Lakshya Gangwar Awarded 2026 Pui Best Dissertation Award
Lakshya Gangwar, a Ph.D. graduate in Mechanical Engineering advised by Professor John Bischof, has received the 2026 Pui Best Dissertation Award. His research in cryopreservation marks a significant milestone in thermal engineering, offering a potential breakthrough for the future of organ transplantation and banking.
Established by Professor David Pui, the Pui Best Dissertation Award recognizes the time, dedication, and exceptional scholarship required to complete a doctorate of the highest caliber. The award comes with a monetary award of $4,000. Only one awardee is selected each year, underscoring the significance of Gangwar's achievement.
Lakshya’s dissertation focuses on advancing cryopreservation methods for whole organs through liter-scale vitrification and nanowarming. The work demonstrated the largest organ vitrification reported to date, a porcine liver approximately the size of a human organ as well as the largest physical systems vitrified (3 liters) and nanowarmed (2 liters), helping establish methods that could enable future organ banking for transplantation.
Reflecting on Lakshya’s journey, his advisor Professor John Bischof praised his exceptional contributions:
"Lakshya has done an outstanding job performing his dissertation work elucidating heat transfer limitations and opportunities in scaling vitrification and nanowarming to human scale organ volumes. He has disseminated this breakthrough work into several highly cited and impactful publications."
Lakshya expressed his gratitude for the support he received throughout his academic journey and reflected on the intersection of engineering and medicine:
"First, I am especially proud to contribute to the University of Minnesota Mechanical Engineering department’s exemplary heat transfer legacy through new applications in cryopreservation. This research showed me how fundamental thermal engineering principles, such as heat and mass transfer, can even be applied to solve challenges in complex biological systems—organs. It broadened my perspective as an engineer and allowed me to contribute at the intersection of cryobiology, medicine, and engineering. I am grateful for the mentorship of my PhD advisor Prof John Bischof, the BHMT Laboratory and opportunity to contribute to such interdisciplinary research within NSF ERC ATP-Bio. Lastly, I believe awards like this encourage PhD students to continue pursuing high-quality research while also providing a sense of pride and recognition that their dissertation work has meaningful impact beyond its niche area."
Through his pioneering research, Lakshya is not only advancing the boundaries of thermal engineering but also paving the way for life-saving innovations in medical transplantation.