FoNS Awards 2011

Ten deserving members of Physics received FoNS Awards 2011

 The Annual FoNS Awards were held in the Blackett Common room on the 9th June. Amongst the faculty award winners were ten members of staff from Physics. Receiving well deserved awards were Chris Carr, Tim Horbury, Steve Schwartz, Nia Bell, Daniel Farrell, Jo Cotter, Matthew Foerman, Karen Yates, James Yearsley and Andrew Knight.

Congratulations to all !

 Faculty of Natural Sciences Awards for Excellence in Teaching 

 Presented by the Rector, Sir Keith O’Nions, on 9th June 2011 

• Student references are included for each award winner 

 Excellence in Teaching 

 Chris Carr 

 • I would nominate Chris Carr, the Instrumentation lecturer, for the Excellence in Teaching award. He  consistently presented his topics in a clear and easy-to-understand manner, went at just the right pace,  sprinkled some personal insight and experience in and generally taught his course very well. 

 • Very clear and approachable, often spending time in lectures to clear up any queries that came up. A very  interesting course with a great bit of practical as well. One of the best lectures I've had not because of fancy  presentations or anything but his very clever way of explaining difficult electrical concepts in such simple easy  to follow terms. Learnt a lot from him that will stick with me for a long time. 

 Tim Horbury 

• Enthusiastic, engaging, organised and provided very good explanations of concepts of concepts presented in  his course. Always receptive to feedback and proactively made an effort to see how students were finding the  course and what improvements could be made. Did very well, especially considering this was the first year in  which he had taught the course. His classworks made you feel involved and were done in a very unique way.  Took a really dry topic and made it really interesting always able to relate and interact with audience, good  lecture notes and very approachable 

 Steve Schwartz 

• Professor Schwartz have exceptionally thorough and well structured lectures, while his handouts and what he  writes on the blackboard during lectures are similarly great. Professor Schwartz on the other hand must be  praised above all, for how successfully he taught the concepts of his course. He was teaching the first maths  course that consisted of 90% "new" material, however, everyone I have spoken to about the course has said  that they found it to be the most engaging maths lecture course we have studied thus far, which speaks  volumes (no pun intended!). Also, the problems he set for the lecture course was great in terms of being a  good mix of easy to challenging, covering all aspects of the course. 

Excellence in Classwork Demonstrating 

 Nia Bell 

• She plainly explains all the basic principles of the classwork before tackling the problem which often gives a  clearer view of what the questions are actually asking. She also understands certain aspects of the questions,  and especially the working out which can often be confusing and which lecturers frequently assume are simple  and considered ‘common knowledge’. She’ll also give clear, useful answers unlike the cryptic suggestions of  other demonstrators and will come back if possible just to check that your numerical answer is correct and that  you understand the importance of these values. Even when you raise your hand she’ll try her hardest to reach  you as quickly as possible and help you, no matter how little you know! 

• Nia’s really friendly and always manages to pinpoint the particular issue I’m struggling with and explain it in a  clear and detailed manner. If there’s a key aspect of the subject I haven’t grasped from earlier lectures and  takes some time to explain, she’ll sit with me and take the extra time to go through the problem which is really  helpful. 

Excellence in Laboratory Demonstrating 

Daniel Farrell 

• I, along with several other people, both in my lab group and other lab groups believe he embodies everything  a demonstrator should be - approachable, very knowledgeable and always able helpfully respond to our  questions without blindly giving us answers, among other things. 

 Jo Cotter 

• As a lab demonstrator, Joe Cotter is fantastic. Throughout the three week lab cycle he endeavoured to fully  immerse us in the fascinating features of the experiment. His enthusiasm for the physics is obvious, providing  us with brilliant explanations about the experiment, despite the fact we haven’t covered in our lecture courses.  His laid back and friendly attitude makes lab enjoyable and also allows freedom for us to ask any questions we  might have, no matter how trivial. Without a doubt he goes above and beyond the minimum effort required by a  third year lab demonstrator, attending nearly every session to help us, as well as responding to emails outside  of lab. This is why Joe Cotter should win best third year lab demonstrator. 

• Joe took a lot of time out of his own schedule to prepare and maintain the laser spectroscopy experiment. This  is by far the best 3rd year lab experiment, and he taught the details in a way that encouraged us to push  ourselves mentally. His experiment has made me strongly consider doing a masters in Photonics.

Excellence in Academic Tutoring 

 Matthew Foreman 

• We would like to nominate Dr Foreman because he showed great engagement during tutorials, encouraged  people to do the problem sheets and always gave rapid feedback on them. Apart from that he always gave  clear explanations on topics the group had difficulty with and tried to give examples from other areas of physics  relating to it. He also gave examples of applications of newly learned topics which were beyond the scope of  the lectures. Overall 2nd year tutorials with him were generally very interesting and helpful in mastering the  newly covered topics. 

• His attitude makes it easy to ask questions and he is very patient, beyond that even seems to enjoy his  position as a tutor. He is ready to dedicate a considerable amount of time to us every week since he’s marking  our problem sheets (and not only in a superficial way but complete with comments and corrections) - this is  incredibly helpful He understands questions very well and knows how to tackle the problems we encounter  when trying to understand something, sometimes even sensing what we are trying to ask without being able to  phrase it. His approach to teaching is 'guide the students towards finding the answer himself' which is  extremely instructive and motivating. 

 Karen Yates 

• Karen Yates has noticeably aided us in our preparation for the Comprehensive exams. She has encouraged  us to hand in our workings on the comprehensive papers and has always quickly marked and returned them to  us. She is very welcoming at the tutorials and allows the students to solve the questions on the board only  assisting when necessary. She is the model 3rd year tutor. 

 She always arrives on time and well prepared to tutorials and succeeds in stimulating discussion on topics  outside of the syllabus; teaching us using her knowledgeable background and asking us deep questions  about physics.” 

• She has been very supportive in developing our ability to answer comprehensive questions and actively  encourages us to discuss answers in tutorial. Karen has en sured that we received the appropriate number of  tutorials, catching up with one which was missed last term. Karen was flexible with students attending tutorials  at alternative times if they had other commitments which clashed with that timetabled such as interviews, 3rd yr  Professional skills etc. Tutorials are not dry, they are interactive and often include insights to current research  which is being undertaken in physics which is related to questions set for that tutorial. I have benefited  immensely from Karen’s tutoring. 

• She has been fantastic throughout the year. Providing helpful explanations of the thinking behind every  solution, pinpointing any errors made and explaining the underlying mistakes in thinking or knowledge.  Beyond that she has endeavoured to explain what the questions really relate to, for example that a question on  special relativity is in fact about how metamaterials allow an object to be ‘cloaked’, pointing us toward relevant  papers and articles. This discussion of the underlying science and stories of its history and other points such  as the real technical concerns the questions highlight, which we have little other exposure to, along with her  friendly, funny and engaging way of talking about it all have made her tutorials highly interesting and  enjoyable. She has also run some extra sessions in the second half of this term at one point running a tutorial  every week for our group which must have been a massive amount of time out of her schedule. 

• I’d like to nominate Dr Karen Yates for best 3rd year academic tutor. Karen clearly does a lot of work in  preparation for her tutorials, often bringing extra material to the tutorials in order to help explain a concept,  show how the comprehensive question is relevant to research within the department and expand further on the  question. She recognised that we were having difficulties with our other tutor and so offered to help with any  comprehensive question from any year. With her great sense of humour and clear methods of explaining  concepts, I have always found her tutorials to be fun and informative and I always leave feeling more confident  in my abilities. In short, she’s the best tutor I’ve had during my time at Imperial 

 Excellence in Rapid Feedback Demonstrating 

 James Yearsley 

• I would like to nominate James Yearsley, the FQM rapid feedback demonstrator, for excellence in rapid  feedback. He is particularly confident and obviously very comfortable talking to the class of students and very  good at providing clarifications of the new mathematical ideas and notation the course involves. He has also  used part of the time to expand briefly upon points that Professor Halliwell did not have time to cover in  lectures and is generally very friendly and approachable. 

 Excellence in Supporting the Student Experience 

 Andrew Knight 

• Note from Claire Malone, 3rd Year Physics (Claire has cerebral palsy and needs full time personal care, as  well as assistance in lectures, examinations etc.) 

“I am a third year Physics Undergraduate student studying for a MSci in Physics with Theoretical Physics and would like to strongly support the nomination of Mr Andrew Knight, Physics Undergraduate Administrator for the  Rector’s “Excellence in Supporting the Student Experience Award. 

I  have significant physical disabilities and in his capacity as the Disabilities 

 Coordinator in the Physics Department, Andrew Knight has been my first point of call 

 and has always responded very positively to my requests for support. 

 He has been unflinching in his commitment to supporting my studies. 

 Below are some examples of how he has supported me. 

o Finding and recruiting PhD students to act as my assistants/scribes in lectures, labs and for private study. 

o Advocating on my behalf for the adjustments I need during exams. 

o Arranging for additional equipment such as height adjustable tables in the physics department. 

o Supporting the way I use my Disabled Student Allowance by facilitating my recruitment of assistants/scribes. 

o Providing a focal point of liaison, support and advice for all those who give me assistance related to my disabilities. 

o Facilitating my access to my studies through my bespoke use of technology.” 

• Note from Ignacio Vázquez García, 4th Year Physics (Ignacio is the representative of the students on the  course in Physics with a Year in Europe. He spent his 3rd year in EPFL, Lausanne) 

 Andrew Knight has been working as Undergraduate Administrator in the Physics Department for many years  now. He has been a great asset to all undergraduate physicists, particularly in connection with the exchange  programme that has been successfully running in Year 3. 

 Andrew has been acting as the port of call to all of us who will be going abroad or who already came back.  Also known as 'Year in Europe' (YiE), this is a very demanding course of study wherein students either take up  a new language or master their knowledge of one, putting it to use during their time abroad. His zeal to make  YiE shine has propelled this exchange programme, with an increasing demand for students to spend a year  at  our partner universities in France, Germany, Italy, Spain or Switzerland. Likewise, the incoming students  have  continuously praised Andrew's guidance when settling in London, choosing their courses and liaising  with  their home institutions. 

 Through many YiE integration events that Andrew has enthusiastically organised, there is a great sense of  community across the year groups, promoting cultural exchange. In conjunction with the numerous events  organised by the Erasmus Club at Imperial College Union, the overall YiE experience is outstanding. For all  these aforementioned reasons, I would like to endorse his nomination to the Award for Supporting the Student  Experience, on behalf of the YiE community in the Physics Department.