Honors and Awards - 2023

December 2023

Alumnus Dr. Kauser Jahan (Ph.D., Civil & Environmental Engineering), currently department head and professor in the Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering, was awarded a 3-year grant from the U.S. Department of Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA).

Alumnus Dr. Wei Xue (Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering), currently associate professor, as well as interim department head in the Henry M. Rowan College of Engineering was awarded a 3-year, ONR Award & a 3-year NSF Award.

Professor (computer science and engineering) Shana Watters is a recipient of the 2023-2024 Charlotte Striebel Equity Award. The Charlotte Striebel Equity Award annually recognizes a University of Minnesota faculty or staff member of any gender who goes above and beyond daily responsibilities to promote access for the common good, to undo bias and discrimination, or to build capacity for diverse and equitable campus communities.

Professor Svitlana Mayboroda (mathematics) was awarded the inaugural 2024 Elias M. Stein Prize for New Perspectives in Analysis for their “original, powerful, elegant and impactful theory of the ‘localization landscape’” by the American Mathematical Society (AMS).

Professor Tianhong Cui (mechanical engineering) has been named a 2023 member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts (EASA), a non-governmental, European association committed to promoting scientific and societal progress.

The Mechanical Engineering Ambassadors Program received the 2023 Outstanding Unit Award for Equity and Diversity, an award given by the Office for Equity and Diversity (OED) recognizing outstanding leadership in diversity and equity work.

Professors Peter Carr and Christy Haynes (chemistry) have both been named on the 2023 Power List from the Analytical Scientist.

November 2023

Professor Georgios Giannakis (electrical and computer engineering) has been elected as a 2023 International Fellow for the Royal Academy of Engineering for being a leading figure in engineering and technology worldwide.

Graduate student Rebecca Butler (biomedical engineering) won the CSE 3-Minute Thesis. Butler also tied for the People's Choice Award with the second place winner that day.

Ph.D. student Maddy Nyblade (earth and environmental sciences) was awarded the University of Minnesota Outstanding Community Service Award for her work studying climate and land use impacts on Manoomin, better known as wild rice.

Professor Jiaping Wang (mathematics) has been named a 2024 Fellow of the American Mathematical Society (AMS).

Professor Peter Bruggeman (mechanical engineering) was awarded the Inaugural University of Michigan Prize for Excellence in Plasma Science and Engineering.

October 2023

Undergraduate student Samuel Swartzendruber (chemical engineering and materials science) was selected to attend the 2023 NC State Frontiers of MSE Undergraduate Symposium and won an award for outstanding undergraduate research for "Polymorphism in Diblock Copolymer Blends."

Ph.D. student Marisa Bazzi (chemical engineering and materials science) was awarded a PRISM Baker Fellowship at Stanford University. She will be working with Professor Alison Marsden on a project centered around growth and remodeling in tissue-engineered vascular grafts.

Assistant Professor Michelle Calabrese (chemical engineering and materials science) is among 35 recipients of the 2023 American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) 35 Under 35 Award.

Professor Mark Distefano (chemistry) was awarded a University of Minnesota Outstanding Service Award.

Assistant Professor Courtney Roberts (chemistry) received the 2023 Amgen Young Investigators Award.

Assistant Professor Sayan Biswas (mechanical engineering) received the NASA Early Career Faculty Award for his research in developing a novel and versatile spacecraft coolant capable of efficient operation in various temperature extremes

Associate Professor Fiona Burnell (physics and astronomy) has been elected a Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS).

September 2023

University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering Dean Andrew Alleyne has been appointed as an inaugural member to the United States Department of the Navy Science and Technology Board (DoN S&T Board).

Professor Yohannes Ketema (aerospace engineering and mechanics) was chosen as the recipient of the UMN Provost's Unit Service Award.

Professor Ellad Tadmor (aerospace engineering and mechanics) was appointed the Russell J. Penrose Professorship award by College of Science and Engineering’s Dean Andrew Alleyne. Associate professor Mazie S. Hemati was awarded the next Russell J. Penrose Faculty Fellow.

Ph.D. student Tate Shannon (biomedical engineering) won the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute NHLBI pitch competition.

Alumnus Dr. Efraín Torres (Ph.D., BME) and PhD student Parker Jenkins have received a highly competitive award from America’s Seed Fund powered by the National Science Foundation (NSF) for their start-up company, Adialante, that’s developing better, cheaper, and smaller MRI machines so more patients can benefit from the life-saving technology.

Alumnus Dr. Andrew Jones (ChE, Chem) and Professor Paul Dauenhauer (chemical engineering and materials science), were awarded the $50,000 Grand Prize at the 2023 MN Cup for their Minnesota-based startup company, Carba.

Graduate student Sreejith Nair (chemical engineering and materials science) won NAMBE Outstanding Student Talk Award.

Professor Frank Bates (chemical engineering and materials science) won the ACS Award in Applied Polymer Science administered by the American Chemical Society (ACS).

Graduate students Anusha Kamath Manjeshwar and Shivasheesh Varshney (chemical engineering and materials science) won awards for their research presentations at the Minnesota American Vacuum Society (AVS) Symposium.

Professor Prodromos Daoutidis (chemical engineering and materials science) was awarded the 2023 AIChE Sustainable Engineering Forum (SEF) Research Award.

Professor Bharat Jalan (chemical engineering and materials science) received the Schieber Prize from the International Organization of Crystal Growth (IOCG).

Professor Georgios Giannakis (electrical and computer engineering) has been elected a member of the Royal Academy of Engineering.

Professor Sarah Huebner (physics and astronomy) received the Innovation Impact Case Award for her project “Citizen Science and Artificial Intelligence Combined to Conserve Earth’s Natural Resources.”

August 2023

Two U of M-affiliated projects, The Midwest Sustainable Plastics Innovation Regional Engine (M-SPIRE), a U of M-led effort to drive the global transition to sustainable plastics, and Great Lakes ReNEW, a Chicago-based effort with significant U of M partnership to create a decarbonized circular blue economy in the Great Lakes region, were named as finalists in NSF Regional Innovation Engine Competition.

Associate Professor Alexander Opitz (biomedical engineering) has been awarded the inaugural Boston Scientific Faculty Impact Fellowship.

Professor Theresa Reineke and Professor Jane Wissinger (chemistry) have both been named American Chemical Society (ACS) Fellows for 2023.

Professor Phil Bühlmann (chemistry) received the American Chemical Society’s 2023 Minnesota Award.

Alumnus Justin Levandoski (Ph.D., CS&E) Earns Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) International Conference on Data Engineering (ICDE) 2023 Ten-Year Influential Paper Award.

July 2023

Professor Svitlana Mayboroda (mathematics) received the prestigious 2023 Blavatnik National Awards Laureate in Physical Sciences & Engineering. She is the first University of Minnesota faculty member to receive the award.

PhD student Alexander Umanzor (chemistry) received the Merck Research Award for Underrepresented Chemists of Color.

Professor and Associate Department Head Loren Terveen (computer science) received the Lifetime Service Award from the Association of Computing Machinery’s Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction (ACM SIGCHI).

Teaching Professor Shana Watters (computer science) received the University of Minnesota Provost’s Unit Service Award for her countless service contributions to the department.

Professor Jane Davidson (mechanical engineering) received the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Heat Transfer Memorial Award — ART Category.

Professor Perry Li (mechanical engineering) was awarded 2023 American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Robert E. Koski Medal.

June 2023

Professor Hubert Lim (biomedical engineering) received a 2023 Award for Excellence in Academic Unit Service from the University of Minnesota.

Assistant Professor Kyoko Yoshida (biomedical engineering) received one of the nation’s most prestigious early-career research grants, which will support her work to advance the health of pregnant patients and babies, the NSF CAREER award.

Professor Ilja Siepmann (chemistry) received the 2023 John M. Prausnitz Award.

Graduate students of the Sustainable and Green Chemistry (SGC) Committee (Department of Chemistry) have been awarded the 2023 University of Minnesota Systemwide Sustainability Collaborative Team Impact Award.

Professor Abhishek Chandra’s research group (computer science) won the best paper award at the 2023 International Symposium on Cluster, Cloud and Internet Computing (CCGrid).

Assistant Professor Jun Li (mechanical engineering) won the 2023 International Institute of Refrigeration’s James Joule Young Researcher Award.

May 2023

Professor Joe Konstan (computer science and engineering) received the Association for Computing Machinery's Outstanding Contribution to ACM Award for 25 years of dedicated service and leadership in the advancement of ACM's research, education, and practitioner communities.

Professor Boris Shklovskii (physics and astronomy) was elected as a member of the prestigious National Academy of Sciences (NAS) for his excellence in original scientific research.

Ph.D. student Akash Dhotre (mechanical engineering) won a 2023 Mestenhauser Student Award for Excellence in Campus Internationalization in recognition of his outstanding contributions to international education.

Ph.D. student Efraín Torres (biomedical engineering) was named Student Entrepreneur of the Year by the University of Minnesota's Gary S. Holmes Center for Entrepreneurship for his innovative work on MRI technology.

Professors Stefano Gonella and Bill Arnold (civil, environmental, and geo- engineering) each received a prestigious William R. Keenan, Jr. Visiting Professorship for Distinguished Teaching at Princeton University School of Engineering and Applied Science.

Ph.D. student Kristine Loh (chemical engineering and materials science) received the University of Minnesota Council of Graduate Students (COGS) Spring 2023 Outstanding Teaching Assistant (TA) Award.

Andrew G. Alleyne, a mechanical engineering professor and dean of the University’s College of Science and Engineering; and Boris I. Shklovskii, a professor in the School of Physics and Astronomy, were inducted into the National Academies in 2023. Induction into the National Academy is one of the highest honors for scientists and engineers.

Students Charlie Hart, Jack Rogers, Kennedy Johnson, and Tom Bareket (computer science) won the top prize in the novice division of the 2023 MinneMUDAC Challenge competition.

Former faculty member Luis Caffarelli (mathematics) was awarded the 2023 Abel Prize from the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.

Ph.D. student Akash Dhotre (mechanical engineering) won a 2023 Mestenhauser Student Award for Excellence in Campus Internationalization.

April 2023

Undergraduate students Fred Tutt (chemical engineering and materials science), Ethan Ashbrook (chemistry), and Jamison Ward (earth sciences) were named a 2023 Goldwater Scholar by the Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation.

Assistant Professor Michelle Calabrese (chemical engineering and materials science) is among 25 awardees named as 2023 Early Stage Investigators by the American Chemical Society (ACS) Division of Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering (PMSE).

Professor Jialiang Le (civil, environmental, and geo- engineering) was elected as a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers' Engineering Mechanics Institute.

Professor Erin Surdo (civil, environmental, and geo- engineering) received a 2023 Outstanding Teaching Award from the National Association of Environmental Engineering and Science Professors.

Assistant Professor Kyoko Yoshida (biomedical engineering) has been awarded a 2023 Career Development Award from the American Heart Association (AHA), an honor given to highly promising early-career healthcare and academic professionals.

Students Stuti Arora (computer science and engineering), Marisa Bazzi (chemical engineering and materials science), Spencer Bingham (chemical engineering and materials science), Sarah Dike (biomedical engineering), Raghav Garg (bioproducts and biosystems engineering), Ashlie Hamilton (chemical engineering and materials science), Huzefa Husain (biomedical engineering), Moira Miller (mechanical engineering), Raunak Pandey (industrial and systems engineering), and Amy Wesolowski (chemical engineering and materials science) were recipients of the 2023 University of Minnesota President's Student Leadership & Service Award.

March 2023

Graduate student Tianyi Li (civil, environmental, and geo- engineering) was awarded the prestigious Dwight David Eisenhower Transportation Fellowship Program (DDETFP) Graduate Fellowship from the Federal Highway Administration for 2023.

Assistant Professor Judy Yang (civil, environmental, and geo- engineering) received a prestigious CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF), an award given to outstanding junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholar, excelling at and integrating both research and education.

Associate Professor Mingyi Hong (electrical and computer engineering) received the IEEE Signal Processing Society's (SPS) Pierre-Simon Laplace Early Career Technical Achievement Award, which honors individuals who have made significant technical contributions within the field early in their career.

Professor Nate Mara (chemical engineering and materials science) is among seven recipients honored as The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society's (TMS) 2023 Brimacombe Medalists in recognition of his sustained excellence and achievement in business, technology, education, public policy, or science in the field.

Ph.D. students Kevin Jiang (biomedical engineering), Vinit Kumar Chugh (electrical and computer engineering), Sana Khan (bioinformatics and computational biology), Dong Jun Lee (electrical and computer engineering), Sai Ranjeet Narayanan (mechanical engineering), Beza Tuga (chemistry), and Weijie Zhang (bioinformatics and computational biology) were awarded a 2023-24 University of Minnesota Interdisciplinary Doctoral Fellowships, which support outstanding U of M doctoral students who are engaged in interdisciplinary research.

February 2023

Ph.D. student Jeff Bies (mechanical engineering) won a Best Paper Award at the 2022 BATH/ASME Symposium on Fluid Power and Motion Control.

Professors Donna Whitney (earth and environmental sciences) and Gerald E. Sobelman (electrical and computer engineering) have been named a 2023 recipient of the University of Minnesota's Graduate and Professional Education Award, which recognizes faculty members for their outstanding contributions to graduate and/or professional education.

Professors Frank Bates, David Blank, Marc Hillmyer, and Aaron Massari each received a Lone Star Emmy Award for their respective production roles in University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley’s "Energía Y TÚ," a Spanish adaptation of the University of Minnesota’s own Energy and U program.

Professor Joe Zasadzinski (chemical engineering and materials science) has been elected as a Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), the highest grade of membership in the organization.

Regents Professor Donald Truhlar (chemistry) has been awarded the Joseph O. Hirschfelder Prize in Theoretical Chemistry, an internationally-recognized award given by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Theoretical Chemistry Institute.

Assistant Professor William Leeb (mathematics) has received an NSF Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) Award for research into new mathematical methods for data processing

McKnight Presidential Professor Douglas Arnold (mathematics) has been selected for the 2023 Peter Henrici Prize in recognition of his significant contributions to the field of numerical analysis.

Assistant Professor Sayan Biswas (mechanical engineering) is the recipient of the prestigious Office of Naval Research 2023 Young Investigator Award, given to the best and brightest scientists and engineers from across academia.

Assistant Professor Judy Yang (civil, environmental, and geo-engineering) received the CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF), an award given to outstanding junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholar, excelling at and integrating both research and education.

Professor R. Lawrence “Larry” Edwards (earth and environmental sciences) has been awarded the 2023 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Earth and Environmental Sciences, one of the highest honors in the field.

Professor Emeritus David Kohlstedt (earth and environmental sciences) has been awarded the Vetlesen Prize, one of the highest honors in Earth sciences and considered to be the field’s Nobel Prize equivalent.

Professor JP Richard (industrial and systems engineering) received the Penrose Excellence in Teaching Award, the highest recognition of teaching excellence in ISyE.

January 2023

Assistant Professor Brittany Hartwell (biomedical engineering) is one of four researchers worldwide who has been awarded a 2022 Michelson Prize, which recognizes early-career investigators who represent “the next generation of innovators in human immunology and vaccine research.”

Professor R. Lawrence “Larry” Edwards (earth and environmental sciences) has been awarded the Franklin Institute’s 2023 Benjamin Franklin Medal in Earth and Environmental Sciences recognizing his achievements in the field.

Postdoctoral researcher Saikat Mukherjee (mechanical engineering) received a 2022 UMN Postdoc Award from the University of Minnesota Postdoctoral Association, recognizing his exemplary work and contributions to the University's mission.

Professor Rajesh Rajamani (mechanical engineering) is the 2022 recipient of the ASME Charles Stark Draper Innovative Practice Award, given biennially for either excellent sustained contributions or for an outstanding major, singular contribution in innovative applications or dynamic systems, measurement, or control in engineering practice.

Ph.D. candidate Renata Saha (electrical and computer engineering) was part of the three-member team that won third place in the Magnetic Sensor Challenge at the 2022 Magnetism and Magnetic Materials (MMM) conference.

Associate Professor Mingyi Hong (electrical and computer engineering) was recently honored by the IEEE Signal Processing Society (SPS) with the Pierre-Simon Laplace Early Career Technical Achievement Award, which honors individuals who have made significant technical contributions within the field early in their career.

Professor Yousef Saad (computer science and engineering) was awarded the 2023 John von Neumann Prize, the highest honor and flagship lecture of the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM), in recognition of his fundamental contributions to scientific computing.

Professor Victor Barocas (biomedical engineering) has received the 2023 Robert M. Nerem Education and Mentorship Medal from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) for his outstanding achievement in education and mentoring of trainees.

Associate Professor Mohammad Maddah-Ali (electrical and computer engineering) was named a fellow of the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Alumnus Thomas M. Coughlin (B.S. Physics '77, M.S. EE '81) was elected as the 2023 Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) President.

Professor Jiali Gao (chemistry) has been awarded the 2023 ACS Award for Computers in Chemical and Pharmaceutical Research, which recognizes significant individual achievement in the use of computers in the advancement of the chemical and biological sciences and recognizes.

Professor R. Lee Penn (chemistry) was awarded the University of Minnesota's 2022 Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) Award, honoring their significant research, teaching, and service to advance justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion at the University.

Assistant Professors Qi Zhang (chemical engineering and materials science), Ambika Bhagi-Damodaran (chemistry), and Ognjen Ilic (mechanical engineering) are among ten recipients of the University of Minnesota's 2023-2025 McKnight Land-Grant Professorship.