At Arizona State University, Mike Ranjram is committed to supporting students and encouraging their academic and career pursuits in power electronics.
“I believe that good teaching is good storytelling,” he says. “My aim is to create an interesting narrative, so the learning process is compelling and students are actively engaged.”
As a faculty member in the Fulton Schools, Ranjram’s efforts have been recognized with multiple Top 5% Teaching Awards, which are based on student feedback and evaluations. That dedication is now being recognized at a national level.
Ranjram, an assistant professor of electrical engineering in the School of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering, part of the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at ASU, was named the 2025 Region 6 Outstanding Educator by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, or IEEE.
He received the award for excellence in teaching and mentorship, as well as his deep commitment to educating the next generation of electrical engineers, according to the IEEE citation.
“This award is tremendously meaningful to me,” Ranjram says. “It is a very welcome expression from my students that I am going the right way, especially since I was nominated by them directly.”
Diego Puerta, an electrical engineering undergraduate student in the Fulton Schools, submitted the nomination. He signals nothing but praise for Ranjram as an instructor and mentor.
“Dr. Ranjram is, without question, the best teacher I have ever had,” Puerta says. “His outstanding teaching, mentorship and unwavering belief in my abilities have been pivotal to my career, and he has inspired me to pursue a PhD in power electronics. I took the initiative to nominate him because he deserves recognition for all he has done for me and many other students.”
As an instructor, Ranjram teaches four power-area courses encompassing power electronics, electrical machinery and power systems. When he joined ASU, he was instrumental in refreshing the material to better push and inspire students.
“The coursework is difficult, but I strive to be fair,” he says. “I have found that students appreciate being challenged when they understand the opportunities ahead. I also try to remind my students that there is a tremendous value in learning beyond the grade they receive.”
Beyond the classroom
Ranjram’s work with students continues outside of his power-area classes.
Since 2021, Ranjram has mentored nine students working on Fulton Undergraduate Research Initiative, or FURI, projects, including guiding Puerta in his Miniaturized and Advanced Power Electronics Laboratory, or MAPEL.
He also regularly serves as a mentor to electrical engineering student teams in their final semester as part of the ECEE Senior Design capstone project, a culminating course that includes a live poster presentation prior to graduation.
“Undergraduate research and capstone projects are opportunities for our students to better themselves through a different kind of learning than what we can offer in the classroom,” Ranjram says. “I feel that to the extent we can support students who elect to do those things, and who commit to the hard work it takes to do those things well, we should.”
Ranjram first met Puerta while mentoring his Fulton Schools Summer Research Initiative, or SURI, experience, which aims to bolster research opportunities and provide an in-depth understanding of what it would be like to pursue a doctoral degree.
“Our role is to ensure students have opportunities to participate, and so I try to make those opportunities available when I can,” Ranjram says. “FURI and SURI are particularly tremendous programs we have at ASU, and so I am very happy to support them.”
Puerta attributes his experiences working with Ranjram outside the classroom with helping him thrive as a researcher and develop invaluable skills he plans to carry with him in pursuit of a doctorate.
“During SURI, he tasked me with leading my project, which was a daunting task for a first-time researcher,” Puerta says. “Under his guidance, I thrived and found myself quickly taking ownership of the project and even proposing my own ideas and methods.”
Igniting an early spark
Ranjram’s commitment to inspiring students extends beyond college classrooms and labs.
Last fall, he connected with Danielle Houseman, a STEM specialist with ASU Prep Polytechnic STEM Elementary, engaging third grade students with a hands-on lesson that demonstrated the relationship between electricity and magnetism.
“Whether working with college-age or elementary students, the fundamentals are the same,” Ranjram says. “With kids, it’s important to tap into a shared excitement about the material and encourage them to explore further.”
He adds, “As educators, we cannot assume students will show up to the university ready and excited to become engineers. Fostering that interest must come earlier.”
Ranjram was eager to volunteer and built his demonstration using the output of an undergraduate capstone project he mentored with electrical engineering students Hunter Bridges, Joseph DiTullio, Aiden Fritzke, Sloan Sciarappo and Connor Watson.
For many of the ASU Prep students, it was their first exposure to principles connected to engineering.
“Dr. Ranjram’s warmth and teaching style really connect with kids,” Houseman says. “His information is age-appropriate and easy for students to understand. His excitement and passion for his field are contagious and truly inspiring to our students.”
Houseman echoes Ranjram’s views about the importance of building interest in STEM early in the education pipeline.
“Early interactions with university educators help students feel more confident and start to see themselves in these fields,” Houseman says. “It really opens their eyes to what’s possible and shows them that science and engineering offer open doors to a huge world with so many different career opportunities. These experiences help make college and STEM pathways feel normal and achievable for them.”
Recognition rooted in impact
Ranjram’s teaching philosophy centers on the notion that at times, learning evolves out of the initial discomfort of being wrong and embracing the process.
“Learning is an inherently painful act,” he says. “First, you have to admit you don’t know, then you’ve got to figure out how you can know, then you’ve got to do all the work to know, and at the end of it you might realize how much you still don’t know. However, learning is also deeply rewarding — it is the foundation through which we better ourselves.”
To Ranjram, the struggle is not a flaw in the system but a feature of it. And that understanding, he illustrates, carries important implications for how educators can guide students through the process.
“I believe our job as educators is to make that process of learning navigable, by getting students excited about what they don’t know, and then offering a clear but challenging course of study that gets them there, lets them reap the rewards of knowing, and, hopefully, excites them to repeat the cycle,” he says.
Ranjram attributes the successful navigation of this process with building lifelong learners.
“There is not much out there that a person who is willing to learn can’t do, and I find it deeply rewarding to be part of helping students discover that,” he says. “I take great pride in trying to get better at it.”
