Dr. David Mazyck was the winner for the University of Florida ESSIE Faculty Mentor Research Award In the classroom, Dr. Mazyck excels at creating an engaging learning atmosphere with his students no matter the size of the class. The structure of his courses is designed to include lectures and examples of real life applications. He requires the class to use engineering principles with engagement and positive feedback. This unique process, not found in many other undergraduate/graduate courses, helps to lay the foundation for skills that we will be required in our future careers. Students see his class a stepping stone for future endeavors and typically seek guidance on career choices through the semester from him. He starts each class by giving his students the opportunity to ask questions but goes above and beyond by making himself available outside of the classrooms. Outside of the classroom, Dr. Mazyck takes the time to speak with students about career aspirations, personal interests, and graduate school. Dr. Mazyck’s classes have been unquestionably some of the most engaging, practical, and valuable classes I have taken while enrolled as an undergraduate and graduate student in our department
Dr. Mazyck’s highest achievement in the lives of his students is his strong position as a role model. Through the 5 years working closely with him, I personally have been encouraged by his work ethic, versatility, and inspiring energy. Through observation I have learned more about the type of engineer I aspire to be and the drive required to meet my goals. As an advisor and mentor, he has always been available to discuss anything – research, class work, future goals, and other ways to excel. His desire to make me and his other researchers great writers and communicators has pushed us to present our research and findings at poster and conference presentations in a clear and professional manner. As so, I have attended and presented at both local and national conferences in addition to presenting grant proposals to selection committees. Dr. Mazyck has also taught me how to be a great mentor myself! He has offered me the opportunity to mentor several undergraduates students of which 6 have been awarded University Scholar Fellowships and 2 have been awarded McNair fellowships.
In addition to his research program and teaching curriculum, for the past 5 years Dr. Mazyck has been working with over 80 engineering students across all engineering fields in the college assisting them in writing NSF graduate research fellowship applications. The process in which he engages these students (>20 students a semester) is the optimal mentorship role. Serving as a teaching assistant/lecturer for the course myself this past semester, I was able to see this process with other students first hand. The student seeking this fellowship have a very strong academic record but typically do not have the vision to see where they want to go with their career (A very important aspect of the NSF application). Dr. Mazyck meets with these student outside of class and engages in very personal conversations in order to understand the student’s “distance travelled”, individual story, life hurdles and passion for the chosen field of engineering. Most of the times the students start to believe in themselves more or start to question the reasons for the chosen path to understand if it is the right choice. Over the past year, Dr. Mazyck has helped > 30 students become NSF fellows and addition to those that have been selected as Honorable Mentions. However, the NSF preparation course does not end at the end of the semester or when the students graduate, the mentor/mentee bond formed throughout this course extends past grad school as clear personal connection has been made. Students from the class reach out to Dr. Mazyck regularly to discuss potential careers change, job offers, counseling with their current PhD advisors and the list goes on and on. They see a true mentor and friend in Dr. Mazyck as he always makes us question our choices and develop clear vision for the future.