Micah Stickel is Vice-Dean, First Year, in the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering. He is also Professor, Teaching Stream, in The Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering (ECE).

Professor Stickel first came to the Faculty when he started as an undergraduate in 1993. Since that time, he has completed his BASc (1997), MASc (1999), and a PhD (2006) – all with a focus on electromagnetics and the development of novel devices for high-frequency wireless systems.

Through a few formative experiences with teaching during his PhD, he made the choice to pursue a teaching-focused academic position. This resulted in him joining the ECE Department in 2007 as a Lecturer. Since then, he has progressed through promotion to Senior Lecturer in 2012, later becoming an Associate Professor, Teaching Stream in 2013, and finally promoted to Professor, Teaching Stream in 2019. In November of 2012, he was appointed Chair, First Year for the Faculty, which later became the role of Vice-Dean, First Year Engineering.

Professor Stickel has always had a keen interest in improving his teaching approach and the learning experience of his students. A core aspect of his teaching philosophy is that meaningful learning takes effort and ultimately is entirely within the student’s control. He aims to facilitate impactful learning experiences through a carefully curated and organized course structure and delivery. With this as a foundation, he has worked to thoughtfully integrate new teaching innovations and technological tools into his courses and approach. He was one of the first in the department to use a tablet to teach, blending traditional “chalk and talk”, by writing on skeleton slides, with complex graphics, videos, animations and online demonstrations and experiments. The assessment he and a colleague carried out on the impact of teaching with tablets was presented at the 2008 Frontiers in Education Conference. Based on the quality of this work, he was also acknowledged at that conference as one of nine New Faculty Fellows from across North America.

Professor Stickel has been on the forefront of creating collaborative learning environments, which enable rapid formative feedback for students, through the introduction of greater active learning components in his courses. This has included group work in tutorials, the implementation and development of the inverted (flipped) classroom, and the careful use of online discussion forums. Through his career, Professor Stickel has had a significant impact on curricular development in ECE and other engineering programs. His accomplishments include a significant redesign of the first year engineering curriculum and creating the new APS100H1F: Orientation to Engineering course.

Professor Stickel has been an advocate for greater equity and inclusion within the Faculty. He co- created and co-chaired the Engineering Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Action Group in 2018, and has been a leader in the development and implementation of the Faculty’s Broad-Based Admissions Strategy. He has received five departmental teaching awards, and was awarded the Early Career Teaching Award by the Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering in 2012. In 2014 the American Society for Engineering Education named him one of their Top 20 under 40.