- Amanpreet Kapoor, Ph.D., was awarded the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering Undergraduate Teacher of the Year and UF’s Division Three Superior Accomplishment Award.
- He developed a bug bounty program that turns students’ error reports in course materials into grade‑boosting bounties, fostering a culture of continuous improvement.
- He plans to integrate AI‑facilitated experiential learning and software engineering into the curriculum, aiming to broaden societal impact and stimulate job creation.
The innovative engineering professor behind the bug bounty and Edugator recently won two prestigious awards.
Associate instructional engineering professor Amanpreet Kapoor, Ph.D., has been honored with the Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering Undergraduate Teacher of the Year and the University of Florida’s Division Three Superior Accomplishment Award.
It is big news for the beloved Department of Engineering Education (EEd) faculty member, but while Kapoor is grateful for the recognition, his humble reaction is no surprise.
“I feel more accountable to maintain high standards and to contribute beyond my own classroom through mentoring, sharing resources and advancing teaching practices within the broader community,” he said when asked about the accolades.
Kapoor received the Engineering Undergraduate Teacher of the Year for 2025-2026 based on nominations from EEd Chair Idalis Villanueva Alarcón, Ph.D., as well as six former students and two peer reviewers. The award recognizes outstanding teachers who show innovation and excellence in the classroom.
Lisha Zhou, an instructional assistant professor in the department of Computer and Information Science and Engineering (CISE), said Kapoor goes above and beyond with “a genuine passion.”
“Aman’s commitment to improving the learning experience was further evident through the implementation of a bug-bounty program,” she said.
By allowing students to report errors and typos — the bugs — in course materials, Kapoor “created a collaborative environment that emphasized continuous improvement,” Zhou said. When his students catch the bugs, their bounties are credited toward their final grade.
Another fan is a former student, teaching assistant and current software engineer at RTX, Kevin Allen, who appreciated Kapoor’s lectures.
“Aman’s course included practicing applying concepts in a computer science job interview setting, which was extremely beneficial in helping me pursue undergraduate summer internships,” Allen said.
Allen was referring to the Hire Thy Gator Interview Exercises offered by UF’s Center for Teaching Excellence.
“He has created a course experience that is unparalleled within the computer science major program at UF and is a fundamental reason why I was prepared for post-graduation employment and am experiencing success in my current role,” he added.
Tianwei Xie, a computer science graduate and former teaching assistant who works at Google, also loved Kapoor’s innovative and engaging lessons.
“Professor Aman’s teaching style is characterized by his patience, thoughtfulness and genuine care for his students,” she said. “He’s not only an exceptional educator but also a dedicated mentor with a commitment to fostering both individual and group success.”
UF’s Division Three Superior Accomplishment Award recognizes faculty and staff who go above and beyond their assigned duties, provide outstanding service and advance the university’s mission.
Kapoor also worked with STEPUP Program Coordinator Darryl B. McCune II, MBA, where he helped develop activities for STEPUP students. STEPUP stands for Successful Transition and Enhanced Preparation for Undergraduates Program.
“Dr. Kapoor impacted me not only by expressing our shared passion for helping students learn with generative AI as an assistive tool, but also by showing me how to address challenges I observed among engineering students on campus and among our first-year engineering students,” McCune explained.
Kapoor’s expertise in Python, generative AI and Edugator (an AI-enabled teaching tool he helped develop) helped McCune create personalized Python programming practice problems that reinforced students’ programming skills while aligning with their individual interests.
CISE Associate Professor Christina Gardner-McCune, Ph.D., served as Kapoor’s doctoral advisor during his Ph.D. studies.
Now she sees him teaching courses that frequently have 350-450 students and mentoring 20-plus teaching assistants and peer mentors. In one year, she said, he published five peer-reviewed conference papers – either as first author, supervising author for undergraduate researchers or as a collaborator.
“Authoring this many publications in a year is exceptional by any single author without a research lab,” Gardner-McCune said.
Kapoor said his focus is on the future.
“Over the next five years, my goal is to integrate AI-facilitated experiential learning and software engineering into the curriculum through new projects, courses and programs,” he said. “These pathways aim to create broad societal impact while fostering job creation within the economy.”