Some of the wonderful people that I met have been kind enough to detail how I contributed
“Very sad news to hear. Thank you for taking the time to letting us know. During the past few years and throughout my time as a Chem eng undergrad, you have been one of the most influential individuals that I’ve met. Your teaching method and philosophy helped me become a better engineer, problem solver and dare I say it-dad joker. I really do think that you have broken down the tough wall that is Chemical engineering and allowed most of us to go over and become better professionals. It is extremely sad to see you go but I do hope this means that one day we can meet again in a future workplace. It has been an immense pleasure learning under you. It has been a one of a kind experience and I wouldn’t have had it any other way….”
“I have to start off by saying I’m extremely sad to hear that you will no longer be teaching at Monash from next year. In my opinion, the Chem Eng faculty has lost one of its best teachers. From my personal experience, I can strongly say that you definitely made my learning experience at Monash a more fulfilling one. I was always confident of going into one of your lectures knowing that I would be challenged to think outside the box and come out on the other side having learnt something practical and useful. I will remember my group running up to your office to get your opinion on our baby design project and the discussions we had, as well as your amazing lectures in sustainability 1 (sad that you will not be here to teach sus 2 next semester). In short, you have definitely helped improve all of us as chemical engineers!On that note, I wish you the best for the future and I hope that we can stay in touch….”
“I am glad that our cohort was one of the lucky ones to be guided by you, especially during the design project!
Atleast personally for me, I am glad to have had you supporting us for not only the core units but sustainability electives too! I can genuinely say 100% that Sustainability Processing is one of the highlights out of all the units I’ve taken, if not THE highlight.. They were quite possibly the most time consuming and at times, very frustrating, units I’ve taken BUT also the most rewarding, interesting and the ones that just made sense. I do believe your unconventional and interactive teaching methods (and some credit to the dad jokes) played a big role in that!
Thank you for always being open to answering the crazy number of questions we had!…”
“Sorry to know that you are leaving Monash. Undoubtedly, Monash is going to lose one of its best assets. You are not only a dedicated teacher who is loved by all the students but also a superb mentor one can wish for. I really enjoyed working with you for the last 2 years. Working with you was fun, educative and challenging at the same time. However, I enjoyed every bit of it!…”
“…You have honestly been one of the best lecturers I have ever had and I am so privileged to have learned from you! You have taught me so much by making me see things differently and this was only achieved by your unconventional teaching methods. You are the funniest, most entertaining lecturer we have and it is so sad that you are leaving. I was honestly looking forward to having lectures with you in person because I was learning so much while being so entertained. That being said, your online lectures were just as fun and entertaining and I loved listening to them!
Thank you for everything you have done, for all the knowledge you have shared with us and I wish you all the best in your future endeavors! I will miss you ….”
<Romalya also included this>
“…
“Didn’t think this year could bring any more bad news but this is the worst one yet. 🙁 Monash just suffered a great loss 🙁
You were one of the best lecturers I ever had, and your lessons have helped me open my eyes and look at things from a different perspective. I have learned so much from you, as you never hesitate to impart your knowledge to your students. Now every time I drink water I always think of how water is never pure and I am drinking a ton of dead bacteria haha. 🙁
You were one of the only lecturers who sincerely cared about your students, and I am so lucky to have had you teach me and offer me your M&Ms. So sad that I couldn’t barge into your office this year. I will definitely get a good job and apply all you’ve taught me, so when I hire you I still get to see you pull out random valves and flanges from your bag.
I’ll always remember you John, always remember that you were a great great great lecturer to many!…”
I hope you’ve been well amidst the pandemic.
Having seen that you’ll be wrapping up your time at Monash, I want to express my appreciation and gratitude for your passion in building up the next generation of chemical engineers through your unconventional teaching methods and open-door policy. It is difficult to imagine what chemical engineering at Monash would have been like without you.
Hearing about your vast industrial experience in your lecture material (and other discourse) convinced me that I had made the right choice in proceeding with my chemical engineering degree. It was from you that I discovered what engineers really do, and what it meant to ‘think like an engineer’. Among engineering teachings, other lessons were learned – I certainly held you in higher regard as a role-model when you took ownership of the fact that you are, like all others, human.
While I have no idea where the next stages of my career will take me, I will be sure to incorporate what I have learned from you in my future work, no matter the industry.
Thank you for being a legendary teacher, and all the best for the future!
“…
I have just heard about your departure from teaching at Monash University, and just wanted to email you to let you know how much I appreciated your teachings and discussions throughout my time in my degree, whether it be through your lectures or chatting with you for a few hours about my team’s final year project.
Whilst I have not had the opportunity to be in a Chemical Engineering role, I have no doubt that the exposure to your industrial background and knowledge has helped me immensely throughout my short engineering career so far. It’s allowed me to look into everything as a whole, determine the best areas to focus on or not, and deliver some quite positive outcomes in my work so far in the last year.
So I’d just like to take this moment to just thank you for your teachings, and wish you the best of luck in any and all future endeavours!…”
“I was deeply saddened to read that you will be leaving us at Monash. I just wanted to reach out to you and thank you for everything you have imparted onto me as an up and coming chemical engineer. I can honestly say it was an honour to have been taught by someone with your achievements, experience and reputation; I only hope to put your teachings into good use throughout my future career. I still remember having a chat with you in your office before I began my internship at Glencore last year; where you imparted some valuable advice from your time in mining. I still remember sitting at my desk at work and encountering some of the issues you spoke about and how you worked around them. Most of all, what I have taken away from my time as your student is not only the technical knowledge that you imparted on me; but the mindset, attitude and thinking process that is necessary to be an excellent chemical engineer. Thank you again for helping us be better engineers, I wish you all the best for your future endeavours and hope to run into you again.”