Aerospace PhD Student Shamsheer Chauhan Receives Rackham Outstanding GSI Award
Shamsheer Chauhan, a Michigan Aerospace Engineering PhD Candidate, has won a Rackham Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor (GSI) Award for his excellent work as a GSI in AEROSP481: Aircraft Design.
Shamsheer has been a GSI three times for Prof. Joaquim R. R. A. Martins in AEROSP481, in the 2016, 2017, and 2018 fall terms.
As a GSI, Shamsheer sets himself apart through his attention to detail and passion for effective learning. He identifies obsessively reducing superficial learning as one of his top priorities in the classroom, as well as providing students with software tools to help them learn about and experiment with aerodynamic and aerostructural optimization. This dynamic approach to learning enables him to consistently identify areas of potential improvement in traditional coursework for the benefit of his students.
A 2014 mechanical engineering graduate of the University of Waterloo, Shamsheer has been a Ph.D. student in the Department of Aerospace Engineering since 2015. He works in the Multidisciplinary Design Optimization Laboratory under the advisement of Aerospace Engineering Professor Joaquim Martins and is currently conducting research on propeller-wing flow interaction and wing design optimization.
Shamsheer additionally has held a number of internships in the professional sphere; these include having worked as a stress analyst with Bombardier Aerospace in Montreal and as a design engineer with Apple in Cupertino. He credits these experiences with giving him an enhanced perspective on academics, allowing him to paint a more complete picture to students of what characteristics and methodologies are of high value to engineering companies. After graduation, he hopes to work on the development of electric aircraft.
