Northwestern CS Announces Winter 2026 Outstanding Teaching Assistants and Peer Mentors

Northwestern Computer Science honors and recognizes students who demonstrate excellence in computer science mentoring and teaching with the quarterly Peter and Adrienne Barris Outstanding Teaching Assistant, Outstanding Peer Mentor, and Career Peer Mentor awards.

"Selecting the best teaching assistants and peer mentors is not an easy task because students keep pushing the boundaries every quarter,” said Aleksandar Kuzmanovic, professor of computer science at Northwestern Engineering and chair of the awards committee.

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. Eight students were cited in winter 2026.

“It's amazing to witness the commitment of our students in helping others learn, and I am truly proud of their hard work in providing an excellent learning environment for all of our courses,” said Samir Khuller, Peter and Adrienne Barris Chair of Computer Science at the McCormick School of Engineering. “Given the large number of TAs and PMs we employ, it's an outstanding accomplishment.”

Winter 2026 Peter and Adrienne Barris Outstanding Teaching Assistants

Dang Le
PhD student in computer science
Adviser: Professor Xinyu Xing
Course: COMP_SCI 213: Intro to Computer Systems

Nominator notes: “You can tell he truly loves what he does. Dang made intro videos on how to set up and get started on lab assignments—just one example of his willingness to go out of his way to ensure students are prepared and have a deep understanding of the material.”

Yinmiao Li
PhD student at Northwestern in the Computer Science and Learning Sciences
Advisers: Professors Michael Horn and Eleanor O'Rourke
Course: COMP_SCI 329: HCI Studio

Nominator notes: “Yinmiao has the qualities of an amazing teaching assistant: reliability, excellent communication, and a true commitment to student success. Effectively applying her background in learning science to improve the class, Yinmiao incorporated evidence-based strategies such as clearer scaffolding of complex concepts, structured opportunities for practice and reflection, and targeted feedback that helped students understand not just what to improve but how to improve it.”

Winter 2026 Career Peer Mentor Award

Career Peer Mentors have demonstrated exceptional service for at least three quarters.

Bélen Edgar
Fourth-year student in computer science pursuing minors in English and classical studies
Course: COMP_SCI 110: Intro to Computer Programming

Nominator notes: “Students leave Bélen’s office hours with a new understanding of the material that helps them complete assignments.”

Winter 2026 Outstanding Peer Mentors

Alison Bai
Fourth-year student in computer science
Course: COMP_SCI 214: Data Structures and Algorithms

Nominator notes: “Alison consistently volunteers to test out and provide detailed feedback on exams and lead exam review sessions. This quarter, she developed a worksheet addressing a difficult course topic and shared several ideas to make it adaptable to Canvas.”

Raj Dave
Second-year master’s degree student in computer science
Course: COMP_SCI 396, 496: Data-driven Plant Science

Nominator notes: “Raj's impact on the class has been defined by proactiveness that goes beyond the expected duty. He met with one of the project groups after hours, for instance, and helped them solve their setup bottlenecks with extra materials and some technical insights about experimental setups.”

Yiyao Du
Third-year student in applied mathematics
Course: COMP_SCI 150: Fundamentals of Computer Programming 1.5

Nominator notes: “Yiyao puts her utmost effort into making sure students succeed. As students arrive to office hours, she asks which part of the assignment they are working on then proceeds to study the question in preparation to help students if they get stuck. She also asks guiding questions that help students arrive at the answer.”

Ethan Hamilton
Third-year student in computer science
Course: COMP_SCI 213

Nominator notes: “Ethan is a long-time peer mentor for CS213 who is quite knowledgeable and helpful. For the first exam this quarter, he recorded an excellent tutorial video for students.”

Chloe Lu
Third-year student pursuing a combined bachelor’s and master’s degree in computer science and a minor in psychology
Course: COMP_SCI 349: Machine Learning

Nominator notes: “Chloe is an all-star peer mentor and is the most active staff member on Piazza. In addition to hosting ethics discussions, she preemptively handled students' scheduling requests.”