Bretl named Fellow in AE3

1/31/2018 Susan Mumm

Written by Susan Mumm

Associate Prof. Tim Bretl’s inventiveness and success in applying fresh approaches to teaching has gained him a new leadership role within the College of Engineering.

Bretl has been chosen as an Education Innovation Fellow (EIF) of the Academy for Excellence in Engineering Education (AE3). During his three-year term, Bretl will help create, spread, and publicize faculty innovations in engineering education. Dean Andreas Cangellaris and AE3 Director Laura Hahn selected Bretl among a small group of Engineering faculty identified as AE3 Fellows.

EIFs play a connecting role in the College by interacting with AE3 staff, departmental colleagues, and others across the College to share and unify educational efforts. They also serve an innovating purpose of identifying and pursuing new pathways, helping to pave the way for educational change. EIFs are integrally involved in the college’s Strategic Instructional Innovations Program – a competitively awarded grant program that enables teams of faculty to experiment with new approaches to teaching.

In 2016, AE3 established the Rose Education Innovation Fellow position to recognize an individual who has made unique and exceptional contributions as a current EIF. Scott Rose, an alumnus who earned a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering in 1983, established the program, as well as the Rose Award for Teaching Excellence to support quality in undergraduate education in the College.

Bretl was chosen for the Rose Award for Teaching Excellence in 2016. Also that year, he won the William L. Everitt Award from the student-led Engineering Council organization, and won the college’s Collins Award for Innovative Teaching in 2015.

A member of AE’s faculty since 2006, Bretl has given considerable thought and energy to improving his teaching abilities, and his students have shown their appreciation. His Instructor & Course Evaluation System (ICES) scores have been among the best in AE.


Share this story

This story was published January 31, 2018.