Each spring the University of Houston shines a spotlight on the faculty’s best and brightest, honoring them with teaching and research awards. Read more about the Cullen College of Engineering professors who earned the distinction below!
Hanadi Rifai, associate dean for research and facilities at the Cullen College as well as professor of civil and environmental engineering, was named the 2017 recipient of the John and Rebecca Moores Professorship. The Moores Professorship is a university-level honor awarded annually to a University of Houston faculty member who has made outstanding contributions in research, teaching and service. Each Moores Professor receives a stipend, and the professorship is renewable every five years.
Len Trombetta, associate department chair of electrical and computer engineering, received a W.T. Kittinger Teaching Excellence Award, the university’s most prestigious teaching honor. Trombetta focuses on the characterization of metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) systems, particularly mechanisms of defect generation at the insulator-semiconductor interface. He has directed numerous MS theses and Ph.D. dissertations. Trombetta has been at UH since 1986.
Hadi Ghasemi, Bill D. Cook Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, received a W.T. Kittinger Teaching Excellence Award, the university’s most prestigious teaching honor. Ghasemi runs the UH Nanotherm Lab that explores learning and research in the field of thermodynamics, heat transfer, and nanotechnology.
Karolos Grigoriadis, John and Rebecca Moores Professor of Mechanical Engineering & Director of Aerospace Engineering, is no stranger to winning these excellence awards. He received the Excellence in Research, Scholarship or Creative Activity Award for his work teaching modelling and controlling aerospace systems, internal combustion engines, active/passive vibration isolation of structural systems and intelligent biomedical systems. Recently he earned both the Fluor Corporation Faculty Excellence award, the highest honor given by the Cullen College, as well as the W.T. Kittinger Teaching Excellence Award, the College’s most prestigious teaching honor.
Lars Grabow, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering and chemistry received the Excellence in Research, Scholarship or Creative Activity Award for his work teaching the importance of catalysts in the production of fuels, chemicals and the abatement of harmful emissions.
Megan Robertson, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, received the Undergraduate Research Mentoring Award, which recognizes the mentorship efforts of UH faculty at all stages of their careers. The award acknowledges faculty who are making a significant impact in their field by supporting and mentoring undergraduate students in research and scholarship endeavors and who have demonstrated at least five years of mentorship involvement.
The group was presented with their awards on April 20 at the Faculty Excellence Awards Dinner hosted by President Renu Khator and Provost Paula Short. Grigoriadis and Grabow will also be featured in an upcoming issue of the UH Research and Innovation Magazine.