Sochol Receives E. Robert Kent Outstanding Teaching Award for Junior Faculty

Ryan Sochol, associate professor in the University of Maryland Department of Mechanical Engineering, affiliate faculty member in the Fischell Department of Bioengineering, and Fischell Institute Fellow, has been named the 2025 recipient of the E. Robert Kent Outstanding Teaching Award for Junior Faculty. This award honors early-career faculty members within the A. James Clark School of Engineering for excellence in teaching and their impact on student learning and engagement.

Since joining the university in 2015, Sochol has earned acclaim from students and colleagues alike for his innovative approaches to education, research and mentorship—often leveraging popular video games, movies, and memes to motivate and engage his students.

Sochol has emerged as a pioneer in game-based learning. In Fall 2023, he launched the course “The Legend of Zelda: A Link to Machine Design,” which uses Nintendo’s “The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom” video game to teach students core engineering concepts in machine design, prototyping, and testing. The course has sparked public interest beyond the typical reach of higher education initiatives, with coverage from academic outlets like the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) to gaming outlets, and even Japanese radio, while attracting hundreds of thousands of views across social media platforms, ranging from Reddit to China’s Bilibili.

Sochol recently showcased the course at Dolby Laboratories’ Future of Learning Summit. Next week, he will deliver an oral presentation at the American Society of Engineering Education (ASEE) Annual Conference in Montreal, where he will discuss the course’s latest final project: a transforming robotic flying monkey, inspired by the Broadway musical and film “Wicked.”

Sochol also applied this game-based learning mindset to develop an offering for one of the Clark School’s newest education initiatives: the Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) Program. Drawing inspiration from his internationally renowned demonstration of a 3D-printed soft robotic hand capable of playing Super Mario Bros., Sochol launched a “3D-Printed Video Game-Playing Soft Robots” VIP course for undergraduate students. Although the course was just launched in Spring 2024, Sochol’s students have already had their results accepted for presentation at several international research conferences.

Sochol’s “Additive Manufacturing” course, which he created for both undergraduate and graduate students, remains one of the department’s most popular technical electives. To cultivate students’ critical thinking and scientific literacy, Sochol integrates clips from movies, TV shows, and TED Talks into his lectures, prompting lively discussions in which students assess the accuracy—and oftentimes, humorous inaccuracy—of 3D-printing portrayals in pop culture. Sochol has also integrated his recently acquired $650,000 3D nanoprinter into his course, offering UMD students a rare experience with cutting-edge 3D micro/nanofabrication technology.

The Kent Award is the latest in a series of accolades for Sochol, whose honors include being named an ASME Rising Star, an Advanced Materials Technologies Rising Star, and an Emerging Leader in Micromechanics and Microengineering, as well as receiving the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) Award and the Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering’s Early Career Award.

Sochol’s research group, the Bioinspired Advanced Manufacturing (BAM) Laboratory, has also garnered acclaim, earning Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) International Conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS) Outstanding Student Paper Awards in 2019, 2021, and 2025, Microsystems & Nanoengineering/Springer Nature Outstanding Paper Award honors in 2022 and 2024, the Micromachines–MDPI Outstanding Poster Award in 2024, and the Microfluidics on Glass Award in 2024.

The E. Robert Kent Outstanding Teaching Award for Junior Faculty is given annually to a faculty member at the assistant or associate level with fewer than 10 years of full-time teaching experience. The award is based on student and peer evaluations, contributions to both undergraduate and graduate teaching, and the use of innovative teaching methods and materials. Sochol was recognized for the award at the 2025 Faculty and Staff Recognition Celebration on Wednesday, May 14, 2025.

Published June 17, 2025