College of Engineering honors outstanding students, alumni, and faculty

4/27/2011

As the academic year comes to a close, the College of Engineering honored a number of outstanding students, faculty, and distinguished alumni at its annual Student & Alumni Honor Awards Convocation and College Faculty Awards.

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As the academic year comes to a close, the College of Engineering honored a number of outstanding students, faculty, and distinguished alumni at its annual Student & Alumni Honor Awards Convocation and College Faculty Awards.

On Saturday, April 16, the student and alumni honorees gathered at the Alice Campbell Alumni Center for a luncheon and awards ceremony. Following opening remarks by Dean Ilesanmi Adesida, Charles L. Tucker III, associate dean for undergraduate programs recognized students who received College of Engineering Scholarships and those who earned Bronze Tablet Recognition. Click the link for a .pdf of the Student & Alumni Awards Convocation booklet.

A number of outstanding students were honored with college-wide awards:

Engineering Council Outstanding Student - Freshman/Sophomore Award
Alicia Cintora, Materials Science and Engineering

Engineering Council Outstanding Student - Junior/Senior Award
Michael Alvarez, Civil and Environmental Engineering

William R. Schowalter Award
Eric Gobst, Mechanical Science and Engineering

Andrea J. Culumber Award
Kelsey Erickson, Bioengineering

H. L. Wakeland Undergraduate Leadership Award
Jonathan Naber, Materials Science and Engineering

Stanley H. Pierce Award – Student
Ayesha Athar, Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering

Stanley H. Pierce Award – Faculty
David A. Lange, Civil and Environmental Engineering

Lisle Abbott Rose Memorial Award

Jonathan Naber, Materials Science and Engineering

C. S. Larson Transfer Student Award
Kyle Nagy, Mechanical Science and Engineering

Ross J. Martin Award

Ciaran Harman, Civil and Environmental Engineering

Harvey H. Jordan Award

Andrew T. Naber, Bioengineering

Seven
alumni were honored with the Alumni Award for Distinguished Service:

Scott D. Altman (BS, 1981, Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering)
NASA Astronaut and Captain, United States Navy, Friendswood, TX (Retired)
For his decorated service in the United States Navy, his contributions to the NASA space program, and for his continued support of the University of Illinois.

Philip J. Anthony (MS, 1975, PhD, 1978, Physics)
Executive in Residence, Storm Ventures, Menlo Park, CA
For seminal contributions to the technological foundations of electro-optical devices and lightwave communications systems, and for unstinting service to the Department of Physics and the College of Engineering.

William F. Baker, Jr. (MS, 1980, Civil Engineering)
Partner-in-Charge, Structural and Civil Engineering, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, Chicago, IL
For his leadership in the development of innovative structural systems for high-rise buildings, both nationally and internationally, including the world’s tallest building.

Prithviraj Banerjee
(MS, 1982, PhD, 1984, Electrical Engineering)
Senior Vice President of Research and Director of HP Labs, Hewlett Packard, Palo Alto, CA
For contributions in parallel algorithms for VLSI CAD and compilers for parallel and heterogeneous computing, and for visionary leadership in engineering research and education.

William E. Burchill (MS, 1965, PhD, 1970, Nuclear Engineering)
Adjunct Professor and Retired Head, Nuclear Engineering Department, Texas A&M University, College Station,
In recognition of his distinguished career in the nuclear engineering industry and education, and for his worldwide advocacy on behalf of the American Nuclear Society in promoting the benefits of nuclear science and technology.

Richard T. Cheng
(MS, 1969, Electrical Engineering, PhD, 1971, Computer Science)
Founder and President (Retired), ECI Systems Engineering, Virginia Beach, VA
For pioneering and outstanding leadership in education and in business.

Bradley Drake Mottier (BS, 1979, MS, 1981, General Engineering)
Vice President and General Manager, Business and General Aviation, GE Aviation, Cincinnati, OH
For outstanding entrepreneurial leadership in the development, manufacturing, and marketing of innovations in the aircraft industry.
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On Monday, May 2, the College Faculty Awards program recognized a number of outstanding faculty for outstanding teaching, research, and outreach. Click the link for a .pdf of the Faculty Awards Convocation booklet.

Xerox Awards for Faculty Research

Tarek Abdelzaher, Associate Professor, Computer Science
Karin A. Dahmen, Associate Professor, Physics
Harley T. Johnson, Associate Professor, Mechanical Science and Engineering
Vijay Singh, Associate Professor,  Agricultural and Biological Engineering
Dallas R. Trinkle, Assistant Professor, Materials Science and Engineering
Eric Pop, Assistant Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering
Rohit Bhargava, Assistant Professor, Bioengineering
Joanna M.  Austin, Assistant Professor, Aerospace Engineering

Collins Award for Innovative Teaching
Lawrence Angrave, Lecturer, Computer Science

Everitt Teaching Award
Lawrence Angrave, Lecturer, Computer Science

Rose Award for Teaching Excellence
Viraj Kumar, Lecturer, Computer Science
Prasanta K. Kalita, Professor, Agricultural and Biological Engineering

College of Engineering Teaching Excellence Award
Dimitrios C. Kyritsis, Associate Professor, Mechanical Science and Engineering

Tau Beta Pi Daniel C. Drucker Eminent Faculty Award

Jiawei Han, Professor, Computer Science
 

 

Campus Awards Earned by College of Engineering Faculty include:

Excellence in Undergraduate Advising       
Liang Y. Liu, Civil and Environmental Engineering
Umberto Ravaioli, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Excellence in Graduate and Professional Teaching Award

Roy A. Axford, Nuclear, Plasma & Radiological Engineering
Bruce A. Conway, Aerospace Engineering

Editor's note: Both of these recipients have previously won the Campus Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.

Excellence in Graduate Student Mentoring   
Shiv Gopal Kapoor, Mechanical Science and Engineering

Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching-Faculty   
Dimitrios C. Kyritsis, Mechanical Science and Engineering


2011 Engineering Council Outstanding Advisors
The Advisors List represents the top 10% of engineering advisors selected by students.

Aerospace Engineering
Timothy Bretl
Victoria Coverstone
Phillippe Geubelle
John Lambros

Agricultural & Biological Engineering
Alan Hansen
Prasanta Kalita

Bioengineering
Jennifer Amos
Brad Sutton
Sheng Zhong

Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
Brendan Harley
Todd Spinner

Civil & Environmental Engineering
Riley Edwards
Liang Liu
Arthur Schmidt

Computer Science
Stephen Herzog

Electrical & Computer Engineering
J. Gary Eden
Seth Hutchinson
Joseph Lyding
Eric Pop

Industrial and Enterprise Systems Engineering
Harrison Kim
Uday Shanbhag

Materials Science and Engineering
Pascal Bellon
Paul Braun
Angus Rockett

Mechanical Science and Engineering
Dimitrios Kyritsis
Chia Fon Lee
Sanjiv Sinha

Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering
James Stubbins

Physics
Lance Cooper
Linda Lorenz

Congratulations all of this year’s winners and honorees. They truly represent the excellence that is Engineering at Illinois.
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If you have any questions about the College of Engineering, or other story ideas, contact Rick Kubetz, writer/editor, Engineering Communications Office, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 217/244-7716.


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This story was published April 27, 2011.