Tejas Dethe

Position
2023-25 Pedagogy Fellow
Bio/Description

Tejas Dethe started teaching with PTI in Fall 2022 and joined as the inaugural pedagogy fellow in Fall 2023. Tejas is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, working jointly between Dr. Howard Stone’s and Dr. Andrej Košmrlj’s groups on theoretical and computational soft matter physics. His technical research interest lies at the intersection of symmetry, topology, and thermodynamics in material science (via soft materials with novel shape-dependent properties) and fluid dynamics (via pattern formation in flowing fluids that can separate into different components). He integrated teaching with PTI into his doctoral research in Summer 2023 when he acted as a day-to-day mentor with the NSF REU Computational Biology Gateway to STEM program, working to introduce justice-impacted students to STEM research methodology and skills. Beyond his involvement with PTI, Tejas was a seminar leader for a critical thinking and writing course in Summer 2023 as part of the Freshman Scholars Institute with Princeton’s Emma Bloomberg Center for Access & Opportunity, where he facilitated the development of interdisciplinary inquiry-based perspectives among the incoming cohort of FLI undergraduate students. Tejas finds support for his diverse teaching experiences in learning from and growing with PTI and is always interested in ideas to make inclusive education a force for transformation and empowerment.