Teaching Excellence and Staff Recognition Awards

On November 27, the Faculty hosted its second joint Teaching Excellence and Staff Recognition Awards Ceremony.  Teaching Excellence Awards are given to full-time and part-time faculty members who demonstrate "outstanding contributions in teaching." This year's winners were Amir Aghdam, Don Davis and Aiman Hanna. Staff Recognition Awards are bestowed on administrative employees who provide outstanding contributions to the work and community environment of the Faculty. This year's winners were Agi Csordas, Martine Fachena, Donna Hum and Halina Monkiewicz.

Teaching Excellence Awards

Amir Aghdam
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Lauded in the citation, read out by Yousef Shayan, for being "committed to improvement in teaching, using creative approaches," Aghdam has been the Department's undergraduate program director and a member of several committees in the Department, Faculty and University. His areas of expertise include decentralized large-scale systems, Digital control and Adaptive control. He has also been very active in Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and is the President-Elect of IEEE Canada and he was general chair of IEEE CCECE 2012 conference.

Donald Davis
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering & Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering

His citation, read out by Interim Dean Christopher Trueman, noted how the "cornerstone of Don's teaching is to foster good communication with students... He varies the mix of PowerPoint presentations, blackboard presentation, and discussion to suit the needs of each group of students... Don puts a great deal of effort into preparing and delivering his courses and his passion for his subject and enthusiasm for teaching are clearly evident in the classroom.  For each course Don prepares meticulous and comprehensive course notes and makes them available online.  In class he explains each topic in a visual and intuitive manner.  Students praise the environment in Don's classroom, where he brings experience and humour into his lectures.  He presents material with clarity and welcomes questions in class. He creates a warm and inviting setting and allows students room to grow."

Aiman Hanna
Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering

Hanna is "dedicated to the improvement of not only his own teaching, but also of teaching practices in general," says Peter Grogono, Department Chair, reading out the citation. Hanna has taught more than one hundred courses in Computer Science and Software Engineering during the last twenty years. He has taught for both the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering, and the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, covering a wide variety of topics.  Furthermore, he has proposed several new courses. Aiman has participated in committees and workshops for both the Faculty and the Centre for Teaching and Learning Services.  He has served as a mentor for part-time instructors and junior faculty members.

Staff Recognition Awards

Agi Csordas
Graduate Admissions Advisor, Student Academic Services

In the award nomination letters, Csordas was praised for her "client-oriented and service focused" approach, for her "collegiality and professionalism" and for the "understanding, compassion, and encouragement" she shows toward students.

Martine Fachena
Recruitment Officer, Student Academic Services

Fachena was lauded for having "loads of enthusiasm, boundless energy and extreme competency."  Her colleagues noted she "maximizes the positive attributes that [the Faculty] and Concordia enjoy" such as "class sizes, professors' accessibility, and success stories of instructors and students."

Donna Hum
Manager, Academic Affairs

"Professional, competent and dedicated" are among the many superlatives used to describe Hum. Many call upon her for her "rich institutional memory" and she's considered "indispensable" to many projects, especially the implementation of the Faculty Resource Information System.

Halina Monkiewicz
Advisor, Graduate Program, Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering

Her work and commitment are described as "exemplary" and "innovative." One of her nominees wrote that "her dedication to Concordia and our graduate program and students cannot be rated highly enough."  Several professors noted how Monkiewicz assisted enormously with their publication of books, conference proceedings and technical papers.