Education

The perfect lecture(r)

Last week Dr Akke Suiker was chosen as TU Delft’s ‘Best Teacher of 2010’. His secret of success: stripping the subject down to its bare essentials.

What type of teacher are you?
“I try to create clarity in my lectures, even if it’s a difficult subject. My aim is to get to the heart of the problem, using clear and concise words – nothing more, nothing less. I do however try to make it appetizing, because the subjects I teach are related to solid-particle mechanics and are rather mathematical. They’re subjects that are hard to grasp, but I try not to let them present obstacles. I do my best to help as many students get by as I can. I try to teach them to comprehend.”

Do you totally plan out your lectures in advance?
“No, I work based on feeling, on intuition. It comes automatically. I try something, and then later I’ll think: did I do this well, or could I do it even better the next time? I do know, generally, what I want the lecture to focus on, but then I see what transpires. I think aloud, as if the problem is also a problem for me, one which I must find a solution for. In this way the students are helped to work out the problem both visually and verbally. I also give them a roadmap, which you must follow if you hope to solve a technical problem.”

Any tips for other teachers?
“You’ve got to be interested in your students and enthusiastic about the subject. You must also find enjoyment in explaining difficult material in simple and understandable ways. I enjoy seeing students understand – then I’ve done my job. I gave my first-ever lecture some 15 years ago, when I was a PhD student, a lecture to fourth-year students on wave propagation, and I immediately felt: this is for me. My father was a primary and secondary school teacher. A few years ago he researched the Suiker family tree. Many of my relatives, dating back to the 1800s, were involved in education. So I believe something like an education-gene has been passed on.”

What is your personal philosophy?
“In everything you do, do it well – no half-finished jobs, regardless of whether it’s your private life, work or hobby. I always set the bar high. This is the busiest time of my life, with a family of three children, aged ten, nine and four years old, who also do all kinds of things requiring my involvement and help. Moreover, I play guitar in a blues-rock band, called the ‘Wah Wah Monkeys’. And I want to teach and conduct research well. So I’m always busy, but I get so much positive energy from it. I told myself that I’d no longer put energy into negative things. There’s so much that is positive, even in these difficult times of cutbacks. This gives me strength. As you get older, you learn to separate the wheat from the chaff. There are so many things one simply has no control over, so sometimes you must just accept this fact and try to make the best of it. There’s always room for improvement, though. The perfect lecture has not yet been given.”

Ursem is directeur van de Botanische Tuin en verbonden aan de faculteit Technische Natuurwetenschappen. Waas is decaan bij Werktuigbouwkunde, Maritieme Techniek en Technische Materiaalwetenschappen en bestuurder van YesDelft. Ursem is onder meer genomineerd omdat hij zich ‘zeer verdienstelijk heeft gemaakt met zijn proeven voor fijnstofmagneten’. Waas is vooral voorgedragen vanwege zijn inspanningen voor YesDelft.

De twee TU’ers binden de strijd om de titel Delfts icoon 2010 aan met Ehsan Turabaz van Ikea, Rutger de Graaf van Deltasync, Joris Kleinveld van Auxilium, student luchtvaart- en ruimtevaarttechniek Ciar Holstein van Hogeschool InHolland, Gerwin Hoogendoorn van Senz Umbrellas, Francine Houben van architectenbureau Mecanoo en Nina Voets van Stichting Ciccionina.

“Ik ben verrast”, reageert Ursem op zijn nominatie. “Ik doe gewoon mijn werk, maar ik vind het wel een eer.” Hij snapt zijn voordracht wel. “Ik heb sinds 2001 voor Delft als plaats voor kennis, innovatie en valorisatie wel wat betekend en publiciteit gehaald.” Hij noemt onder meer het naar Delft halen van de Nationale Wetenschapsweek in 2001, de viering van vierhonderd jaar VOC in 2002 en het wereldcongres botanische tuinen in 2008. Daarnaast won hij onder meer een nationale prijs met een biologisch uv-filter en bezocht hij als Delfts wetenschapper internationale congressen en genereerde daar publiciteit, onder meer via de Chinese staats-tv. Marco Waas was niet bereikbaar voor een reactie.

Met het Delfts icoon 2010 wil Delft zich profileren als ‘dé plek in Nederland waar maatschappelijke thema’s op duurzame wijze worden aangepakt, door het combineren van kennis, technologie, creativiteit, historie, ondernemerschap en innovatie’.
De bekendmaking is op 1 maart.

www.delft.nl

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