Three Cullen College of Engineering doctoral student graduates – all now working in industry – have been recognized for stellar work on their dissertations for the 2022-23 academic year.
To recognize the value of the outstanding research done by Ph.D. students, Joseph W. Tedesco – the Elizabeth D. Rockwell Dean of the Cullen College of Engineering – instituted the Best Dissertation Award. The award recognizes graduating doctoral students who have excelled with their dissertations.
“The selection is made based on the originality and importance of the research, and the potential for the student to make a significant contribution to the discipline,” said Suresh Khator, Senior Associate Dean for Graduate Programs and Computing Facilities.
There were seven nominations for this year’s (Fall 2022, Spring 2023 and Summer 2023) awards. The committee had a difficult task to choose the first and second place winners, and the final decision was to award one first place and two second place winners:
- First Place Recipient: Feng Fang [left] of Biomedical Engineering. “Brain Controllability Analysis.” Advisor: Yingchun Zhang.
- Second Place Recipient: Adam Mallette [center] of the Brookshire Department of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering. “Regulating Zeolite Nucleation Using Alkali Cations and Higher Valence Elements.” Advisor: Jeffrey Rimer.
- Second Place Recipient: Kosar Mozaffari [right] of Mechanical Engineering. “The Interaction of Nonlinear Deformation and Electrostatics with Applications for Designing New Materials and Explaining Natural Phenomena.” Advisor: Pradeep Sharma.