Dr LAKSHMINARAYANAN
Samavedham

PhD (University of Alberta), MS (ChE.)(IIT Madras), BE (Hons) (ChE)(BITS, Pilani)

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
  



Outstanding Educator Award

"Education must lead to the appreciation of the fine balance that exists between entities in different space and time scales. I endeavour to impart this understanding in the context of engineering systems."

Current Teaching Portfolio
  • Numerical Methods
  • Probability and Statistics
  • Computing for the Chemical/Environmental Engineering Laboratory

Teaching Achievements
  • Contributes strongly to the department's curriculum enhancement and restructuring efforts
  • An affiliate of the Centre for Development of Teaching and Learning and participates actively in the Centre's workshops and seminars
  • His teaching materials have been used at the University of Wisconsin (US), University of Alberta (Canada) and Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (India)

Teaching Strengths
  • Constantly adopts the best pedagogical practices to improve his teaching skills
  • Places heavy emphasis on two-way communication and presentation of scenarios. Often has a randomly-picked student to summarise the central theme of the day's lecture
  • Connects learning to complex real life problems and critical evaluation so that students are aware of the impact of education and technology to the layman
  • Uses a variety of audio visual aids such as video tapes, interactive websites, web seminars and Integrated Virtual Learning Environment (IVLE) discussion forums which allow students to learn at their own pace

Publication Credits
  • More than 25 articles published in international journals such as AIChE Journal, Chemical Engineering Science, Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering, Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research and Journal of Process Control

International Standing
  • Editor for Chemical Engineering Issue of the Institute of Engineers, Singapore since August 2005
  • External Examiner for PhD Thesis (IIT Bombay and other Indian Universities)
  • International Reviewer for Strategic Grants, NSERC, Canada
  • Guest Editor for Special Issues of Chemical Engineering Journals
  • Invited for presentations at Honeywell Technology Centre (India), École Polytechnique (Canada) and Chulalongkorn University (Thailand)

Awards and Accolades
  • Engineering Educator Award (2006)
  • Bronze Medal for Innovative Teaching, Faculty of Engineering (2003-04)
  • NUS Excellent Teachers List (2002- 2003 and 2001-2002)
  • DuPont/Paprican Research Excellence Award (1996)
  • Pan Canadian Petroleum Award (1995)

Teaching Aspiration
To prepare young minds that question, analyse, debate and decide, and to provide strong coupling between classroom learning and professional practice.