Teaching

I have always learned better from those mentors whom I know the best personally and professionally. Getting to know the students is the backbone of my teaching pedagogy and teaching philosophy. The three main principles of my teaching philosophy are: 

Here are a few snippets out of the many comments I selected from student evaluation forms during my time as a professor at different universities:

"One thing that was appreciated were the words Dr. Nasab chose when responding to questions, affirming students. Difficult to explain, but he had a higher level of care and interpersonal skills than most people or professors. Overall, impressive course. Dr. Nasab works extremely hard and his efforts did not go unseen."

"This class was my favorite class this semester by far!! Everything that Dr. Nasab taught was very valuable, and he makes his classes so much fun because you can see how much he cares about the subject. I would not ask for anything different!"

"The teaching method was great and effective and the instructor explains things clearly and encourages questions."

"Dr. Nasab explained the goals he had in mind for the course at the beginning and end of the course, in which he defiantly achieved. I thoroughly enjoy the way he teaches with the slides and examples."

"Dr. Nasab does a great job with going through material and an example in class as well as having a homework problem similar to what we are doing in class. I really like having one homework per night to feel like I can keep learning and continue to understand what is going on in class."

"I can tell he cares a lot about his teaching philosophy and how to go about material, and it pays off. I always enjoy having him as my professor."

"Dr. Nasab is an excellent teacher and one that I consider to be the very best out of the Civil Professors. His superior organizational skills and devotion to learning makes classes easy to follow. Dr. Nasab is not afraid to challenge his students to learn, and students who put the effort in to engage with the material excel in the class. Dr. Nasab is adaptable and tenacious in teaching, and I count myself lucky to have him as a professor. I thought the class was organized very well. I liked the setup of exams where it was both in person and take home."

"This has surprisingly been the best engineering class I have taken at St. Thomas. Not because the material is easy, it is not, but the way the class has been structured and relates to my daily environment is incredible. This class has also given me an idea of what career path I will pursue, design engineering or hydrology. Being able to use all the software that are used in the workforce in the classroom gave me an edge in the internship I was taking at the same time. Not just one software, several resources with videos on how to use were posted on Canvas for our own good and use. Collaboration with Mississippi Watershed Management Organization gave us an idea of what our role is in the natural environment and how responsibility falls on us as Engineers. Also, providing a solution to a real-life problem with them made the class even more realistic which was incredible to say the least."

Below is a summary of courses I've taught at the University of St. Thomas, Bucknell University, and North Dakota State University (as a GTA). 

University of St. Thomas (2020 - 2023)

Bucknell University (2019 - 2020)

North Dakota State University (2015 - 2019)

Description of courses I thought at the University of St. Thomas, MN

ENGR480&481 Senior Design Clinic (Capstone Project)

In their senior year, engineering teams take part in a two-semester capstone in which they use their knowledge from engineering and liberal arts courses to solve important problems. Multi-disciplinary teams are given the opportunity to demonstrate the designs they developed in partnership with industry sponsors, non-profits and community partners. From small start-ups to the largest companies in the Twin Cities, all find value in the unique solutions and our students shine while seeing their ideas come to fruition. Outcomes for students include networking with industry organizations and professionals, practical experience through the design cycle, the confidence that comes with real experience, and sometimes even job offers or their names included on patents. 

ENGR 467 Water Resources Engineering 

This course introduces students to water resources engineering, hydrology and hydraulics, design elements of pipe and channel flow, distribution systems, pumping systems, reservoirs, and storm sewer collection systems. Students will be able to:

ENGR465 Application of Geographic Information Systems in Water Resources Engineering 

This course provides an introduction to the application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in water resources engineering and management, digital mapping and map design considerations of water resources data, spatial coordinate systems and projections, types of data used in GISs, hydrologic calculations using map algebra on raster grids, stream and watershed delineation using digital elevation models, soil and land use analysis, flood plain mapping, water resources time series analysis, and introduction to the model builder functions to automate spatial analysis.

ENGR 468 Environmental Engineering

ENGR468 Environmental Engineering begins with reviewing fundamental concepts of chemistry, biology, and physics. The coursework becomes more discipline-specific and includes topics such as environmental engineering as a profession, sustainability and green development, water quality and pollution, and water and wastewater treatment.


ENGR 100 Introduction to Engineering Design

ENGR 100 introduces students to the engineering disciplines and the design process through a semester-long design challenge. Students will gain improved self-awareness, empathy, and critical thinking skills; this will help them work as a team in a collaborative and inclusive environment to identify a need, interview clients, plan tasks and propose engineering solutions with consideration for the common good.

ENGR 368 Fluid Mechanics for CE

Introduction to the fundamentals of fluid mechanics in the context of civil engineering applications. Topics covered include hydrostatics and pressure variations in non-moving fluids, forces on submerged surfaces, conservation laws of flowing fluids (mass, momentum, and energy), potential flow and viscous flow, boundary layer theory, internal flow, external flow, open channel flow, drag and experimental uncertainty analysis. Hands-on engagement of lecture topics, practical hands-on skills, experimental design and measurement uncertainty analysis is integrated into course laboratory.