Prof. Ma’s Teaching

Philosophy: Sharing my knowledge with students and helping them prepare for future challenges is the most important commitment in my academic career. I think it is vital that students feel that the classroom is interesting, relevant and fun. Teaching should be reserved for the transfer of skills, concepts, rules and strategies, not just to convey facts or procedural information. For engineering courses, it is important not only to show students the elegance and beauty of theory, but also to show them the applicability of solving real-world problems.

Courses Taught:

  • VE450, Major Design Experience, Instructor/Coordinator, Summer/Fall 2010-present.

  • VM552, Mechatronic Systems Design, Instructor, Summer 2010-present.

  • VG450, Global Multidisciplinary Design Project I, Co-Instructor working with a U of M Instructor, Fall 2016-2019.

  • VE216, Introduction to Signals and Systems, Instructor, Spring 2012-15.

  • VM360, Modeling, Analysis and Control of Dynamic Systems, Instructor, Fall 2009.

  • VE460/VM461, Control Systems Analysis and Design /Automatic Control, Instructor, Summer 2009.

  • VE311, Electronic Circuits, Instructor, Fall 2008.

Short Courses Taught:

  • Lecturer, “Expectations for Graduate Study”, “Improving English Writing Ability” – Online Graduate Lecture Series, UM-SJTU Joint Institute, July 3, 2020, Shanghai, China.

  • Lecturer, “Distributed modeling and management of hybrid energy storage system and EV charging network”, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) Training Center, April 12, 2020, Shanghai, China.

  • Lecturer, “Energy Management and Wireless Power Transfer for Electric Vehicle Applications”, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) Training Center, June 26, 2019, Shanghai, China.

  • Lecturer, “Wireless Power Transfer for Electric Vehicle Applications”, Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) Training Center, January 18, 2019, Shanghai, China.

  • Lecturer, “Past, Present, and Future of Modern Electric Vehicles”, Beijing Tibet Middle School, May 28, 2018, Beijing, China.

  • Faculty member, Automotive Executive Development Program- “Driving the Future of the Automotive Industry” (collaboration between the UM-SJTU JI and the Stephen M. Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan), April 28-May 12, 2017, Ann Arbor, Detroit, San Jose, and San Francisco, USA.

Undergraduate Major Projects Directed:

As the former chair of UM-SJTU JI’s undergraduate research committee, I have directed many undergraduate projects. The following is a list of several representative projects:

National Renesas Super MCU Model Car Contests from 2008- 2010, 5 students/year

Infineon Cup in the East China Area, July 2011, 2 students

National/SJTU Undergraduate Innovational Experimentation Program

    • Suspension and motion control emulation platform for maglev trains, 2014-2015, 4 students
    • An Intelligent Display and Control Terminal System for EVs, 2013-2014, 2 students
    • Low-cost auto-pilot unmanned aerial vehicle, 2011-2012, 4 students
    • Unmanned helicopter for agriculture purpose, 2011-2012, 4 students
    • Realization and control of small unmanned aerial vehicle based on the open source Paparazzi system, 2010-2011, 4 students
    • Interactive commutations and control among vehicles-a case study of networked vehicles, 2010-2011, 3 students
    • Design and research on spherical wheel chassis, 2009-2011, 4 students

Shanghai Undergraduate Innovational Experimentation Program

  • Snake-like Rescue Robot, 2010-2011, 5 students

Capstone Projects

  • Averagely about 10 projects per year from 2010. The student teams under my supervision won Gold, Silver, Technical Innovation, and Best Teamwork awards in the past capstone final expos.