Marlan and Rosemary Bourns College of Engineering (BCOE) Mechanical Engineering Assistant Professor Mona Eskandari’s laboratory joins engineering and medicine to improve lung health. But she is more than a cutting-edge researcher. She has also been recognized for her outstanding teaching skills.

The university’s exclusive Academy of Distinguished Teaching has honored her with its Junior Excellence in Teaching (JET) Award. According to the academy’s website, the award is bestowed upon “junior faculty members whose early career record demonstrates the commitment and determination of an outstanding teacher while pursuing research excellence.”

Research in her bioMechanics Experimental and Computational Health lab (or the bMECH lab) took on fresh urgency during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, given that the disease affects the lungs. Eskandari and her team have found that ventilators can overextend certain regions of the lungs, which explains the decline in respiratory health experienced by patients the longer they spend on the machines. The research was recognized in 2022 as one of the major breakthroughs across the University of California 10-campus system.

The bMECH lab is now working on a new way to diagnose lung disease. Given the direct application of the research, Eskandari views her work with students as being a critical piece in being able to improve patient outcomes. 

“If I can train the next generation of engineers and scientists, hopefully together we can have a positive impact on patients’ lives,” Eskandari said. “Excellence in teaching goes hand in hand with excellence in research.”

Engineering did not always come easily to Eskandari, and she found learning methods that worked for her. Now, when she meets with trainees in her lab or with students in the classroom, she asks them to reflect on the methods that work best for them. She offers a mix of kinesthetic, visual, and audio teaching aids as well as group and individual projects to try and maximize students’ potential.

For example, she might employ silly putty or ‘magic’ sand to help students visualize various engineering concepts like creep or viscoelasticity.

“Students need positive reinforcement for self-efficacy as well as exciting approaches to get them to realize they can be independent,” she said. “I strive for those eureka moments.”

Eskandari was first inducted into the Academy of Distinguished Teaching in 2021 and she is the only BCOE junior faculty member to hold the title. This latest award additionally confers her with the title of “UC Riverside Junior Faculty Distinguished Teaching Professor.”

Eskandari discusses her research in this 2024 Celebration of Teaching video.


Header image: Mona Eskandari (center) with researchers from her bioMechanics Experimental & Computational Health Lab (Photo courtesy of Mona Eskandari).