Dr. Pierre Mertiny will continue to teach MecE 260 in the winter semester.
Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Dr. Pierre Mertiny will be taking up the role of Associate Director of Teaching Technology at the University's Centre for Teaching and Learning beginning June 1, 2019.
Dr. Mertiny, who is a CTL Vargo Teaching Chair, and a member of the University's Information Technology Advisory Committee (ITAC), has worked with CTL previously and so is familiar with its role on campus and the programs it offers. Mertiny will be the first Associate Director of Teaching Technology at the CTL. Until now the centre has focused on developing the capacity for blended learning strategies at the university. Now that blended learning is well- established, the centre is hoping Mertiny can broaden the spectrum of teaching technologies available to teaching staff at the university.
"CTL has worked hard to make facilities and technologies available to people so they can do blended learning for their courses. Now they want to go beyond these technologies and they need to engage the academic staff in order to do so successfully."
Under Mertiny's direction, the CTL wants to work closely with university instructors to develop a grassroots program to help instructors bring innovative technologies into their teaching and develop "high impact teaching."
"These will be tools like videos and online learning, things that can happen out of class," explains Mertiny. "We don't even know what teaching technologies could be. We have to dream."
Some of his colleagues have already approached him with their dreams for teaching technologies. "Even though I haven't started in the position yet, people have already knocked on my door to say they dream about using VR or augmented reality as teaching tools."
Mertiny wants to begin by familiarizing himself with the teaching technologies in place across campus and even at other universities.
"I want to see if teaching technologies are portable. I want to find out if technology that works in medicine, for example, can work in other faculties."
Mertiny, who is and will remain Associate Chair Undergraduate in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, is excited for the new challenge of his first administrative role outside of the department.
"The learning curve of the Associate Chair position is mostly over, so this is a good chance for a new challenge."
When asked if he's nervous about the new position, he says, "There's a saying in German - 'if you don't dare, you don't win'."