Dr. Arun Srinivasa, professor, associate dean for student success and J.N. Reddy Chair in Applied Mechanics at Texas A&M University’s J. Mike Walker ’66 Department of Mechanical Engineering, has been named the recipient of the 2025 Ralph Coats Roe Award by the American Society for Engineering Education.
The award honors mechanical engineering educators who have demonstrated outstanding teaching and made notable professional contributions for at least 10 years.
Srinivasa, who has served on the Texas A&M faculty for 27 years, said the recognition affirms a deeply personal and professional mission rooted in student access and preparation.
“To me, research comes from the brain, but teaching comes from the heart,” Srinivasa said. “I’ve always believed in the land-grant mission of Texas A&M – we are about access. But access without preparation is not equal to opportunity.”
Srinivasa said he views his role not just as an instructor but as a mentor who aims to connect with students as individuals. He credits his father, who began his career as a machinist, and several early faculty mentors with shaping his approach to teaching and learning.
“Teaching is first and foremost about people – not curriculum, not pedagogy, not evaluation,” he said. “If I can convey my interest and excitement about the subject and its role in real life, students will learn.”
His teaching philosophy is grounded in active learning and decision-making. In his courses, students are encouraged to learn by doing and to go beyond simply solving problems by exploring how engineers make data-driven decisions in the real world.
To me, research comes from the brain, but teaching comes from the heart. I’ve always believed in the land-grant mission of Texas A&M – we are about access. But access without preparation is not equal to opportunity.
“I want students to become quantitative decision-makers to know what to measure, how to communicate it, and how to evaluate the consequences,” Srinivasa said.
In addition to his work in the classroom, Srinivasa has helped strengthen teaching across the department. He was instrumental in forming the Mechanical Engineering Teaching Community of Practice, or MEEN TeaCoP, a faculty-led group that shares best practices and fosters mentorship among instructors.
“One of my mentors, Dr. Jeff Froud, once told me that transforming education is about faculty development, not curriculum development,” he said. “Over the years, I’ve seen how true that is.”
Srinivasa’s research complements his teaching mission. He mentors both undergraduate and graduate students and considers his Ph.D. students intellectual children rather than employees. His lab focuses on how materials fail under loading, a topic with implications for national defense, industrial reliability, and advanced manufacturing.
“We are a mental gym,” he said. “Just as lifting weights strengthens physical muscles, academic research exercises our ability to think. Producing new knowledge is a byproduct of that training.”
Srinivasa said the Ralph Coats Roe Award is a meaningful recognition of his work with students across all levels of education, but that he’s far from finished.
“How young you feel depends on the projects in front of you, not the ones behind,” he said. “In that sense, I feel very young indeed.”
For more than two decades, Dr. Srinivasa has shaped the minds and careers of countless engineers. Through this award, the engineering education community now formally recognizes what generations of students have known all along: his teaching leaves a lasting impact.