Todd Fernandez, lecturer in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, has won the 2024 Regents’ Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award (SoTL) in recognition of his dedication and contribution to student learning and faculty development. 

The award, given annually by the University System of Georgia (USG) Foundation, comes with a $5,000 grant for faculty development, and is considered one of the highest honors in teaching and advising within the university system.

“It feels very, very humbling,” said Fernandez, who believes the USG honor reflects not only how he works, but where. “This is a place where interesting and novel things happen…We have students learning at Grady Hospital, we have students that literally just launched a rocket.” 

He teaches courses such as BMED 1000, Introduction to Biomedical Engineering; BMED 2400, Introduction to Bioengineering Statistics; and BMED 2250, Problems in Biomedical Engineering. And he merges his passion for teaching with a scientifically grounded methodology based around three fundamentals: designing authentic and relevant coursework, being reflective, and creating mutual trust with students. 

Fernandez stresses hands-on experience in his classroom. So, on the very first day of classes he immerses his students in a surgery simulator activity that is very much like the tabletop game, “Operation.” Students “play” the game to gather their own raw and unrefined data. 

Typically, his students are grappling with data errors and challenges for the first time when they take his bioengineering statistics class. And so, throughout the semester, students learn statistics using data they collect using Operation™ as a clinical trials simulator. Working with data they collect, and knowing the flaws of, helps in learning the ins and outs of data analysis and statistical inference.  

But Fernandez wants his students to think beyond the data and the technical skills they’re acquiring as biomedical engineers. He stresses the “why” as much as the “how” when they build a device or tackle a challenge. “We want students to build whatever they’re building with a deeper sense of purpose,” he said. 

In Coulter BME’s high-achieving academic setting, Fernandez feels it is important to create safe spaces for students to be vulnerable and build trust from day one. It’s a perspective that can improve the learning experience for everyone involved, according to Fernandez who views students as partners in their own learning. “They're not here to just absorb information from us,” he said. 

His approach also benefits faculty development, and the USG award recognizes that. Fernandez facilitates workshops that explore the roles faculty have in independently shaping their course, encouraging creativity and agency in his colleagues’ teaching approach. 

But it is the feedback from students that give Fernandez a real sense of joy and accomplishment. Like the note he received recently from a former student who had taken the bioengineering statistics class. Apparently, the Operation game had a real impact – the student, who started a statistics consulting firm, told Fernandez that this initial exercise sparked that journey. 

“It means a lot when they tell me I had a positive impact,” Fernandez said. “That just makes my day.”