2025 Outstanding Teacher Award Recipient

Nicholaus Parziale, Ph.D.

George Meade Bond Endowed Professor
Charles V. Schaefer, Jr. School of Engineering and Science
Department of Mechanical Engineering 

Nicholaus Parziale, Ph.D. was drawn to mechanical engineering early on. “As a kid, I restored a 1994 Miata and a 1981 Corvette with my dad,” he recalls. “This eventually led me to the mechanical engineering program at SUNY Binghamton.”

“Faculty at SUNY Binghamton got me excited about high-speed fluid mechanics and aerospace,” he continues. “They encouraged me to apply to graduate school and I was lucky enough to get into Caltech. There, I worked for researchers who have an infectious enthusiasm for the subject.”

Parziale earned an M.S. and Ph.D. in aeronautics from California Institute of Technology. In 2013, Parziale joined Stevens as a visiting assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, before joining the faculty on the tenure track in 2014. “Stevens gave me a great deal of leeway in defining what I wanted to research,” he says. 

He enjoys his work with Stevens students. “The most exciting thing about teaching is when you can convince students, who might otherwise be reticent to embrace the mathematical underpinnings of fluids, that there is a connection between some complex derivation and a real-life application,” he explains. “You go from the governing equations that can appear complicated and unwieldy to explaining shock diamonds or the shape of a rocket nozzle. It’s fun to draw a direct line from fundamentals to an engineering application.”

Parziale is generous with his guidance as well, drawing on his own student experiences as a Langley Research Center Summer Student and as a graduate research assistant and postdoctoral scholar at Caltech. “I advise students to do fewer things better,” he counsels. “Don’t take 30 credits a term while belonging to nine clubs. Don’t spread yourself so thin that you are unhappy and not absorbing any of the experience.” 

He also encourages students to figure out what they do and don’t like by trying new things. “If you think you like automotive engineering, join one of the Society of Automotive Engineers clubs. If you think you like research, pester a faculty member who you think does cool work. Try to find work that you find meaningful, even if it isn’t the easiest or doesn’t offer the highest pay.” 

“That said, the floor for Stevens graduates is very high,” Parziale continues. “I mostly teach mechanical engineering undergrad seniors. They usually end up with one or more job offers and often suffer from decision fatigue. My first line is usually: relax. Even if you make the worst possible choice among those before you, the outcome is going to be terrific. You’re likely to have the beginnings of a great career. Nothing is permanent. You can start a job, and if it stinks, you can figure out an offramp. There is no one-size-fits-all prescription for success. Try to make a good wage. Try to be happy.” 

During his years at Stevens, Parziale has been an Air Force Summer Faculty Fellow every year from 2014 to 2017. He rose to the role of professor at Stevens in 2024 and became the university’s George Meade Bond Professor in 2025. His accolades include being selected for the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) Young Investigator Research Program (2016), the Stevens Provost Early Career Award for Research Excellence (2019), the Stevens Employee Excellence Award for “Excellence in All We Do” (2020), and the Office of Naval Research (ONR) Young Investigator Research Program (2020). He became an American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Associate Fellow in 2023 and received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers in 2025.

“The Stevens Outstanding Teacher Award is unique in that it is driven by alumni,” he says. “What’s also neat is if you go back to the list of former winners they’re all folks that, from my position, are really student focused. I consider recent former winners Frank Fisher and Leslie Brunell to be mentors. So, to be included on that list is really cool.“