"Teaching is a magical experience," says Oliver M. O'Reilly, Professor of Mechanical Engineering. "It is tremendously personal for me and it is woven into my character, interests, and perspective on life." Students see this attitude from the moment they enter his classes. "He is very focused on student learning and takes great effort to help if we are having any problems," says a student. And another says, more simply: "O'Reilly exemplifies everything that a student desires in a professor."
A colleague points out that O'Reilly's personal interest in students is only one aspect of his success: "Undergraduate dynamics is an especially difficult subject, feared by almost all engineering students. O'Reilly's superb grasp of the material, his careful methodical approach, and his appreciation of the aesthetics and the history of the subject ensure that a splendid treatment of dynamics is delivered every time." Part of that methodical approach is O'Reilly's set of lecture notes, which more than one student describe as "awesome."
According to O'Reilly, "My role is to guide the students in such a way that they learn to think differently and to view the world in another light at the end of their journey." A transfer student remembers his first class at Berkeley, with O'Reilly: "I had a lot of preconceived notions about what classes at Berkeley would be like and how they would be challenging. As it turned out, that first class was the most challenging of all my classes at Berkeley. More importantly, it was the most captivating."
"A remarkably original and creative scientist," according to one colleague, O'Reilly is a specialist in dynamics and continuum mechanics. He received his B.E. from the National University of Ireland and his Ph.D. from Cornell University and joined the faculty of the Department of Mechanical Engineering in 1992.
Statement Of Teaching Philosophy
To teach is to stimulate those who are extraordinary, to elevate those who feel average, and to inspire confidence in those who feel insecure. Teaching is a magical experience. It is one which is tremendously personal for me and it is woven into my character, interests, and perspective on life.
Each course and each graduate student is a unique experience. On the one hand, there is a certain structure present, such as core materials, homework, exams, and dissertations. Counterpoising this, students have a wide range of backgrounds, motivations, and abilities. My role is to guide the students through this intimidating structure in such a way that they learn to think differently and to view the world in another light. To do this, I try to personalize the education of each student. I also continually revise and update every course that I teach. Toys, movies, historical anecdotes, and my own tribulations as a newly licensed driver are all used to make my dynamics courses more personal and interesting. To me, giving poorlyprepared or unenthusiastic lectures is an insult to the student who took the time to attend.
In teaching a dynamics course, I seek to distill and blend the classical body of knowledge with my own perspectives on how this body has evolved, been reinterpreted, and relates to the scientific and physical worlds. I want my courses to be as selfcontained as possible, but I also want them to serve as both stepping stones and guides to other areas.
Realistically, most of my students will not use all of the core material in my classes once their final examination is complete. The most important things that I can teach are critical thinking, analytical skills, intellectual independence, and an ability to pose and answer questions that will not only allow students to understand the material that I teach, but will also follow them to other courses and beyond.
Education is about intellectual growth not competition, and I strive to have students cooperate and help each other. In the same spirit, I feel a responsibility to compose fair examinations based on a standard that should be worldclass, and to ensure that the education I provide is at that level. I want all of my students to leave Berkeley with the feeling that my teaching significantly contributed to their lives and my knowing that the education they received with me was the best possible.