Northwestern CS Announces Winter 2023 Outstanding Teaching Assistant and Peer Mentors
Every quarter, Northwestern CS honors and recognizes students who demonstrate excellence in computer science mentoring and teaching with the Peter and Adrienne Barris Outstanding Teaching Assistant and Outstanding Peer Mentor awards.
Nominated by any member of the department for service to the CS community that goes beyond expectations, the teaching assistants and peer mentors work with faculty to deliver courses and support of the highest quality.
“I am delighted that we continue recognizing some of our hardest working and most talented peer mentors and teaching assistants via this award — it allows us to commend the significant role that our students play in the education of their peers,” said Samir Khuller, Peter and Adrienne Barris Chair of Computer Science at Northwestern Engineering. “Congrats to all the winners, and thanks to the selection committee and nominators!”
The winter 2023 awards committee included Connor Bain, assistant professor of instruction; Andrew Crotty, assistant professor of computer science; Branden Ghena, assistant professor of instruction; Miklos Racz, assistant professor of computer science at the McCormick School of Engineering and assistant professor of statistics at Northwestern’s Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences; Vincent St-Amour, associate professor of instruction; and Xinyu Xing, associate professor of computer science.
Donna Hooshmand
Hooshmand is a second-year PhD student in computer science focused on artificial intelligence (AI) and AI applications. She is a member of the Cognition, Creativity, and Communication (C3) lab, led by her adviser Kristian Hammond, Bill and Cathy Osborn Professor of Computer Science at Northwestern Engineering.
Hooshmand was recognized for her support of the newly launched COMP_SCI 396: Artificial Life course. More than 120 students from a variety of programs and academic backgrounds joined the first offering of the class, developed by Sam Kriegman, assistant professor of computer science, mechanical engineering, and chemical and biological engineering.
“Despite the tremendous load on her shoulders and the incredible challenge in front of her, she was consistently available, proactive, and enthusiastic with her students, providing excellent help, support, and advice regardless of where they were at in their learning journey,” a nominator said. “We are very grateful to Donna for her outstanding work.”
To prepare for her role as teaching assistant, Hooshmand completed the course assignments the previous quarter and she attended every lecture. She also found synergy with the modeling of robots in the class and her hobby of building miniature LEGO sets.
“I greatly enjoyed the topic of Artificial Life. It was very fun learning a topic that was different from my immediate research field,” Hooshmand said. “This award has motivated me to continue pursuing my teaching goals. I moved to the US from Iran when I was 16 years old in pursuit of higher education and to become a professor. Sharing this with my family back home means a lot.”
Building on what she learned in Artificial Life, Hooshmand is exploring the use of reinforcement and curriculum learning in robotics in Kriegman’s Xenobot Lab. In the C3 Lab, Hooshmand is working on an AI-powered data analysis platform called Satyrn, aimed at empowering non-technical users with the necessary tools to analyze and understand data. She is also collaborating with the Institute for Augmented Intelligence in Medicine at Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine on using machine learning to aid doctors in detecting retinal ischemic perivascular lesions (RIPLs) and diagnosing certain diseases.
Hooshmand is active around campus and is a member of the CS PhD Advisory Council (CSPAC) and the department’s Sustainability Committee. She is also pursuing a Reflective and Effective Teaching (RET) certificate through Northwestern’s Searle Center for Advancing Learning and Teaching.
“Being a TA has reinforced my passion for teaching. I believe that it is important to approach such roles with enthusiasm and availability so that students who might feel anxious about reaching out or accessing existing resources can feel fully supported,” Hooshmand said. “I was inspired by a few great professors in my undergraduate institute that gave me the knowledge and encouragement to participate in a PhD program. I would love to pass along what was given to me.”
Winter 2023 Outstanding Peer Mentors
The Northwestern CS peer mentor program is designed to ensure that students representing a range of computing backgrounds receive individual attention and real-time feedback.
Nadharm Dhiantravan
Dhiantravan, a third-year student in computer science at Weinberg, “went many extra miles” for students in the COMP_SCI 355: Digital Forensics and Incident Response course.
Dhiantravan developed several new resources for students and fellow course staff members.
“Nadharm was not only an effective peer mentor in his own right, his work helped to make the rest of the team more effective as well,” a nominator said. “Nadharm was a true force multiplier.”
Amy Guo
Guo is a fourth-year student in computer science and communication studies at Weinberg. She aimed to help students understand the material and feel confident about their computer science ability in COMP_SCI 321: Programming Languages.
“Before I came to Northwestern, I didn’t think I could be a CS major. When I took CS111, the material didn’t make sense to me at first, but being able to go to a peer mentor for support was one of the reasons why I didn’t feel too afraid to reach out for help,” Guo said. “Because of the support of peer mentors, I’ve been able to succeed as a CS major and I hope I was able to provide that same support for other students at Northwestern.”
Guo was recognized for her consistent dedication as a peer mentor for multiple quarters and praised for her skill in pointing students in the right direction without giving them the answers outright.
Guo is a research coordinator with the Ka Moamoa Lab, where she is currently creating a software simulator for energy harvesting devices. Guo co-authored the paper “Battery-free MakeCode: Accessible Programming for Intermittent Computing” with lab director Josiah Hester, adjunct associate professor of electrical and computer engineering and computer science at Northwestern Engineering; postdoctoral scholar Saad Ahmed; and PhD student Christopher Kraemer.
Guo is the director of WildHacks, a 36-hour hackathon event for students of all skill levels and backgrounds to learn programming skills and develop a project in an inclusive environment. After a five-year hiatus, she re-launched WildHacks in 2022 and is organizing the 2023 event, scheduled April 15-16.
Following graduation, Guo plans to work as a front-end software engineer at Amazon in New York.
Anoushka Kapur
Kapur is a second-year student pursuing a bachelor’s degree in computer science with a minor in economics from Weinberg. She is also earning a Managerial Analytics Certificate from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management.
Nominators highlighted Kapur’s clarity, patience, and dedication in support of students in the COMP_SCI 214: Data Structures and Algorithms course. Students praised her effective explanations and the resources Kapur developed to emphasize the common pitfalls and points of confusion in assignments.
“I’m very grateful for this honor,” Kapur said. “I became a peer mentor to give back to the Northwestern CS community, and since then I’ve been trying to better myself in terms of my communication skills and my knowledge of the course material to be the best possible source of support to students that I can be. If I were to use a video game analogy, I like to think of peer mentors as a power-up for students — always there to give them a little extra boost when they need it.”
Kapur serves on Northwestern’s Women in Computing (WiC) executive board as the internal outreach chair. She is also an executive board member of the student organization Develop + Innovate for Social Change (DISC), where she has worked as a developer and project lead on community projects including a website for a local shelter and a data visualization tool for an Evanston-based non-profit.
She is also a part of the Ahana Dance Project, a South Asian performance dance team at Northwestern.
Kapur’s research interests include web and app development — she has designed websites, games, and Android apps using React.js, Dart, and Flutter. She is currently exploring machine learning and natural language processing through small-scale AI-related projects.
Kapur plans to work in software engineering and product management at the intersection of computer science and economics.
Carol Liu
Liu is earning a combined bachelor’s degree in engineering sciences and applied mathematics and a master’s degree in computer science from Northwestern Engineering.
She was recognized for her exceptional dedication to students in the COMP_SCI 349: Machine Learning course.
“Carol makes sure that students receive the help that they need and deserve even when that involves staying late, scheduling extra office hours, or otherwise going the extra mile,” a nominator said. “She makes sure students have a solid understanding of concepts, rather than just an adequate execution on assignments.”
Liu aimed to have a positive impact by helping students understand the material and avoid the struggles she experienced when she took the course.
“A peer mentor should be someone that students can trust and who is able to support their students to succeed in the course,” Liu said. “They can do this in a variety of manners, whether it be by simple sharing of knowledge, clarifying concepts, or being able to alleviate stress over an assignment.”
Liu is a member of Northwestern’s data analysis team for the Illinois Wastewater Surveillance System, which earned a Chicago Innovation Award in 2022 for their efforts to test and analyze wastewater from sources around Chicago and Illinois to detect COVID-19’s presence and ultimately prevent the spread of illness. Liu is working closely with Katelyn Leisman, research assistant professor in engineering sciences and applied mathematics, to improve the model for disease dynamics. The Northwestern team also includes Aaron Packman, director of the Center for Water Research and a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the McCormick School of Engineering; Niall Mangan, a professor of engineering sciences and applied mathematics; and David Morton, David A. and Karen Richards Sachs Professor and chair of industrial engineering and management at Northwestern Engineering.
Liu is the social chair of the Northwestern University Student Chapter of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE NU). In addition to social and educational activities hosted throughout the year, the student organization runs the annual IE3 Technical Program, a quarter-long mentorship program culminating in a project showcase to employers and the Northwestern community.
Akash Shroff
Shroff is pursuing an ad hoc computer science and mathematics major through Weinberg. He served as a peer mentor for the winter 2023 COMP_SCI 214 course.
Award nominators praised Shroff for his extensive knowledge and creativity. Students appreciated the brainstorming sessions he facilitated while they were debugging code, and his approach to helping them overcome hurdles without directly revealing solutions.
“In a more metaphorical sense, a peer mentor serves the role of a lighthouse in a foggy evening — we're here to guide students and help them chart their own course,” Shroff said.
Through a project with IEEE NU investigating convolutional neural networks and deep learning, Shroff is building a model to accurately predict early-onset Alzheimer's disease with 3D MRI scans.
He is also working with a group of developers in DISC to build a cloud-based database management system for a non-profit organization.
Shroff is considering the pursuit of a master's degree through the BA/MS program to continue studying CS+math fields, including artificial intelligence and machine learning. When the weather warms up, he looks forward to playing intramural soccer.