September 2002 Faculty Spotlight

"Teaching is one of the most important parts of my job description. When you start teaching, you learn so much," says Dr. Jeffrey Siegel, a new Assistant Professor of Civil Engineering in the Architectural Engineering program.

Although this is Dr. Siegel’s first year with UT, his commitment to teaching is already evident. Before classes started in August, he came to the Faculty Innovation Center to get started with UTwired-Prometheus and has already initiated development of a Web site on energy conservation myths.

With research interests in indoor air quality and energy use in buildings, Dr. Siegel specializes in aerosol dynamics. He is preparing to research what causes anthrax spores to resuspend from surfaces in real buildings.

He is currently teaching Building and Environmental Systems; the follow-up course next semester is Design of Environmentally Efficient and Healthy Buildings. Although his pedagogy has evolved even in the short time he has been at UT, Dr. Siegel is dedicated to teaching thinking skills, not just facts. "Students should be able to estimate, to figure out what is important or not important, to ask the right question, to critically analyze - this is the reason for teaching."

We welcome Dr. Siegel to The University, along with our other new faculty members.