M. Crisafulli: COE Outstanding EE TA
Graduating students in each undergrad degree program within the College of Engineering select one teaching assistant (TA) to recognize for their service & dedication with Electrical Engineering TA Max Crisafulli receiving the recognition
After completing a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from UCSB in 2023, Max Crisafulli entered the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) PhD Program with a focus on controls. Now, a second-year PhD student, Crisafulli served as a teaching assistant for the first time this year, helping students navigate three undergraduate courses. He said that he emulated the style of his most effective TAs, who were knowledgeable and approachable.
“I think the most important thing is to make yourself available and show genuine enthusiasm about the material. I was fortunate enough to TA classes on topics I personally enjoy and had taken when I was an undergraduate, so this came naturally,” explained Crisafulli. “It’s also easy to get bogged down in the math, so I tried to emphasize intuition and highlight how the material connects to other classes they might have taken.”
His technique made an impression on graduating seniors, who selected Crisafulli as the recipient of the Electrical Engineering Department’s Outstanding TA Award.
“I always aimed to make my office hours and lab sections as useful as possible for the students, and I am thrilled to know that I left enough of a positive impression for them to have voted for me,” said Crisafulli, who plans to work in industry after completing his PhD.
Advised by ECE professor Andrew Teel, Crisafulli studies stochastic approximation theory applied to hybrid dynamical systems. Although theoretical, the work can be applied to establish performance guarantees for stochastic optimization algorithms, like those used in modern machine learning, and extremum-seeking control systems.
