Waterloo Tsutsui, Ph.D., P.E., has been awarded the prestigious Engineering Education Excellence Award by the National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) and was recently recognized at the 2023 Professional Engineers Conference in Louisville, Kentucky.

“I would like to express my sincere thanks to NSPE for this prestigious national award,” said Tsutsui upon receiving his award. “I would also like to thank the leaders of the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the College of Engineering at Purdue University for creating an exceptional educational environment.”

The Engineering Education Excellence Award recognizes engineering faculty who have demonstrated the ability to link engineering education with professional practice. Recipients must be licensed professional engineers and have a faculty appointment in an engineering program accredited by the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), which accredits college and university programs in the disciplines of applied science, computing, engineering, and engineering technology. The award is sponsored by the Professional Engineers in Higher Education (PEHE) interest group of NSPE.

Tsutsui is a senior research associate in the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Purdue University, where his primary aim as an engineering educator is to provide a rigorous academic education that nurtures an engineering mindset among students, empowering them to analyze, communicate, and solve complex problems. By bridging the gap between engineering education and practical application, Tsutsui strives to equip students with the essential skills to excel in real-world engineering practice. He ensures students derive maximum advantage from meticulously designed educational experiences integrated into their curriculum, fostering lasting knowledge and capabilities that extend far beyond the confines of the classroom for the ultimate benefit of students.

As an example, Tsutsui implemented virtual labs and visualizations in lab courses as an innovative way to link engineering practice to education. These virtual labs allow students to experientially learn aerospace structural mechanics concepts by conducting virtual structural mechanics experiments on their computers without needing physical lab equipment. In addition, he facilitated weekly supervised homework sessions outside a classroom based on research into how session participation can enhance and help a student’s academic performance. 

Prior to joining Purdue, Tsutsui amassed over a decade of experience working in the automotive industry as an engineer, with his last position as a senior mechanical engineer involving the research and development of lithium-ion battery cells for electric vehicles.

Tsutsui's research interests encompass systems engineering, structures and materials, as well as the scholarship of teaching and learning under the mentorship of Professor Dan DeLaurentis, Professor Wayne Chen, and Professor Michael Loui, respectively. Tsutsui has been recognized numerous times for his teaching and leadership at Purdue, including the 2022 Purdue College of Engineering Excellence in Instruction Award. He is active in the American Society for Engineering Education and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and holds Professional Engineer licenses in Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Tsutsui received his doctorate in aeronautics and astronautics from Purdue University in 2017.