thank the AE School leadership for supporting my growth as a teacher and my undertaking of new teaching endeavors. In addition, I want to thank professors Brian German and Julian Rimoli for putting this nomination together,” said Di Leo.

The ripple effect of his leadership and teaching approach has greatly impacted students at Georgia Tech, as well as the faculty and staff – making him an invaluable member of the AE School.

During the pandemic, Di Leo led the development of remote teaching for labs in the School of Aerospace Engineering and created videos of the labs being performed that students said made them feel like they were actually watching in-person.

“I am honored to receive this award. One of the great joys of being a professor is being able to take part in the learning journey that all of our students take while at Georgia Tech. This award is really a reflection of the love I have for sharing the learning experience with our students,” said Di Leo.

Di Leo joined the AE School in 2015 as a postdoctoral fellow, where he conducted research on multi-scale models for metal plasticity and structural mechanics of robotics landing systems. During the fall of 2016, Di Leo joined the AE faculty as an assistant professor with a research focus on multiphysics mechanics of material, developing constitutive continuum models through theory, computation, and experimentation. He also serves as the Yang Aero Maker Space faculty director and has created a vibrant and engaging world-class facility where students can apply their technical skills.

--

This year’s recipients of the Junior Faculty Teaching Award also included Ellen Yi Chen Mazumdar, Young C. Jang, Koushyar Rajavi, and Danielle S. Willkens.