Faculty awards and honors

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Awards and honors earned by faculty and staff of the College of Engineering and Knowlton School of Architecture from February 2017 through July 2017.

20th Annual College of Engineering Distinguished Faculty Awards honorees:

Harrison Faculty Award for Excellence in Engineering Education: Jin Wang, ECE
The Clara M. and Peter L. Scott Faculty Award for Excellence in Engineering Education: Giorgio Rizzoni, MAE
Dean’s Meritorious Service to Students Award: Cathy Wicks, Texas Instruments, Inc.
Dean’s Award for Outstanding Teaching by a Lecturer: Chad Gibson, KSA
David C. McCarthy Engineering Teaching Award: Aimee Ulstad, ISE
Ralph L. Boyer Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Engineering Innovation: Jaqueline Gargus, KSA
Faculty Mentoring Award: Karen Mancl, FABE; Steven Ringel, ECE
"Building Bridges" Excellence Award: Jose Otero, College of Medicine, Department of Pathology
Dean’s Award for Distinguished Outreach Achievements: Jessica Winter, CBE
Faculty Diversity Excellence Award: Gonul Kaletunc, FABE
Innovators Award: Bharat Bhushan, MAE
Honda-Ohio State Partnership Award: Glenn Daehn, MSE
Charles E. MacQuigg Award for Outstanding Teaching: David PhillipsMSE; Justin Diles, KSA

Lumley Interdisciplinary Research Awards 
Jianjun Guan, MSE; and Zhenguo Liu, Internal Medicine, College of Medicine
Wu Lu, ECE; L. James Lee, CBE; and Daniel Gallego-Perez, BME, Surgery, College of Medicine

Lumley Research Awards 
Rizwan Ahmad, ECE; Boian Alexandrov, MSE; Jeffrey M. Bielicki, CEGE, KSA; Carlos Castro, MAE; Yuejie Chi, ECE; Maryam Ghazisaeidi, MSE; Thomas J. Hund, BME; Can Emre Koksal, ECE; Steven Lavender, ISE; Sandip Mazumder, MAE; Stephen Niezgoda, MSE; Abdollah Shafieezadeh, CEGE and Huamin Wang, CSE

2017 College of Engineering Staff Appreciation Awards
Outstanding Service to Students Award: Donald Hempson, UESS
Exemplary Support or Advancement of Research Award: Mark Brenner, ECE
Outstanding Service Award: Amy Thaci, ECS
Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Award: Lisa Abrams, EED
Exemplary Team Performance or Service Award: Amanda Crall, Mike Knisley, Rachel Lemaster, Liz Riter and Rachel Tuttle, College of Engineering Advising

Additional awards and honors

Gunjan Agarwal, associate professor of biomedical engineering was awarded a $25,000 one-year grant from the Chronic Brain Injury: Pilot Award Program 2017 to study ultrastructural characterization of iron in Alzheimer's disease.

Tunc Aldemir, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, received $799,985 from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to develop a computationally feasible and user-friendly process to complement the traditional probabilistic risk assessment approach that will lead to a better representation of random (or stochastic) variables associated with nuclear reactor operation. Ultimately, it will lead to a model of system behavior that provides a more complete representation in the presence of uncertainties.

Mike Benzakein, university assistant vice president for aerospace and aviation, leads a multi-institution team that received $10 million over five years as part of NASA’s University Leadership Initiative to focus on electric propulsion had been selected.

Howard D. Winbigler Professor Bharat Bhushan, an Ohio Eminent Scholar, has published a new textbook, Nanotribology and Nanomechanics: An Introduction.

Chad Bivens, technical laboratory manager for the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, received a 2017 Distinguished Staff Award, which celebrates staff members who have made a significant impact at Ohio State.

Landscape Architecture Assistant Professor Jacob Boswell has been announced as a Mellon Fellow in Urban Landscape Studies for the spring term of the 2017-2018 at Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, an institute affiliated with the Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences.

Leonard Brillson, professor of electrical and computer engineering, and physics; one of the world’s foremost scholars in the field of electronic material surfaces and interfaces, received a 2017 Distinguished Scholar Award.

Nicholas Brunelli, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, received a five-year, $530,000 Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award from the National Science Foundation for his research on catalytic material design.

Marcello Canova, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering (MAE), received the MAE department’s 2017 Michael J. Moran Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Lei Cao, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, leads a project that will improve the use and educational impact of Ohio State’s Nuclear Reactor Lab. Cao, who directs the lab, will receive $184,328 from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to recommission two of the facility’s neutron beam ports, which will provide researchers with the unique, experiential tool needed to make high-impact discoveries.

John Clay, associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, received a 2017 Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching in recognition of his superior teaching.

Ann D. Christy, professor and assistant dean of teaching and learning, received a 2017 President and Provost's Award for Distinguished Faculty Service and the 2017 Massey-Ferguson Educational Gold Medal Award, which recognizes dedication to the spirit of learning and teaching in the field of agricultural engineering that has advanced agricultural knowledge and practice and inspired others.

Stuart L. Cooper, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, started his term as president of Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society, on July 1. The international society serves diverse disciplines in the sciences and engineering. 

Marcelo Dapino, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, received the American Society of Mechanical Engineers’ Adaptive Structures and Material Systems Award. He also received the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering’s 2017 Distinguished Graduate Faculty Award.

Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering Lakshmi Prasad Dasi was awarded a four-year, $3 million National institute of Health (NIH) R01 grant titled “Superhydrophobic Heart Value Prosthesis.” Dasi also leads a team of Ohio State researchers that received a $150,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Center for Accelerated Innovations at Cleveland Clinic to engineer next-generation trans-catheter heart valves.

Ilham El-Monier, clinical assistant professor in chemical and biomolecular engineering, was recently named a Subsurface Energy Resource Center (SERC) Faculty Fellow for 2017-18.

Emre Ertin, professor of electrical and computer engineering, received approximately $1.3 million to develop wearable sensors for continuous monitoring of markers of activity and behavior relevant to performance at the work place. The research is part of the multi-university mPerf project, sponsored by the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA)’s Multimodal Objective Sensing to Assess Individuals with Context (MOSAIC) program.

Liang-Shih Fan, distinguished professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering and director of Ohio State’s Clean Energy Research Laboratory, leads a research team that received $7.5 million in federal and state funding for two iron-based coal direct chemical looping (CDCL) technology projects co-funded by the Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory and the Ohio Development Services Agency.

Architecture Professor Todd Gannon has been appointed the next Section Head of Architecture in the Knowlton School. Gannon comes to the Knowlton School from the Southern California Institute of Architecture where he taught history, theory and design studio.

Keith Gooch, professor of biomedical engineering was awarded a two-year, $154,000 grant from the American Heart Association to study the mechanical regulation of cardiac phenotype. Gooch also received the Department of Biomedical Engineering’s Herman R. Weed Excellence in Teaching Award.

Dorota A. Grejner-Brzezinska, professor and former chair of civil, environmental and geodetic engineering, has been named associate dean for research in the College of Engineering.

Liang Guo, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, received $499,999 in funding over the next two years by winning the prestigious DARPA Young Faculty Award for his proposal, “Implantable, Programmable Integrated Cellular Circuits.”

Michael Hagenberger, associate professor of practice for civil, environmental and geodetic engineering, and Joseph Campbell, lecturer for the School of Environment and Natural Resources, received a $58,000 Battelle Engineering, Technology and Human Affairs (BETHA) grant to help establish and develop the Sustainable and Resilient Tanzanian Community (SRTC) program at Ohio State.

Ryan L. Harne, assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, was selected as a Fellow for the 2017 Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) Summer Faculty Fellowship Program. He also published the new textbookHarnessing Bistable Structural Dynamics: For Vibration Control, Energy Harvesting and Sensing.  

Shawn He, professor of biomedical engineering, received a $1.4 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant for work on a treatment for polycystic ovarian syndrome and premature ovarian failure.

Biomedical Engineering Associate Professor Thomas Hund and Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute (DHLRI) Director Peter Mohler have been awarded a four-year, $3.2 million grant from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute to continue their innovative cardiovascular disease research. The duo also received a $1.6 million National Institute of Health (NIH) R01 grant to investigate spectrin-based regulation of cardiac remodeling and heart failure.

Jinwoo Hwang, assistant professor of materials science and engineering, leads a team of Ohio State researchers who are working to improve understanding of metallic glasses so that their hybrid properties can be utilized in a variety of consumer goods. The research is supported by a $450,000 grant from the National Science Foundation.

Architecture Professor Kay Bea Jones has been recognized as a 2017 Ohio State Glass Breaker for extraordinary achievements and using those accomplishments to improve workplace culture and uplift women across the university.

Laboratory Supervisor Robert Ben Jones received the Department of Biomedical Engineering’s Vladimir O. Marukhlenko Staff of the Year Award.

Marat Khafizov, assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, received a  $249,945 award from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), to conduct research on the impact of radiation damage. This includes the impact of that damage and the reactor environment on optical and mechanical properties of materials, such as fiber optic sensors.

C. Emre Koksal, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, and his team received a three-year, $302,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to make mobile mmWave communication a reality. Project co-investigators are Kubilay Sertel, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, and Ness Shroff, Ohio Eminent Scholar of electrical and computer engineering, and computer science and engineering.

Sanjay Krishna, professor of electrical and computer engineering, leads an Office of Naval Research (ONR) grant worth up to $3 million that could help make The Ohio State University a worldwide leader in next-generation infrared detector technologies.

Robert Livesey, professor of architecture and architecture section head, was named one of the 25 Most Admired Educators for the second time in three years by DesignIntelligence.

Alan A. Luo, professor of materials science and engineering, was part of a collaborative team winning this year’s “Award of Excellence for Automotive Product - Automotive Door Inner Panels” from the International Magnesium Association. Other members of the winning team were General Motors, Wanfeng Meridian, Dongguan EONTEC Co. and EDAG Engineering.

Honda Chair in Transportation William Marras, a leader in the field of occupational biomechanics, received a 2017 Distinguished Scholar Award.

Professor Alison McKay, was appointed chair of the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geodetic Engineering.

Ryan J. McPherson, a lecturer in electrical and computer engineering, was recognized for teaching excellence with a 2017 Provost’s Award for Teaching by a Lecturer.

Umit Ozkan, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, recently became the first woman recipient of the American Chemical Society's Energy and Fuels Division Henry H. Storch Award.

DK Panda, professor of computer science and engineering and one of the world’s leading supercomputer scholars, was named a Rock Star of HPC by InsideHPC.

Ann Pendleton-Jullian, professor of architecture, has been named a 2017-2018 Fellow at Stanford University’s Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences. 

Farhang Pourboghrat, a professor with a joint appointment in integrated systems engineering and mechanical and aerospace engineering, was named chair of the Department of Integrated Systems Engineering.  

Matthew Reilly, assistant professor of biomedical engineering was awarded a $25,000 one-year grant from the Chronic Brain Injury: Pilot Award Program 2017 to study retinal changes in traumatic optic neuropathy.

Architecture Associate Professor Curtis Roth’s manuscript, Some Dark Products: A Travelogue of Nine Instruments For Architecture, was published.

Mike Rowan, lecturer in food, agricultural and biological engineering, received the Ohio Onsite Wastewater Association’s Distinguished Service Award for his leadership in OOWA and for his work in developing onsite spray irrigation systems for Ohio.

Ahmet Selamet, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, received the 2017 Ralph K. Hillquist NVH Lifetime Achievement Award from the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) International for outstanding contributions to ground vehicle noise, vibration, and harshness research for 15 years or more.

Halil Sezen, professor of civil, environmental and geodetic engineering, was awarded the prestigious Fulbright U.S. Scholar Grant by the U.S. Department of State.

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Professor Carol Smidts, was appointed Director of the Nuclear Engineering Program. In addition, she was elevated to Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in recognition of her career, research and service accomplishments.

Mattijs van Maasakkers, assistant professor of city and regional planning, recently published his bookThe Creation of Markets for Ecosystem Services in the United States, through Anthem Press.

Wladimiro Villarroel, professor of electrical and computer engineering, and his collaborators received $100,000 from the Ohio Third Frontier program toward future commercialization towards GhostWave Inc., which aims to revolutionize the autonomous vehicle industry by detecting obstacles without being subject to interference or jamming.

Biomedical Engineering Associate Professor Yi Zhao and Graduate Research Assistant Hanyang Huang received a $225,000 National Science Foundation (NSF) Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I award for their smartphone-based, portable pathology slide scanner. Zhao also received a $200,000 NSF award for his project, “Personal Whole Slide Imaging Device with Liquid Lenses.”

Categories: AwardsFaculty