Ryan

Experience

In the past eight months with Keystone, I have tutored over 100 hours by working with students every week on subjects ranging from Maths, Biology, Physics, and Chemistry. Additionally, I help to supervise undergraduate students at the University of Cambridge in various Chemistry topics.

This past year, I was chosen to be a visiting Professor at Covenant University in Nigeria (one of the top five universities in Africa). There, I taught classes for 70 third-year undergraduate students in Organic Chemistry. I prepared questions for their final examination from the lectures I taught, and I have been invited to return when possible.

The past few years, I have volunteered my time at the Cambridge Science Festival to present scientific lectures to the public on a variety of important research topics. During the Chemistry Open Day, I demonstrate basic concepts in Chemistry to over 1,500 visitors, mainly younger children, through fun and hands-on experiments such as liquid nitrogen ice cream.

Biography

During my PhD in Chemistry, as a Gates Cambridge Scholar, I conduct biophysics research entering my third year at the University of Cambridge. As a Whitaker Fellow, I received an MPhil in Chemistry under the same world-class supervision from Professor Sir Chris Dobson (late Master of St John's College).

I arrived from the United States after graduated with Honours and Summa Cum Laude (First Class Honours) from the University of South Carolina with a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering degree. I was selected by the faculty for the Society of Professional Engineering Outstanding Senior Award for receiving the highest marks in nearly every course. With outstanding ACT and SAT scores, I received merit scholarships as a GE Aviation, Polston Family, Sims, and Tau Beta Pi Scholar.

As a summer researcher at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, I guided the implementation of a field portable gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer for detecting volatile organic compounds. Much of this work relied on fully understanding the chemical theory behind the instrument as we issued new guidelines for occupational chemical exposure limits.

After receiving the national Barry Goldwater Scholarship in 2016, I took on the role of fellowship peer mentor within the Office of Fellowships and Scholar Programs to assist students on their applications for numerous national and international programs. I continue as an alumnus to consult with potential scholars and fellows.

Personal Approach

Understanding scientific concepts requires a unique approach in teaching the subject material. I have developed strategies that cater strictly to the GCSE and A-level syllabi while adapting my tutoring directly to the student in preparing for the tests. From in-depth discussions with leading scientists and professors, I use various techniques popularised by Nobel Laureate lectures that include: relating topics to real-world examples, providing brief history lessons, and formulating mnemonic devices for memorisation.

What I do when I am not tutoring

I have complete flexibility around my PhD work schedule that will allow me to conduct online tutoring at the most favourable times for the students (i.e., available at all times on each day). When I'm not preparing experiments in the lab, I am writing academic papers on my research to publish.

Testimonials

''[Son's name] enjoys his sessions with Ryan who is great. Currently, [son's name] works with Ryan every other week. As [son's name] gets older we would like to increase his time with Ryan to one session a week.'' (Mother of Year 9 Maths student)

''All good with Ryan where the remote learning sessions appear to suit [son's name], and he is already benefiting from working with him in Chemistry.'' (Father of OCR Chemistry student)