Sinapov recognized for teaching excellence

James Schmolze Assistant Professor Jivko Sinapov has been named one of two recipients of this year’s Recognition of Undergraduate Teaching Excellence Award (ROUTE). This award is presented to full-time tenure-track junior faculty in the School of Engineering and the School of Arts and Sciences who “demonstrate excellence in teaching and advising, show concern for their students’ academic and personal growth, and who convey a passion and enthusiasm for their field of study.”

“The selection committee was impressed by the evidence of [Sinapov’s] innovation in the classroom, [his] effectiveness as a mentor and advisor, and [his] dedication to the art of teaching,” says Jennifer Stephan, Dean of Academic Advising and Undergraduate Studies for the School of Engineering.

Sinapov received his PhD in computer science and human-computer interaction from Iowa State University (ISU). While working toward his PhD at ISU’s Developmental Robotics Lab, he developed novel methods for behavioral object exploration and multi-modal perception. He went on to a position as a clinical assistant professor with the Texas Institute for Discovery, Education, and Science at UT Austin and as a postdoctoral associate working with Professor Peter Stone at UT Austin’s Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.

Sinapov's research interests include developmental robotics, computational perception, autonomous manipulation, and human-robot interaction. He joined the Department of Computer Science in the fall of 2017.