Honors and Awards
October 2024
Professors Julianna Abel and Natasha Wright (mechanical engineering) are this year's awardees for the Nugent Family Faculty Teaching award. The award recognizes faculty members who demonstrate an exceptional interest in and commitment to teaching undergraduate students.
Professor Dmitriy Bilyk (mathematics) received the 2024 Alexanderson Award from American Institute of Mathematics.
Professor Svitlana Mayboroda (mathematics) was elected as a Fellow of the Mathematics Division of the European Academy of Sciences, a non-profit independent organization of the most distinguished scholars and engineers performing forefront research.
Assistant Professor Alex Watson (mathematics) received the Journal of Mathematical Physics Young Researcher Award.
Professor Junaed Sattar (computer science and engineering) is a co-principal investigator on an interdisciplinary team that won a grant from the University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment (IonE).
Professor Rajesh Rajamani (mechanical engineering) was the recipient of two transportation research-related recognitions. He was selected as a Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE Intelligent Transportation Systems Society and his research team received AASHTO’s Region 3 High Value Research Award, from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.
Alumni Andrew Alegria (Ph.D. mechanical engineering), Amey Joshi (PhD mechanical engineering) and Daniel Surinach (MS mechanical engineering) won a $25,000 prize at the Minnesota Cup for their company, Objective Biotechnology.
Alumnus Prashant Kumar (Ph.D. materials science) was recognized as one of MIT Technology Review’s Innovators Under 35 Asia Pacific.
Ph.D. student Zachary McAllister (chemical engineering and materials science) won the “Most Stunning” award in the 2024 National Nanotechnology Coordinated Infrastructure (NNCI) Image Contest.
Professor Patrick Alford (biomedical engineering) was named a Fellow by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).
Professor Sapna Sarupria (chemistry) named Associate Director of new AI training program. The training will bring together experts in chemical engineering, biological engineering, chemistry, materials science, and data science.
Director of X-Ray Crystallographic Laboratory Victor Young (chemistry) received the Research Technical Staff Award. This award recognizes staff for their distinguished service to the University of Minnesota research community and celebrates exemplary leadership that positively impacted their colleagues and advanced the University's mission.
Assistant Professor Shelley Dougherty (mathematics) received the Award for Excellence in Academic Unit Service from the University of Minnesota. The award recognizes exceptional service that has strengthened the functioning and climate of the School of Mathematics.
The Bhagi-Damodaran Lab (chemistry) received the Paul Saltman Young Investigator Award at the 2025 Metals in Biology Gordon Research Conference. Professor Ambika Bhagi-Damodaran (chemistry) will give an invited talk at the conference to give an overview of the research accomplishments of the lab in the field of cellular signaling and biocatalysis.
Associate Professor Vivian Ferry and Professor Xiang Cheng (chemical engineering and materials science) are the new Directors of Graduate Studies for their department.
September 2024
Professor Renee Frontiera (chemistry) won the Sara Evans Leadership Award for 2024 from the University of Minnesota’s Office of Equity and Diversity. The award recognizes women faculty who have achieved significant accomplishments and honors and who contribute as leaders on their campuses.
Assistant Professor Yiling Zhang (industrial and systems engineering) received a NSF CAREER award from the division of Civil, Mechanical, & Manufacturing Innovation for a project titled "Collaborative Research: Uncertainty-Aware Multimodal Transit System Design with Shared Mobility under Ambiguous Rider Preferences."
Senior Scientist James Marti (Minnesota Nano Center) received a Research Technical Staff Award. This award recognizes staff for their distinguished service to the University of Minnesota research community and celebrates exemplary leadership that positively impacted their colleagues and advanced the University's mission.
Professor Shuzhong Zhang (industrial and systems engineering) was elected as an INFORMS Fellow, Class of 2024. INFORMS is the largest professional society in the field and being named a fellow is one of the highest honors a faculty member can receive.
Assistant Professors Sayan Biswas and Marien Simeni (mechanical engineering) were among 91 early career scientists to receive funding from the prestigious U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Early Career Research Program (ECRP).
Assistant Professor Ognjen Ilic (mechanical engineering) was a recipient of this year's Young Faculty Award (YFA) from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
Professor John Bischof (mechanical engineering) won the 2024 ASME Heat Transfer Memorial Award. The Heat Transfer Memorial Award is bestowed on individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the field of heat transfer through teaching, research, practice, design, service, leadership, inventions, or a combination of such activities.
Professor John Sartori (electrical and computer engineering) was the recipient of the 2024 Innovation Impact Case Award for his project Q-rounds, a virtual hospital round queuing software that he designed in collaboration with Professor Michael Pitt (Department of Pediatrics).
Professor Chris Kim (electrical and computer engineering) was awarded the 2024 Sustainable Future Award for his “groundbreaking contributions to energy efficiency and sustainability” from the Semiconductor Research Corporation.
Professor Maria Gini (computer science and engineering) earned the International Joint Conferences on Artificial Intelligence Organization (IJCAI) Donald E. Walker Distinguished Service Award. She was recognized for her substantial contributions, as well as her extensive service to the field of artificial intelligence (AI) throughout her career.
August 2024
Professor Erin Carlson (chemistry) is among 11 accomplished researchers selected to receive the Research Corporation for Science Advancement’s Cottrell Plus SEED Award for 2024.
Alumnus Franklin M. Orr Jr. (Ph.D. chemical engineering) has been named recipient of the 2024 Arthur M. Bueche Award by the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) “for government, academic and industrial service in promoting clean energy policy, reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and developments in carbon sequestration.”
Professor Vlad Pribiag (physics) is one of only 19 researchers nationwide to receive a prestigious five-year, $1.25 million Experimental Physics Investigators award from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.
Associate Professor Xue Feng (civil, environmental, and geo- engineering) was chosen to receive the Deb Swackhamer Early Career Award, honoring Swakhamer’s commitment to early career scientists and her example of authentic leadership.
Professor Sapna Sarupria (chemistry) was awarded the 2024 CoMSEF Impact Award from the Computational Molecular Science and Engineering Forum (CoMSEF) of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE).
Professor Erin Carlson (chemistry) is among 11 accomplished researchers who were selected to receive the Research Corporation for Science Advancement’s Cottrell Plus SEED Award for 2024.
Associate Professor Kelsey Stoerzinger (chemical engineering and materials science) received the Marks-Ipatieff Prize from the American Chemical Society (ACS).
Professor David Pui (mechanical engineering) is one of eight academicians elected to Taiwan's Academia Sinica Division of Engineering Sciences in 2024.
Professor William C. K. Pomerantz (chemistry) has been selected as a University of Minnesota Institute on the Environment (IonE) Fellow.
July 2024
Professor Bharat Jalan (chemical engineering and materials science) was recently named an American Vacuum Society (AVS) Fellow.
Professor John Bischof (mechanical engineering) was awarded the Heat Transfer Memorial Award in Science from the American Society of Mechanical Engineering for his outstanding contributions to the field of heat transfer with cryopreservation and ATP-Bio.
Associate Professor Lindsay Glesener (physics) was awarded the inaugural Allen M. Goldman Faculty Fellowship for the 2024 - 2025 academic year.
Professor Emeritus Bruce Wollenberg (electrical and computer engineering) was the recipient of the 2025 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Herman Halperin Electric Transmission and Distribution Award.
Associate Professor Caiwen Ding (computer science and engineering) received a Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to support his project, “Algorithm-Hardware Co-design of Efficient Large Graph Machine Learning for Electronic Design Automation”.
June 2024
Professor Bill Arnold (civil, environmental, and geo- engineering) has been named a 2024 Fellow of the Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors (AEESP).
Assistant Professor Qi Zhang (chemical engineering & materials science) was awarded the 2024 American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Computing & Systems Technology (CAST) Division's Outstanding Young Researcher Award. The award is administered by one of the world's leading organizations for chemical engineering professionals.
Professor Jane Wissinger (chemistry) was awarded the 2024 Career Achievement in Green Chemistry Education by the American Chemical Society (ACS).
Professor Peter Makovicky (earth & environmental sciences) was awarded the Fulbright U.S. Scholar fellowship for 2024-2025 competition.
Professor Mikhail Shifman (physics and astronomy) was named a University of Minnesota Regents Professor.
Professor Uwe Kortshagen (mechanical engineering) was awarded one of twelve Institute on the Environment's (IonE) Impact Goal Grants.
Assistant Professor Yogatheesan Varatharajah (computer science and engineering) received a Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Teaching Professor Phil Barry (computer science and engineering) earned the University of Minnesota Provost’s Unit Service Award for his countless service contributions to the department.
Professors Edgar Arriaga, Mark Distefano and Valerie Pierre (chemistry) have been awarded a $2.2 million grant by the National Institute on Aging.
May 2024
Professors Will Northrop and Jim Van de Ven (mechanical engineering) were elected as American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Fellows.
Assistant Professor Marien Simeni’s (mechanical, engineering) proposal was selected by the Department of Defense for the fiscal year 2023 Defense Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (DEPSCoR) competition.
Professor Jane Wissinger (chemistry) was awarded the 2024 Career Achievement in Green Chemistry Education by the American Chemical Society.
April 2024
Professors Peter Bruggeman (mechanical engineering), Paul Dauenhauer (chemical engineering and materials science), Joshua M. Feinberg (earth and environmental sciences), Jasmine Foo (mathematics), and Chad L. Myers (computer science and engineering) were named 2024 University of Minnesota Distinguished McKnight Professors.
Assistant Professor Qi Zhang (chemical engineering and materials science) was awarded the 2024 College of Science and Engineering Guillermo W. Borja Career Development Award.
Assistant Professors Max Engelstein (mathematics) and William Leeb were awarded the 2024 College of Science and Engineering George W. Taylor Career Development Award.
Associate Professor Catherine Qi Zhao (computer science and engineering) was awarded the 2024 College of Science and Engineering George W. Taylor Award for Distinguished Research.
Professor Bill Arnold (civil, environmental, and geo- engineering) was awarded the 2024 College of Science and Engineering George W. Taylor Award for Distinguished Service.
Professor Matt Johnson (biomedical engineering) was awarded the 2024 College of Science and Engineering George W. Taylor Award for Distinguished Teaching.
Associate Professor Julianna Abel (mechanical engineering) was awarded the 2024 College of Science and Engineering Charles E. Bowers Faculty Teaching Award.
Graduate Student Virginia Gali (physics and astronomy) was awarded the 2024 College of Science and Engineering John Bowers Excellence in Teaching Assistance Award.
Professor Dihua Jiang (mathematics) and Associate Professor Li Wang (mathematics) were named as Simons Fellows from The Simons Foundation, which recognizes outstanding mathematicians.
Professor Joshua Feinberg (earth and environmental sciences) was named a 2023 American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Fellow for the section on Geology & Geography.
Professor Chad L. Myers (computer science and engineering) earned the 2023-24 Award for Outstanding Contributions to Graduate and Professional Education and will become a member of the Academy of Distinguished Teachers (ADT).
Professor Chris Kim (electrical and computer engineering) received Intel’s 2023 Outstanding Researcher Award.
Professor Vladimir Sverak (mathematics) was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the nation’s most prestigious honor societies.
David Pappone, assistant dean for operations and chief financial officer for the College of Science and Engineering and Professor Philippe Buhlmann (chemistry) received the 2024 President's Award for Outstanding Service at the University of Minnesota.
Professor William Leeb (mathematics) was named a McKnight Presidential Fellow at the University of Minnesota.
Undergraduate student Priscilla Bunday (computer science and engineering) was awarded the 2024 Donald R. Zander Alumni Award for Outstanding Student Leadership. In addition, 12 CSE students were among 90 students Universitywide who received 2024 President’s Student Leadership and Service Awards: Nedda Abuhadid (Biomedical Engineering), Mariam Alghazali (Chemical Engineering), Gopesh Bajaj (Computer Science), Jonathan Cubero (Industrial and Systems Engineering), Keagan Eng (Computer Science), Lauren Hagen (Computer Science), Natalie Mac (Chemical Engineering), Hanna Nelson (Chemical Engineering), Darin Phlork (Computer Science), Kristine Loh (Ph.D. Chemical Engineering), Maya Ramamurthy (Ph.D. Chemical Engineering), and MaryKate Wolken (Ph.D History of Science, Technology, and Medicine)
Graduate student Emmanuel Onuoha (chemical engineering and materials science) won the 2024 Minnesota Crucible Prize with their pitch for "Renewable Ammonia Production."
Assistant Professor Chris Bartel (chemical engineering and materials science) was named a Scialog Fellow in Sustainable Minerals, Materials, and Metals.
Professor Carol Kittredge Shield (civil, environmental, and geo- engineering) was named an American Concrete Institute (ACI) Honorary Member, one of the highest honors by ACI.
March 2024
Assistant Professor Qi Zhang (chemical engineering and materials science) was awarded the IChemE Junior Sargent Medal which recognizes major contributions by an early career individual to research in the area of computer-aided product and process engineering.
Professor William C. K. Pomerantz (chemistry) received the Horace T. Morse Award, the University of Minnesota Alumni Association Award for Outstanding Contributions to Undergraduate Education.
Professor Jonathan Sachs (biomedical engineering) was elected to the 2024 Class of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) College of Fellows.
Professor Andre Mkhoyan (chemical engineering and materials science) was inducted into the Class of 2024 Fellows for Microscopy Society of America (MSA).
Professor Matt Neurock (chemical engineering and materials science) was awarded the USA Navy Impact Influencer Award. The award is presented to educators, mentors, and coaches across the nation who personify the Navy’s core values of Honor, Courage, and Commitment.
Associate Professor Yao-Yi Chiang (computer science) was appointed the chair for the first ever Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Committee for the Association of Computing Machinery’s (ACM) Special Interest Group on Spatial Information (SIGSPATIAL).
The University of Minnesota-Twin Cities Material Advantage Chapter earned 2nd place by crafting a stunning modern rendition of a one-handed Irish Ring Pommel Sword for the 2024 Minerals, Metals & Materials Society (TMS) Bladesmithing competition.
February 2024
Assistant Professor Nick Arnosti (industrial and systems engineering) was awarded the 2024 NSF CAREER grant.
Professors Catherine French (civil, environmental, and geo- engineering) and Timothy Lodge (chemical engineering and materials science) were elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE).
Assistant Professors Michelle Calabrese (chemical engineering and materials science), Ryan Caverly (aerospace engineering & mechanics), Michelle Chu (mathematics), Michael Coughlin (physics and astronomy), Courtney Roberts (chemistry), and Judy Yang (civil, environmental, and geo-engineering) are among twelve recipients of the University of Minnesota's 2024-2026 McKnight Land-Grant Professorship.
Assistant Professor Qi Zhang (chemical engineering and materials science) has been awarded the Junior Sargent Medal by the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE).
Professors James Van de Ven (mechanical engineering) and Chad L. Myers (computer science and engineering) received the 2024 University of Minnesota Graduate and Professional Teaching Award.
Assistant Professor Zhen Liu (physics and astronomy) was selected as a 2024 Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow in Physics.
Associate Professor Catherine Qi Zhao (computer science & engineering) & Teaching Professor Lisa Miller (industrial and systems engineering) were appointed as Dean’s Fellows in the College of Science and Engineering.
Professor Hubert Lim (biomedical engineering) has been selected as the next director of the University's Earl E. Bakken Medical Device Center.
Alumnus Martha C. Anderson (Ph.D., astrophysics), Kei May Lau (B.A. & M.S. astrophysics), and Jeff Puschell (Ph.D., astrophysics) have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) for 2024.
January 2024
Alumnus Dr. Keith Wilson (M.S. electrical engineering) named the 2024 recipient of the Acoustical Society of America’s (ASA) Helmholtz-Rayleigh Interdisciplinary Silver Medal in Computational Acoustics, Physical Acoustics and Engineering Acoustics.
Professor Roberta Humphreys (physics and astronomy) received the 2024 Herschel Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society for her work in observational astrophysics.
Professor Jian-Ping Wang (electrical and computer engineering) was honored with the 2024 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Magnetics Society Achievement Award for his pioneering work in magnetics.
Professor Suo Yang (mechanical engineering) received the 2024 Young Investigator Program award from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.
Professor Aaron Massari and Assistant Professor Courtney Roberts (chemistry) were named 3M Alumni Professors.
Professor Satish Kumar (chemical engineering and materials science) was named to the U.S. National Committee for Theoretical and Applied Mechanics.
Student Brian Balquist (civil, environmental, and geo- engineering) won the University of Minnesota’s Biz Pitch Contest for his proposal in a company that would apply existing wastewater surveillance technology to new areas.
Professors Brenda Ogle (biomedical engineering) and Sang-Hyun Oh (electrical and computer engineering) received research grants from the Minnesota Partnership for Biotechnology and Medical Genomics.
Professor Sayan Biswas (mechanical engineering) won the Council of University Transportation Centers Cambridge Systematics New Faculty Award for his contributions to teaching and research in the transportation field for tenure-track faculty.