Student Spotlight: Titus Roesler

By Jane Halpern

February 12, 2025 | Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science

Titus Roesler, a senior majoring in Electrical Science and Engineering, has worked as a teaching assistant during his time at MIT, winning the Department of EECS’s Undergraduate Teaching Award for teaching excellence in 2024. Of his work, one student wrote, “[Titus’s] level of dedication in recitations, office hours, and exam review was unmatched! I hope he will continue to teach forever so that many more students can experience how wonderful and transformative it is to learn from such a talented teacher who is also absolutely a ray of sunshine in human form!” Photo credit: Cathy Roesler.

This interview is part of a series of short interviews from the Department of EECS, called Student Spotlights. Each Spotlight features a student answering their choice of questions about themselves and life at MIT. 

Today’s interviewee, Titus Roesler, is a senior majoring in Electrical Science and Engineering. As a first-year at MIT, Roesler joined the Experimental Study Group (ESG), a learning community for first-years that offers the general Institute requirements (GIRs) in a small, tight-knit class setting. As he reports it, “I never left! Since then, I’ve stuck around as an associate advisor for new cohorts of first-year ESG students, as a teaching assistant for classes on calculus and group theory, and as an instructor for special seminars in electrical engineering that I’ve designed from scratch and taught myself.” Roesler’s commitment to his academic community goes deep. Besides his teaching work and his participation in undergraduate research through SuperUROP, he is a member of the Undergraduate Student Advisory Group in EECS (USAGE), which provides student feedback to the Department. Roesler took time out of his schedule to answer a few questions about his experience at MIT.

What’s your favorite key on a standard computer keyboard, and why?

The backslash ( \ ) key is my favorite. I use it often for TEX commands when typesetting.

Tell me about one teacher from your past — here at MIT, at your high school, or even earlier, who had an influence on the person you’ve become.

While a student in ESG, I took ES.1801 (Single-Variable Calculus), ES.1802 (Multivariable Calculus), and ES.1803 (Differential Equations) all with Dr. Gabrielle Stoy. One morning in late spring, Gabrielle asked me to stick around after class to speak with her. (I wondered which course policy I had violated and worried throughout the lecture.) Instead, Gabrielle asked me if I would apply to be a teaching assistant for an ESG math class the next semester. I was ecstatic — and thus began my “teaching career” at MIT! Gabrielle formally retired from teaching mathematics in ESG in 2024, but we teamed up again to offer a special seminar on group theory over IAP 2025.

Tell me about one conversation that changed the trajectory of your life.

I’m grateful for all the conversations I’ve had with Prof. Denny Freeman. I appreciate his kindness, wisdom, and willingness to find time to discuss career plans, research, and education with me. I’ve always left his office feeling more ambitious and optimistic than I did when I walked in.

Do you have a bucket list? If so, share one or two of the items on it!

Running the Boston Marathon was on my bucket list for a few years, and I checked that off in 2024. Beyond that, I would love to explore Antarctica — perhaps by living and working at a research station for a year.

If you suddenly won the lottery, what would you spend some of the money on?

A bulk order of Hagoromo chalk — the so-called “Rolls-Royce of chalk!”

If you had to teach a really in-depth class about a niche topic, what would you pick?

In the context of signal processing, filters sift out desired frequency bands while attenuating others. I’d be interested in teaching a class on the theory and practice behind filter design — constructing a filter that satisfies a set of specifications. For example, analog or digital? Finite impulse response or infinite impulse response? Group delay? Causality? Stability? Practical implementation? I’m not an expert in filter design myself, but I’d appreciate the opportunity to consolidate what I’ve learned so far and study the topic in greater depth.