Woodard receives 2026 Grainger College of Engineering Teaching Excellence Award

Brian Woodard was honored with the 2026 Grainger College of Engineering Teaching Excellence Award. He joined the faculty in the Department of Aerospace Engineering in The Grainger College of Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 14 years ago. Since 2022, he has been serving as an assistant dean for undergraduate programs but has continued to teach aerospace courses.

When Woodard first began teaching at Illinois, he taught Introduction to Aerospace Engineering using the syllabus that was already in place. He said the course had one project, but it was a “course with a project, not a project-based course.” Woodard developed and implemented a new version of the course—which has been taught every fall semester since then. His improved course included a more comprehensive, and truly project-based, introduction to the field of aerospace engineering while also emphasizing the modern communications skills all engineers need.

“I have continued leading this course nearly every year in the fall and, especially since the pandemic, have focused more efforts on community building within the class. In writing assignments, students reflect on their goals and place within aerospace. Teams for the class projects are created to ensure that the students get to know others in the class,” Woodard said.

In 2019, Woodard, along with Laura Gerhold, an aerospace undergrad advisor, led the first aerospace short-term study abroad trip, a program to Brazil. Students participated in an 8-week pre-departure class to prepare for their aerospace-themed international immersion experience. When travel wasn’t possible during the pandemic, Woodard found a creative solution. He offered students a semester-long virtual exchange program with students in Brazil. When travel possibilities resumed, the Brazil program resumed, and Gerhold established a similar program for a short study abroad trip to South Africa.

Aria (Stahulak) Noe, B.S. ’19, is an electrical systems design engineer for The Boeing Company, said Woodard asked her to assist him with research when she was a senior to improve the aerospace curriculum.

“He had a keen eye for seeing where we could improve the skills of our aerospace undergraduates,” Noe said. “I helped with research on where the curriculum could integrate more technical writing. He noticed that the students needed improvement in their writing by the time they reached senior year, so we researched together how to better set up these budding engineers for success.”

In another example of Woodard’s dedication to student successes in the classroom, his colleague, Jason Merret, mentioned his long history with the aerospace summer camps.

“During the summers Brian has directed the Illinois Aerospace Institute Camp,” Merret said. “In fact, he is the only person that has been in every role in the camp from student to administrator and all roles in between. It’s clear Brian cares about teaching students; he has made a career out of recruiting them and developing them into outstanding Grainger Engineers.”