2023 Award for Excellence in Leadership: Woo Soo Kim

Professor, Dr. Woo Soo Kim, started with the School of Mechatronic Systems Engineering (MSE) in 2010. Since that time, Kim has worked to improve the graduate student experience for MSE graduate students.

Since Kim started at SFU, he’s served acting GPC chair for three times, led discussion on the reformation of regular progress report in the program, and established the regular graduate seminar course to Mechatronics.

“I'm deeply grateful to my past and current graduate students as well as my supportive colleagues in mechatronics for their unwavering dedication and collaboration. This award is a testament to our collective efforts in enhancing the graduate student experience and fostering a thriving academic community in the School of Mechatronic Systems Engineering,” says Kim.

MSE Graduate Program Chair, Dr. Carolyn Sparry, has been in a position to see the work done by Kim and the impact it’s had on MSE graduate students.

Says Sparry, “We have worked closely on numerous graduate student initiatives as part of the MSE Graduate Program Committee and I was able to observe Dr. Kim push to develop a new graduate seminar series for our MSE graduate students, which is critical for their growth as scholars, building an MSE graduate community, and facilitating English language practice.”

“Dr. Kim pushed to develop a new graduate research seminar course within MSE, citing the need to expose graduate students to the broad range of research in our field and the positive community building aspects of bringing our graduate students together in a regular event. Dr. Kim persevered in developing the course, despite opposition from some colleagues, and committed to being the first instructor of the course – offered starting Fall 2021, says Sparry.

“I was able to attend a few of the seminars and see first-hand how engaged the students were in the different presentations. Dr. Kim leveraged his personal network and called in favours from colleagues and collaborators to ensure guest lecturers were leaders in the fields.”

MSc student, Cesar Alejandro Jimenez Gonzalez, says, “Dr. Kim hosted these seminar series not only to encourage the interaction and networking between MSE graduate students, but also as an opportunity for us to identify different future career paths. Personally, I think this panel of accomplished researchers, professors, and entrepreneurs that Dr. Kim included to the seminars, is one of the best examples of his degree of commitment for the student’s development both as individuals and as professionals.”

MSc student, Mohamad Reza Dashtbali, also speaks highly how this course offered by Kim helped with his confidence and science communication skills.

Says Dashtbali, “This was a great opportunity for students to improve and update their presentation skills, gain more confidence about presenting and get the chance to hear feedback on their work. The feedback helped me to identify the topics in my presentation that others found hard to understand. Then, I started to explain those parts in a more sensible way, so the audience did not get distracted and confused.”

We congratulate Dr. Woo Soo Kim on receiving this award and for the support he provides through his leadership for graduate students in the School of Mechatronic Systems Engineering.

The 2024 Dean of Graduate Studies Awards for Excellence are open for nominations. Deadline for nominations is May 17, 2024.