College celebrates 2022 Distinguished Faculty Award honorees
The College of Engineering honors excellence in teaching, innovation and service with a variety of annual awards. Faculty, researchers and partners were recognized on April 27, 2022, at the 25th annual Distinguished Faculty Awards ceremony and banquet.
“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 photos from the event on flickr.
Among the honorees were six faculty from the William G. Lowrie Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering.
Professor Jeffrey Chalmers received The Clara M. and Peter L. Scott Faculty Award for Excellence in Engineering Education for his pioneering efforts that contributed to the transformation of bioprocessing, ongoing innovative research in magnetic cell separation, and demonstration of outstanding scholarship, teaching and mentoring. Chalmers' research in Mammalian Bioprocess Engineering has been at the forefront for nearly 30 years. His research greatly benefitted the biopharmaceutical industry by significantly improving scientists’ understanding of mammalian cell culture engineering, leading to changes in how it is undertaken around the world in both industry and academia. The importance of his contribution is underscored by the fact that nearly 40% of all new pharmaceuticals are biologically produced and their production is based in part on some of the discoveries made by Professor Chalmers and his students over the years. In recognition of his achievements, in 20154 Chalmers received the highest and most prestigious award in the field - the Cell Culture Engineering Award from Engineering Conferences International.
Named in honor of Peter Scott, a 1949 Ohio State graduate in electrical engineering who received an honorary doctoral degree in 1995, the Scott Award recognizes a senior faculty member who has achieved both national and international status as a leading educator and researcher. It is the highest recognition given to a senior faculty member by the College of Engineering.
C. John Easton Professor and Distinguished University Professor Liang-Shih Fan earned the Faculty Mentoring Award for his dedication and commitment to providing outstanding faculty mentoring to junior faculty within the department and college, as demonstrated by his proactive, consistent and thorough approach to mentoring.
Fan's award nomination was prepared by seven faculty in the College of Engineering who each described how Professor Fan's support and mentorship had been invaluable to them. They noted that Professor Fan had reached out to them time and time again to offer encouragement, advice, and mentoring, discussing things such as research direction, strategizing on proposal-writing and effectively presenting research proposals to potential sponsors, work-life balance, teaching, group management, navigating the uncertainties of the University and Columbus, or just listening. In particular, faculty noted his efforts to create opportunities for collaborative research development and his guidance on career path and development.
In light of Professor Fan's own career success and significantly challenging schedule, faculty were universally impressed by his consistent outreach and responsiveness, and find his hard work and dedication to be a source of great inspiration.
Andrew Maxson, clinical assistant professor, earned the Distinction in Safety Award for his commitment to ensuring the safety of everyone in the CBEC building and for his effective training of students in the Unit Operations Laboratory regarding workplace and chemical process safety.
Professor Maxson's commitment to fostering a culture of safety in the Unit Operations Laboratory has been unwavering, even while navigating a pandemic. Since joining the faculty in 2017, he has conducted more than 20,000 person-hours of laboratory experimentation without a single safety incident. He fosters a true culture of safety and is known for running a "tight ship." Knowing that they are learning the same precautions that most chemical engineers will need to follow in their careers after graduation, students would have it no other way. In addition to teaching students about chemical process, safer design, and workplace safety, his real-world case studies emphasize the importance of safety and provide a deeper understanding beyond physical mechanics, as students learn how failures of safety culture often result from human and organizational problems that can lead to the complacency and compromises that can ultimately result in dangerous or deadly incidents.
Maxson is also chair of the Department Safety Committee, is Red Cross-certified in First Aid and CPR, and is a certified OSU REACH suicide prevention gatekeeper who has been proactive in organizing Student Wellness events within the department which are intended to identify and support at-risk students.
The Distinction in Safety Award was established in 2019.
Assistant Professor Joel Paulson was one of 13 individuals to receive the Lumley Research Award. 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.
Paulson's research focuses on the development of advanced optimization, machine learning, and multi-scale simulation methods to improve the quality, efficiency, and sustainability of engineered products and processes. Recently, he has been a key contributor in the space of Bayesian optimization (BO), which is a class of learning-based optimization algorithms that is generally applicable to expensive, unknown, and non-convex functions (one of the most difficult classes of optimization problems to solve in practice).
His collaboration with Dr. Xiaoguang Wang (CBE) resulted in the creation of a method to achieve ultrasensitive and selective detection of SARS-CoV-2 using thermotropic liquid crystals—the device readout is automated by an image-based machine learning method that can accurately classify the test as positive or negative. This work was recently reported in the prestigious journal Cell Reports Physical Science (2020).
Katelyn Swindle-Reilly, assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and William G. Lowrie Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, was awarded the Innovators Award for her contributions in technology development and commercialization in the ocular drug delivery space to aid in the fight against blindness worldwide.
The Innovators 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.
Swindle-Reilly's current research interests focus on the design of polymeric biomaterials for soft tissue repair and drug delivery with focused applications in ophthalmology and wound healing. This work, applied to treatments for patients with conditions such as age-related macular degeneration and other retinal diseases, has the potential to improve treatment methodologies by reducing the number of required eye injections from 12 times per year to just one or two. This is accomplished via an extended release nanocapsule that delivers the drug over time. The technology is the basis for Ohio State startup company, Vitranu, Inc.
Swindle-Reilly was also named The Ohio State University Early Career Innovator of the Year.
Additional awardees:
Harrison Faculty Award for Excellence in Engineering 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.
- Zhiqiang Lin, professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering - For his outstanding contributions in software security research and education.
Dean’s Meritorious Service to Students Award
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.
- 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.
Dean's Award for Outstanding Teaching by a Lecturer
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.
- 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.
David C. McCarthy Engineering Teaching Award
This award recognizes the contributions of College of Engineering junior faculty and staff to create more innovative and effective teaching and learning.
- 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.
Ralph L. Boyer Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Engineering Innovation
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.
- 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.
“Building Bridges” Excellence Award
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.
- 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.
Dean's Award for Distinguished Outreach Achievements
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.
- 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.
Faculty Diversity Excellence Award
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.
- 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.
The BEWEL Leadership in Innovation Award
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.
- 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.
Honda-Ohio State Partnership Award
The Honda - Ohio State Partnership Award recognizes an individual who has made significant contributions to promoting and strengthening this historic partnership.
- 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.
Charles Ellison MacQuigg Award for Outstanding Teaching
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.
- 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.
Lumley Interdisciplinary Research Award
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.
- 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
Additional Lumley Research Awards
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.
- 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
- 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