Siston Presented Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching

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Associate Professor Rob Siston

Robert (Rob) Siston, associate professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, was presented one of the University's 2014 Alumni Awards for Distinguished Teaching. Siston has been teaching full-time at Ohio State since 2007. He currently teaches the department's machine elements course and the neuromuscular biomechanics course. Siston was also the original developer and teacher of the popular assistive devices for mechanical engineering capstone design course and was instrumental in "flipping" the ME 3671 machine elements course.


To underscore the importance of Siston’s achievement, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Chair Ahmet Selamet stated, "Through an experiential interdisciplinary capstone developed by Rob, students from multiple disciplines get a “hands-on” opportunity to create a novel device, pursue opportunities to commercialize it, and then ultimately see how their invention influences the lives of persons with disabilities. Rob has created a unique environment that prepares students for professional practice, encourages entrepreneurship, supports diversity, and emphasizes outreach to the surrounding community. We are proud of his commitment to the education of our younger generation and very pleased with this prestigious recognition."


Siston's excellent reputation as an educator has been previously recognized on a number of occasions. In Spring 2013, he was presented the College of Engineering's David C. McCarthy Award, which recognizes the contributions of junior faculty and staff to create more innovative and effective teaching and learning. That same year, he was also presented the College's Lumley Research Award. In January 2011, the College of Engineering presented him with the Ralph L. Boyer Award for Excellence in Teaching Innovation for formulating and implementing a senior capstone design course on designing assistive devices for persons with disabilities and involving teams of mechanical engineering students working with clinicians and occupational therapy students from the Dodd Hall Rehabilitation Hospital. In 2010, he was selected by the National Academy of Engineering to attend its Frontiers of Engineering Education Symposium. In addition, the department's Mechanical Engineering External Advisory Board presented its Teaching Excellence Award to Siston at the 2010 Spring Honors and Awards Ceremony. The American Society of Biomechanics chose him as the recipient of their 2005 Clinical Biomechanics Award. His research interests include: treatment of human movement disorders; Osteoarthritis; and developing novel surgical instrumentation and designing custom assistive and rehabilitative devices. And, he was recently asked to serve as an associate editor for the Journal of Applied Biomechanics.

Recipients of the Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching are nominated by present and former students and colleagues and are chosen by a committee of alumni, students, and faculty. They receive a cash award of $3000, made possible by contributions from the Alumni Association, friends of Ohio State, and the Office of Academic Affairs. They also receive a $1,200 increase in their base salaries from the Office of Academic Affairs. The recipients will be inducted into the university's Academy of Teaching, which provides leadership for the improvement of teaching at Ohio State.

 
 
 
 
 

 

Category: Faculty