The Cullen College of Engineering and Dr. Joseph W. Tedesco, Ph.D., P.E., the Elizabeth D. Rockwell Endowed Chair and Dean, are pleased to share the 2021-22 Faculty and Student Excellence Award winners.
The initial announcement was made during the Spring 2022 State of the College Address on May 3.
The W.T. Kittinger Teaching Excellence Award is traditionally the highest teaching award given in the College. It recognizes outstanding teaching and service to students. This year's recipient is Jae-Hyun Ryou of Mechanical Engineering.
Six Teaching Excellence Awards were also given – four to faculty members, and two to teaching assistants. The recipients were:
- Patrick Cirino, Associate Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
- David Mayerich, Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
- Ahmad Sakhaee-Pour, Assistant Professor of Petroleum Engineering
- Elias Keedy, Lecturer of Industrial Engineering
- Tyler Dean Todd, Teaching Assistant in Mechanical Engineering
- John Tu, Teaching Assistant in Mechanical Engineering
The Research Excellence Awards recognize faculty for their outstanding research contributions. It is awarded at both the junior and senior levels. This year's awardees are:
- Harish Krishnamoorthy, Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
- Jeffrey Rimer, Abraham E. Dukler Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
- Yan Yao, Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
The Andrea Prosperetti Research Computing Faculty Award recognizes faculty within the college that have demonstrated a singular achievement in the the broadly defined topics of scientific computing and data science. This year's recipient is Jeremy Palmer, Ernest J. and Barbara M. Henley Associate Professor of the William A. Brookshire Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.
The 2021-2022 Andrea Prosperetti Research Computing Student Award was given to Chaoxian Qi of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department.
The Young Innovator Award recognizes efforts by students or postdocs in innovation and entrepreneurship at UH. Nominees must have at least a 3.0 GPA and demonstrate participation in innovation and entrepreneurship activities that have led to patents, licensing or startups. Binh Vu of the William A. Brookshire Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering was this year's awardee.
The Early Innovator Award is given for tenure-track assistant faculty who have helped mentor students in areas of innovation. This year's recipient is Zheng Chen of Mechanical Engineering.
The Rising Innovator Award recognizes efforts by tenured associate faculty in innovation and entrepreneurship at UH who have demonstrated a track record of mentorship in addition to clear efforts in transferring technology to practice. This year's awardee is Yingchun Zhang of Biomedical Engineering.
The Career Innovator Award is given to faculty with a track record of successful efforts in innovation and entrepreneurship during their career at UH. Winners of this award have demonstrated success in activities related to technology transfer, commercialization and startups. This year's winner is Gangbing Song of Mechanical Engineering.
The Best Dissertation Awards recognize the best dissertations developed by graduate students. This year's second place winner was Furui Wang, a Mechanical Engineering student mentored by Gangbing Song.
The first place winner was Thuy Le of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. Le is mentored by Jeffrey Rimer.
For last year's winners, click here. For photos from this year's luncheon, click here.