Teaching and learning
Associate Professor Syed Mahfuzul Aziz, Lecturer in the School of Electrical and Information Engineering, is the 2009 recipient of the Australia's premier university teaching award, the Prime Minister's Award for Australian University Teacher of the Year. Worth $50,000, the award acknowledges Dr Aziz's sustained contributions in teaching and learning, both locally and internationally.
Mahfuz Aziz has been teaching in the electronics and computer engineering disciplines for more than two decades. He has developed and taught courses on integrated circuit design and computer hardware design at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. His teaching methods focus on the development of student independent learning, problem-solving and critical thinking abilities. Mahfuz assists students in developing these qualities in a self-directed manner using an innovative project-based learning approach. He has used this method effectively to address students' academic and cultural diversity. Engaging students in lectures, tutorials and assessments has been a particular focus of his teaching. To assist students in appreciating the importance of disciplinary research and develop design skills using the latest technologies, Mahfuz has systematically integrated the outcomes of his collaborative research with leading European institutions into educational circuit design tools. His teaching resources are used in many institutions across the world. His research interests include high performance integrated circuit (IC) and computer hardware design, and testability and modelling of next generation IC technologies.
Associate Professor Aziz is also a recipient of one of this year's national Teaching Excellence Awards.
