College celebrates 2022 Distinguished Faculty Award honorees

Each year, The Ohio State University College of Engineering honors excellence in teaching, innovation and service. Faculty, researchers and partners were recognized on April 27, 2022, at the 25th annual Distinguished Faculty Awards.

“We are proud to honor those who have gone above and beyond in the eyes of their peers and college leadership. The nominations we received highlight the extraordinary caliber of teaching and research performed across the college,” said Dean Ayanna Howard, the Monte Ahuja Endowed Dean’s Chair. “From the students whose lives you touch to your dedication to innovate solutions to the world’s most critical issues, your impact reaches far beyond campus.”

View more photos from the event on flickr.

2022 awardees:

Harrison Faculty Award for Excellence in Engineering Education

Zhiqiang Lin, professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering - For his outstanding contributions in software security research and education.

Established in 1983 with a gift from Doris and Stanley Harrison (’58, electrical engineering), this award honors an early to mid-career faculty member’s excellence in teaching and qualitative aspects of teaching, exceptional research, or contributions to engineering or architecture concepts.

The Clara M. and Peter L. Scott Faculty Award for Excellence in Engineering Education

Jeffrey Chalmers, professor, William G. Lowrie Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering - For his extraordinary pioneering contributions that transformed bioprocessing, ongoing innovative research in magnetic cell separation, and demonstrated outstanding scholarship, teaching and mentoring.

Named in honor of Peter Scott, a 1949 Ohio State graduate in electrical engineering who received an honorary doctoral degree in 1995, this award recognizes a senior faculty member who has achieved both national and international status as a leading educator and researcher. 

Dean’s Meritorious Service to Students Award

Franklin County Engineer’s Office: Cornell Robertson, Edward Herrick and Fritz Crosier – For their dedicated commitment to the development of students’ self-identity, professional skills and career plans as Buckeye civil and environmental engineers.

This award recognizes an individual or group from outside the Ohio State community for exemplary service to students of the College of Engineering or Knowlton School.  

Dean's Award for Outstanding Teaching by a Lecturer

Eblal Zakzok, senior lecturer, Department of Civil, Environmental and Geodetic Engineering - For enhancing student preparation for the modern engineering workforce by integrating cutting-edge tools and practices into experiential student learning.

Established in 2015, this award honors an individual lecturer, senior lecturer or other auxiliary faculty member who has demonstrated excellence in their teaching within the college.

David C. McCarthy Engineering Teaching Award

Jennifer Leight, assistant professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering – For excellence in undergraduate and graduate teaching utilizing innovative, evidence-based teaching strategies, and creating an excellent learning environment despite the pandemic.

Paul Sivilotti, associate professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) - For excellence in teaching and service to the CSE educational program with distinction in his dedication to recruiting and retaining a diverse student population.

This award recognizes the contributions of College of Engineering junior faculty and staff to create more innovative and effective teaching and learning. 

Ralph L. Boyer Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Engineering Innovation

Kathryn Kelley, director, Ohio Manufacturing Institute, and the Bachelor of Science in Engineering Technology Team - For developing a leading, integrated, interdisciplinary applied engineering program that ensures Ohio State students are well-prepared for engineering manufacturing leadership positions.

Sanjay Krishna, professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering - For contributions to the integration of entrepreneurship into the engineering curriculum that promote the student learning experience.

Named for the late Ralph L. Boyer (’24, mechanical engineering), the award is presented to a faculty team or to an individual faculty member who has made outstanding contributions to the improvement of undergraduate engineering education. 

Faculty Mentoring Award

Liang-Shih Fan, professor, William G. Lowrie Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering - For his dedication and commitment to providing outstanding faculty mentoring, as demonstrated by his proactive, consistent and thorough approach to mentoring junior faculty.

This award recognizes an individual faculty member in the College of Engineering for demonstrated excellence in the mentoring of one or more early-career faculty members within the college.

“Building Bridges” Excellence Award

Matthew Ringel, professor and director, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center - For excellence in collaborative research, leadership and advancement of the Center for Cancer Engineering (CCE-CURES) as well as other programs linking biomedical and engineering translational research.

This award is presented each year to a non-College of Engineering faculty member at Ohio State who demonstrates excellence and accomplishment in the development and implementation of collaborative activities and programs between his or her academic unit and the College of Engineering. 

Dean's Award for Distinguished Outreach Achievements

Asimina Kiourti, assistant professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering - For empowering TECHNOFASHION as an outstanding engineering outreach program for middle school girls, and for promoting women engineers in diverse levels of their studies and careers.

Daniel Pradel, professor - clinical, Department of Civil, Environmental and Geodetic Engineering - For a sustained record of collecting time-sensitive, geotechnical data following extreme hazard events to improve mitigation and design of geotechnical infrastructure to save lives and property.

Established in 2015, this award recognizes an individual faculty member who has demonstrated significant and long-standing achievement of positive community impact through outreach activities or programs within the college.

Faculty Diversity Excellence Award

Emily Dringenberg, assistant professor, Department of Engineering Education - For formalizing social justice education in the College of Engineering through research-to-practice to foster a more inclusive engineering culture.

Kevin Passino, professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering - For innovative integration of social justice principles into foundational science, mathematics and engineering design methodology in order to promote the advancement of technology for social justice.

This award recognizes an individual or team demonstrating excellence and success in the development and implementation of models, strategies, practices and programs that foster and enhance diversity in the college. 

The BEWEL Leadership in Innovation Award

Hongping Zhao, associate professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering - For her innovative contributions on developing wide bandgap semiconductor gallium nitride for vertical high-power electronics, and pioneering contributions on chemical vapor deposition of ultrawide bandgap semiconductor gallium oxide for future power electronics and deep ultraviolet optoelectronics.

The Buckeye Engineering Women in Executive Leadership (BEWEL) award was created in 2019 and is presented to a junior or mid-career female faculty member who has demonstrated outstanding leadership in research, innovation and/or scholarship.

Innovators Award

Katelyn Swindle-Reilly, assistant professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering and William G. Lowrie Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering - For her innovative contributions in technology development and commercialization in the ocular drug delivery space to aid in the fight against blindness worldwide.

This award recognizes the achievements of an individual or team whose innovation has successfully translated the research emanating from our laboratories into new products and/or technologies that can be used by the public at large.

Honda – Ohio State Partnership Award

Lisa Fiorentini, assistant professor – clinical, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering - For her incredible dedication, commitment and leadership in establishing a relationship between Honda and the Electrical and Computer Engineering MS Program.

The Honda - Ohio State Partnership Award recognizes an individual who has made significant contributions to promoting and strengthening this historic partnership.

Charles Ellison MacQuigg Award for Outstanding Teaching

Yunzhi Wang, professor, Department of Materials Science and Engineering – For his exceptional skill and passion for teaching foundational science and engineering courses, and his consistently demonstrated care for his students and their learning experiences.

Named for the late Dean of the College of Engineering, this award is presented annually to faculty members who have demonstrated, in a superior manner, their interest in and willingness to help students and outstanding teaching ability. 

Distinction in Safety Award

Andrew Maxson, assistant professor – clinical, William G. Lowrie Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering - For his commitment to ensuring the safety of all in the CBEC building and for his effective training of students in laboratory, workplace and chemical process safety.

Established in 2019, this award recognizes a faculty member who has demonstrated a long-standing commitment and contribution to safety. 

Lumley Interdisciplinary Research Award

Eric Fosler-Lussier, professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering; Doug Danforth, professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, College of Medicine; Michael White, professor, Department of Linguistics, College of Arts and Sciences; William Schuler, professor, Department of Linguistics, College of Arts and Sciences; Kellen Maicher, learning and development consultant, The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute; Alan Price, formerly Advanced Computing Center for the Arts and Design; Laura Zimmerman, project manager, Ohio State’s Comprehensive Cancer Center – James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute; and Laura Wagner, professor, Department of Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences

Sandor Gyorke, professor, Department of Physiology & Cell Biology, College of Medicine; Przemyslaw Radwanski, assistant professor, Division of Outcomes and Translational Science, College of Pharmacy; and Rengasayee Veeraraghavan, assistant professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering

Raghu Machiraju, professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering; Shaurya Prakash, associate professor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering; Paul Stoodley, professor, Department of Microbial Infection & Immunity, College of Medicine; Traci Wilgus, associate professor, Department of Pathology, College of Medicine; and Daniel Wozniak, professor, Department of Microbial Infection & Immunity, College of Medicine

Named for John H. Lumley (’27, ceramic engineering), this team award recognizes interdisciplinary research accomplishments of the college’s faculty and research staff. It is presented to a team that has established a record of excellence in interdisciplinary research as demonstrated by co-authored publications, joint-sponsored research programs and co-advised students. 

Lumley Research Award

• Shamsul Arafin, assistant professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
• Raef Bassily, assistant professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering
• Andre Carrel, assistant professor, Department of Civil, Environmental and Geodetic Engineering
• Jordan Clark, assistant professor, Department of Civil, Environmental and Geodetic Engineering
• Matilde D’Arpino, research scientist, Center for Automotive Research
• Vicky Doan-Nguyen, assistant professor, Department of Materials Science and Engineering
• Julie Martin, associate professor, Department of Engineering Education
• Matthew McCrink, research scientist, Aerospace Research Center
• Joel Paulson, assistant professor, William G. Lowrie Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
• Devina Purmessur-Walter, assistant professor, Department of Biomedical Engineering
• Jonathan Song, associate professor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
• Stephanie Stockar, assistant professor, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
• Xinmiao Zhang, associate professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

The Lumley Engineering Research Awards are presented to a select group of outstanding researchers in the College of Engineering who have shown exceptional activity and success in pursuing new knowledge of a fundamental or applied nature.