2019 CELEBRATION OF EXCELLENCE
2019 Celebration of Excellence
Welcome from the Dean
A COMMITMENT TO EXCELLENCE
A
s dean of the University of Georgia College of Engineering, I have the honor of seeing first-hand the inspiring commitment of our faculty, staff and students. Thank you for all the amazing ways you are helping the College build strong and vibrant communities of learning, discovery, and innovation. This past year saw the College build on its tremendous momentum in ways that will shape our program for years to come. •• We finalized a strategic plan, Engineering Compass, that defines our core values and establishes a set of metrics that will gauge our progress. •• The college received the initial accreditation of its Bachelor of Science programs in electrical and electronics engineering and in mechanical engineering. All eight undergraduate degree programs in the college now have earned accreditation from ABET. •• We launched the initial phase of the renovation of the Driftmier Engineering Center to provide state-of-the-art space for collaboration, design work and teamwork. Driftmier has served us well for more than 50 years and this project will ensure our instructional hub meets the demands of 21st century engineering education. •• The expansion of research capacity continued with laboratory renovations completed in the Riverbend complex, the initiation of the renovations to Boyd for our electrical and computer engineering faculty, and the groundbreaking of the Interdisciplinary STEM Research Facility – Phase I. •• We celebrated 150 years of engineering education at the University of Georgia with our Engineering 150 Gala. 2018 was also a year of tremendous growth in our research enterprise, our graduate program, and our development and corporate partnership efforts. Across campus, across the state, and across the nation, people are taking notice of the UGA College of Engineering thanks to your work. It’s my distinct pleasure to welcome you to our annual Celebration of Excellence. I want to sincerely thank you for your work in our classrooms, in our labs, and in your service to the people of Georgia. Most of all, I want to thank you for commitment to a new generation of engineers.
Donald J. Leo, Ph.D. Dean & UGA Foundation Professor in Engineering
University of Georgia College of Engineering
2019 Celebration of Excellence
Celebration of EXCELLENCE Excellence CELEBRATION OF April 2, 2019 | Athens Country Club
Welcome Donald J. Leo, Ph.D. Dean & UGA Foundation Professor in Engineering
Awards & Recognition Eric Freeman, Ph.D., Master of Ceremony Assistant Professor Chair, Honorifics Committee
Years of Service Awards Undergraduate Student Awards Graduate Student Awards Intellectual Property Lawrence A. Hornak, Ph.D. Associate Dean for Research & Distinguished Faculty Scholar
Staff & Faculty Awards Dr. Freeman
Closing Remarks Dean Leo
University of Georgia College of Engineering
2019 Celebration of Excellence
Celebration of Excellence 2019
YEARS OF SERVICE AWARDS
TROY BUTLER
SARAH LEE
TIM FOUTZ
30 years
30 years
25 years
JARROD BUFFINGTON
JAMES KASTNER
DAVID STOOKSBURY
HILLARY TANNER
THOMAS LAWRENCE
KYLE JOHNSEN
PETER KNER
JOACHIM WALTHER
20 years
15 years
20 years
10 years
20 years
10 years
20 years
10 years
University of Georgia College of Engineering
Celebration of Excellence 2019
STUDENT AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE Undergraduate Merit Awards The College of Engineering Undergraduate Merit Awards for Service, Research, and Athletics honor students who demonstrate a strong work ethic inside and outside the classroom. These students exceed expectations as set forth by instructors, professors, staff and coaches.
ANDREA DUNCAN | Merit Award for Service Andrea has left her mark on the UGA College of Engineering and the Athens community while serving as president of the National Society of Black Engineers, as a Student Ambassador for the College, and as a volunteer tutor and mentor in Clarke County's public schools. She has excelled in the classroom and has served as a research assistant in the Engineering Education Transformations Institute and as an intern with Goldman Sachs. Andrea will graduate in May with a Bachelor's of Science in Mechanical Engineering.
JACKSON HARRIS | Merit Award for Athletics A scholarship athlete on the UGA football team, Jackson will graduate in May with a Bachelor's of Science in Mechanical Engineering. Jackson has achieved a 3.7 GPA while devoting more than 20 hours a week to athletics. He was a semifinalist for the Campbell Trophy, presented each year to the nation's top football-scholar athlete. Jackson is also an active volunteer with Extra Special People, a local service organization for people with developmental disabilities.
DIEU THAO NGUYEN | Merit Award for Research A biological engineering student, Dieu has conducted research under the mentorship of Assistant Professor Hitesh Handa for three and a half years. Her work in microbiology, cell and tissue engineering, molecular biology, and wound healing has led to two CURO assistantships, a CURO fellowship, a patent, one publication, and two pending publications. She also attended "Summer School Modern Methods in Infection Biology" in Wurzburg, Germany, a program that accepts only 20 students worldwide.
2019 Celebration of Excellence
Undergraduate Awards for Academic Excellence The College of Engineering Undergraduate Awards for Academic Excellence recognize one senior student from each degree program who has demonstrated exemplary performance in upper-level engineering coursework.
Jacob Cochran
Agricultural Engineering
Brian West
Biochemical Engineering
Mary Beth Mahaffey
Biological Engineering
Ashley Pilcher
Civil Engineering
Anton Franzluebbers
Computer Systems Engineering
Sui "Kelly" Strohecker
Electrical and Electronics Engineering
Conner Keisling
Environmental Engineering
Jake Jensen
Mechanical Engineering
Caswell Student Challenge Award The Caswell Student Challenge honors outstanding students majoring in Agricultural Engineering. Recipients are selected for each academic term who achieved a grade point average of at least 3.90 for the term.
Avery Rogers
Melanie Plummer
University of Georgia College of Engineering
Chair's Award for Excellence The Chair’s Award for Excellence - Best Personal Statement is presented to a student in each of the College’s three schools in recognition of the high quality of the student’s personal statement submitted for application to their major in the College of Engineering.
Thomas Spoerer
School of Environmental, Civil, Agricultural and Mechanical Engineering
Megan Williams School of Chemical, Materials and Biomedical Engineering
Ulises Trejo-Torres
School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Dean's Award for Excellence The Dean’s Award for Academic Excellence in Early Student Achievement is presented to the students who have the highest ranked academic credentials at the time they are admitted to their major in the College of Engineering at the University of Georgia.
William Howard Ledford Biological Engineering
Haley Selsor
Agricultural Engineering
Award for Excellence in Graduate Student Teaching The Award for Excellence in Graduate Student Teaching honors graduate students who have demonstrated superior teaching skills and commitment to high-quality instruction related to the engineering program.
Ryan Devine
M.S. Candidate, Biological Engineering
2019 Celebration of Excellence
Brahm P. Verma Award for Academic & Leadership Excellence Established in honor of longtime University of Georgia engineering faculty member Brahm Verma, this award recognizes an outstanding graduate student for excellence in academics and leadership. Recipients are selected based on a combination of their academic performance, their research, their activity in professional societies, and their demonstrated leadership abilities.
Priyadarshini Singha
Ph.D. Candidate, Biological Engineering
Honorable Mention: Jiaqi Wang, Bobby Leitmann
Priyadarshini Singha believes applying engineering practices to medicine holds enormous potential to improve our quality of life. Working toward a Ph.D. in Biological Engineering under the advisement of Assistant Professor Hitesh Handa, she has excelled in research in the fields of biopharmaceuticals, polymer chemistry, and biomedical engineering. In 2018, Priya was one of only six graduate students nationwide to receive a Baxter Young Investigator Award. She was also one of the two recipients of the Society for Biomaterials Award, a national honor for her efforts in biomaterials research. Priya's work has resulted in the publication of five peer-reviewed papers in high impact scientific journals and two filed U.S. patents pending. Priya is also an ardent believer in communicating scientific research to people of all backgrounds. She has been responsible for mentoring of high school, undergraduate, and Masters’ program students, both in research and in the classroom.
University of Georgia College of Engineering
Celebration of Excellence 2019
EXCELLENCE IN GRADUATE RESEARCH The University of Georgia College of Engineering Excellence in Graduate Research Award annually recognizes graduate students in our three Schools for the quality of their research as demonstrated by student success in the publication of their work in prestigious, highly cited international journals.
Priya Singha
“Active Release of an Antimicrobial and Antiplatelet Agent from a Non-Fouling Surface Modification” ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces Principal Investigator: Hitesh Handa, Ph.D.
Qidi Liu
“Microwave photonic multiband filter with independently tunable passband spectral properties” Optics Letters Principal Investigator: Mable Fok, Ph.D.
Amy Brooks
"The Chinese import ban and its impact on global plastic waste trade" Science Advances Principal Investigator: Jenna Jambeck, Ph.D.
Matthew Becton
"Flow plate separation of cells based on elastic properties: a computational study" Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology Principal Investigator: XQ Wang, Ph.D.
2019 Celebration of Excellence
University of Georgia College of Engineering
Celebration of Excellence 2019
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY U.S. Patents Awarded 2018 Photonic Implementation of Jamming Avoidance Response (JAR) in Eigenmannia
Chimeric Enzymes for Conversion of LigninDerived Chemicals
Inventors: Mable Fok & Ryan Toole
Inventors: Mark Eiteman, Melissa Tumen-
Utility Patent 9,954,619
Velasquez, Ellen Neidle, Alaa Ahmed, Christopher Johnson, Gregg Beckham & Jeffrey Linger
Photosynthetic Electrochemical Cells
Utility Patent 10,087,425
Inventors: Ramaraja Ramasamy Utility Patent 10,056,659
Methods for Hydroxylating Phenylpropanoids Inventors: Yajun Yan and Yuneng Lin
Berry Impact Recording Device
Utility Patent 10,036,047
Inventors: Changying "Charlie" Li & Rui Xu Utility Patent 10,082,519
Methacrylic Acid Production Method Inventors: James Kastner &
A Microbial Approach for the Production of 5-Hydrotryptophan Inventors: Yajun Yan and Yuheng Lin Utility Patent 10,023,889
Maryan Pirmoradi Utility Patent 10,138,306
Devices and Methods for Separating Particles Inventors: Leidong Mao, Mark Eiteman & Taotao Zhu Utility Patent 9,873,126
Photochemical Cross-linkable Polymers, Methods of Making Photochemical CrossLinkable Polymers, Methods of Using Photochemical Cross-Linkable Polymers, and Methods of Making Articles Containing Photochemical Cross-Linkable Polymers Inventors: Jason Locklin, Ian Hardin, Satyabrata Samanta and Vikram Dhende
A Microbial Approach for the Production of 5-Hydrotryptophan Inventors: Yajun Yan and Yuheng Lin Utility Patent 10,023,889
2019 Celebration of Excellence
Utility Patent 10,010,074
Yan Named University of Georgia's Top Entrepreneur The University of Georgia Office of Research named Yajun Yan its 2018 Academic Entrepreneur of the Year. Yan, an associate professor in the College of Engineering, leads UGA’s research in microbial production of biofuels and highvalue chemicals. His work has led to six issued U.S. patents and several pending patent applications. Yan has cofounded two startup companies, BiotecEra Inc. and HGG Research LLC.
Startup Companies 2018 Can I Recycle This, Inc. (CIRT)
inNOveta Biomedical, LLC
Founders: Jenna Jambeck and
Founder: Hitesh Handa
Katherine Shayne
Designing biocompatible materials and
Developing artificial intelligence to improve
coatings for implantable medical devices and
recycling efficiency
wound dressings
TelePet, LLC Founder: Peter Kner Developing a portable EEG monitor to help monitor and predict epileptic activity without the need for anesthesia or sedation
University of Georgia College of Engineering
Celebration of Excellence 2019
FACULTY & STAFF AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE PAUL BOWLES | STAFF AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE The Staff Award for Excellence honors a staff member in the UGA College of Engineering who has demonstrated a strong work ethic, commitment to service and exceptional job performance. This year’s recipient is Paul Bowles, Instructional Technology Professional Specialist. Paul joined UGA department of biological and agricultural engineering in 2001 and for a time was the only IT professional supporting engineering faculty, staff and students. He now coordinates all software maintenance and license compliance and handles all IT software and equipment purchases in the College.
JASON LOCKLIN, PH.D. | AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN RESEARCH The Award for Excellence in Research honors outstanding faculty in the UGA College of Engineering who have shown exceptional creativity and achievement in any area of engineering research. Jason Locklin and his reserach group are active in a variety of areas related to polymer science, polymer processing, and surface and interfacial modification. His work has attracted funding from government agencies, industry sponsors and private foundations. In addition to numerous high-impact publications, Locklin's research has generated a number of patents.
THOMAS LAWRENCE, PH.D. | AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN INSTRUCTION The UGA College of Engineering’s annual Award for Excellence in Instruction honors outstanding faculty who demonstrated sustained commitment to high-quality instruction and creativity. Thomas Lawrence has consistently worked to developing new, innovative programs that provide a breadth of experiential learning opportunities for students. He played a pivotal role in the creation and management of the Engineering + German Dual Degree Program as well as the planning and implementation of the Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering program.
2019 Celebration of Excellence
Celebration of Excellence 2019
DISTINGUISHED FACULTY FELLOW The award of Faculty Fellow recognizes excellence in scholarship across the mission areas of the College and is presented to faculty members at the associate professor rank. Faculty Fellows distinguish themselves through their success in the development of robust and growing research programs, characterized by an effective integration of discovery, learning and innovation that is receiving growing recognition both inside and outside UGA.
SUNG-HEE "SONNY" KIM, PH.D. | DISTINGUISHED FACULTY FELLOW Since joining the UGA College of Engineering in 2016, Sung-Hee "Sonny" Kim has led the development of student-centered and experiential-based civil engineering courses that produce practice-ready engineers. In addition, his applied research has been translated into innovative practices in pavement design and maintenance. Among Dr. Kim's many honors, he was named a 2018-2019 UGA Public Service and Outreach Faculty Fellow and he was elected a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). He has also provided essential leadership for the UGA ASCE student chapter, one of the fastest growing chapters in the U.S.
Celebration of Excellence 2019
DISTINGUISHED FACULTY SCHOLAR The Distinguished Faculty Scholar Award is presented to a faculty member of full professor rank in recognition of sustained excellence in scholarship. Faculty Scholars distinguish themselves through their robust activities and effective leadership across the range of scholarly activities including recognized achievements in establishing large-scale research programs, award-winning innovation in teaching and program development, and exemplary service to their institution and profession.
JASON LOCKLIN, PH.D. | DISTINGUISHED FACULTY FELLOW Jason Locklin leads a team of researchers working to develop sustainable materials that can be used in a variety of commercial applications, including the development of new compostable paper coatings and biodegradable drinking straws. During his career, he has published more than 100 peer-reviewed studies in high-impact journals and his research has attracted funding from a variety of funding agencies as well as private industry. He is the founding director of the New Materials Institute and he leads the National Science Foundation IUCRC site for the Center of Bioplastics and Biocomposites.
University of Georgia College of Engineering
Celebration of Excellence 2019
ACCOLADES & SCHOLARLY ACHIEVEMENTS School of Chemical, Materials & Biomedical Engineering Rodney Averett published six papers in leading journals including Clinical and Applied Thrombosis-Hemostasis, Biochimica et Biophysica Acta, and the Journal of Molecular Modeling. In addition, he served as a reviewer for the national science foundation’s graduate research fellowship program. He was also a presenter at Modeling Studies in Fibrin Mechanics: Applications in Thombosis and Hemostasis from the Nanoscale to the Macroscale, a seminar at Purdue University. Mark Eiteman was awarded two patents, Chimeric Enzymes for Conversion of Lignin-Derived Chemicals and Devices and Methods for Separating Particles. He published papers in leading peer-reviewed journals including Journal of Industrial Microbiology & Biotechnology, Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Microbiology-SGM, and Engineering in Life Sciences. In addition, he served as an invited presenter at international conferences and seminars in the U.S., China, and India. His research attracted grants from the National Science Foundation and USDA-NIFA. Cheryl Gomillion received a 2018 Hidden Figures in Medicine and Science Award from the Williams Forum for Diabetes Education and Healthcare. In addition, she received a grant from It’s the Journey, Inc./Georgia CORE – Center for Oncology Research and Education and published a paper in Regenerative Engineering and Translational Medicine. She also contributed a chapter to "Regenerative Engineering: Advanced Materials Science Principles" and presented her work at four national and international conferences. She was honored by the UGA Career Center for making a significant career development contribution to students. K. Melissa Hallow published five papers in peer-reviewed journals including the Journal of Pharmacokinetics and Pharmacodynamics, Diabetes, Obesity & Metabolism, and European Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences. In addition, she served as an invited presenter at several national and international conferences and seminars including the American College of Toxicology Annual Meeting and the American Conference on Pharmacometrics.
2019 Celebration of Excellence
Hitesh Handa published papers in five peer-reviewed publications including Advanced Functional Materials, Journal of Biomedical Materials Research, and ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces. He also launched inNOveta Biomedical, LLC, a company focused on designing biocompatible materials and coatings for implantable medical devices and wound dressings. In addition, he filed applications for five patents. He also received a significant National Institutes of Health R01 grant to investigate metal organic framework-based antithrombotic surfaces as well as grants from the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation and the Geneva Foundation. James Kastner published papers in peer-reviewed journals including Energy & Fuels and Applied Catalysis B: Environmental. He also received a patent for Methacrylic Acid Production Method. In addition, he serves as principal investigator on a project funded by a USDA NIFA grant, Carbon Monolith Catalysts from Wood for Biobased Platform Chemicals. He also serves as a peer reviewer for several international publications including ACS Catalysis. William Kisaalita was named the Georgia Athletic Association Distinguished Professor in Engineering. He received the Lalit and Arun Verma Award for Excellence in Global Engagement, presented by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE). His EvaKuula, a biogas-powered device for the preservation on milk freshness in low-resource settings, has been recognized with an ASABE AE50 Award, recognizing the best innovations in engineering and technology for agricultural, food, and biological systems. Jason Locklin published seven papers in leading peerreviewed journals including the Journal of Physical Chemistry C, Molecular Microbiology, and ACS Omega. In addition, he was awarded a patent and served as an invited presenter at national and international conferences including the American Chemical Society National Meeting. His research attracted funding from several sources including the National Science Foundation and a number of industry partners. He serves as the director of UGA’s New Materials Institute.
University of Georgia College of Engineering
Sudhagar Mani established an international research collaboration with China University in the field of bioenergy. He was awarded two industry-sponsored research projects in the field of bioenergy and cellulose biomaterials as well as a joint research collaboration in the field of sustainable food systems. In addition, he published nine refereed research articles and proceedings, one book chapter, and presented nine papers at international conferences including two invited talks. He received two certificates of recognition for excellence as an associate editor by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineering and for organizing the International Bioenergy and Bioproducts Conference by TAPPI. Iris Marklein joined the UGA College of Engineering in the fall of 2018 as an assistant professor of practice. Her background is in regenerative medicine and regulatory affairs. After earning her Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania, she joined FDA and spent time in both the Center for Devices and Radiological Health and the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. After joining UGA, she has served as part of the planning committee for the UGA Medical Device Regulations Conference and on the steering committee of an American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering workshop focused on translation of biologics and regenerative medicine products. In addition, she has provided training on the challenges and pathways of regulatory affairs through multiple seminars for UGA faculty and students. Ross Marklein joined the UGA College of Engineering in 2018 as an assistant professor. His research interests include cell manufacturing, single cell analysis and biomaterials. He participated in the Marcus Center for Therapeutic Cell Characterization and Manufacturing Symposium and the Biomedical Engineering Society Annual Meeting. He is a member of the National Science Foundation’s Engineering Research Center for Cell Manufacturing Technologies (CMat). He published a peer-reviewed paper in collaboration with the FDA in Cytotherapy. In addition, he received a RoosterBio Development Grant. Luke Mortensen published papers in leading peerreviewed journals including Scientific Reports, Nature Communications, Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering, and Biomedical Optics Express. He served as an invited presenter at conferences in the United States and the United Kingdom. A member of the National Science Foundation’s Engineering Research Center for Cell Manufacturing
2019 Celebration of Excellence
Technologies (CMat), his research attracted funding from several sources including the Soft Bones Foundation and the Georgia Research Alliance. Grace Pookoo-Aikins serves as a peer reviewer for the Journal of Biological Engineering. She was a participant in the University of Georgia’s Active Learning Summer Institute and is active in the Engineering Education Transformations Institute. In addition, she is a member of the Dean’s Diversity Task Force in the College of Engineering. Ramaraja Ramasamy was named associate dean for academic affairs & assessment in the College of Engineering. He was awarded a patent, Photosynthetic electrochemical cells, and published ten peer-reviewed papers in leading journals including Biotechnology and Bioengineering, ECS Transactions, and Journal of the Electrochemical Society. He served as an invited presenter at several national and international conferences such as the 233rd Meeting of the Electrochemical Society and the Annual Meeting of the Institute of Biological Engineering. James Warnock serves as the founding chair of the School of Chemical, Materials & Biomedical Engineering within the UGA College of Engineering. His research on international engineering education has been published in the Proceedings of the American Society for Engineering Education. A recognized leader in ABET program assessment, he has given a number of invited seminars at the ABET annual symposium and currently serves as the ABET adjunct director for training and instruction. He was part of a College of Engineering delegation that visited India to establish research collaborations with Indian universities. Yajun Yan was named the University of Georgia’s 2018 Entrepreneur of the Year for his work on the microbial production of biofuels and high-value chemicals. He was awarded two patents and his research resulted in 14 papers published in peer-reviewed journals including Nature Communications, Biochemistry, and Biotechnology Advances. In addition, he received a $1.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health, Maximizing Investigators' Research Award (MIRA) for Early Stage Investigators.
School of Electrical & Computer Engineering Adel Al Weshah participated in the Fall Engineering Education Forums, presenting insights from the UGA Center for Teaching and Learning Active Learning Summer Institutes. He was also a presenter at the UGA Interactive Colloquium, discussing the transition to an active learning model in electrical circuits courses. In addition, he was a participant in the LGBT Identities in Engineering workshop. Fred Beyette is the founding chair of the School of Electrical & Computer Engineering in the UGA College of Engineering. His research focuses on developing point-of-care devices for medical and health monitoring applications - including devices that guide the diagnosis and treatment of acute neurologic emergencies such as stroke and traumatic brain injury. His work has resulted in 12 patent applications. Mable Fok was awarded a patent for Photonic Implementation of Jamming Avoidance Response (JAR) in Eigenmannia. She is the topical editor of Optics Letters and is the guest editor of MDPI Special Issue on Microwave Photonics. She is serving on the technical program committees of a number of international conferences including the Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exhibition and IEEE International Topical Meeting on Microwave Photonics. She was named a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
Mark Haidekker plays a key role on a UGA team that received a $5 million USDA grant to develop strategies to increase the efficiency of lighting for controlledenvironment agriculture. He published papers in the peer-reviewed journals Transactions of the ASABE and Physiologia Planetarium and is under contract for the second edition of his textbook, "Linear Feedback Controls – The Essentials." In 2018, he was awarded a patent, Phase synchronizing pulse amplitude modulation fluorometer. Takoi Hamrita served as founder and chair of the Global Women in STEM Leadership Summit, which attracted more than 300 participants and dozens of academic and technology industry leaders. In addition, she served as a presenter at the World Congress of the International Commission of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering in Antalya, Turkey. She is developing a book, "Women in Precision Agriculture: Advances, Challenges and Aspirations for a Prosperous and Sustainable Future." Chris Herring joined the UGA College of Engineering in 2018 as a lecturer. He has more than 20 years of industry experience in computer architecture, data error correction, and system architecture. He holds 21 design patents. He completed his Ph.D. with an emphasis in Engineering Education and continues to explore this area as a research focus.
University of Georgia College of Engineering
Lawrence Hornak serves as the College’s Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies. He was co-author of the 2018 Physical Review Letter Effect of Charge Localization on the Effective Hyperfine Interaction in Organic Semiconducting Polymers that will help us understand how polymers can be used to achieve a new generation of electronics. He serves as a Co-PI of UGA’s NSF I-Corp Site, the foundation of the campus’ innovation ecosystem. Nathaniel Hunsu served as a presenter at the American Educational Research Association Annual Conference. His work was featured in the proceedings of several conferences such as the 2018 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference and Exposition. He serves as a referee for nine leading journals, including the Journal of Engineering Education, Computers and Education, and Journal of Educational Computing Research. Kyle Johnsen was awarded a patent for Communication and skills training using interactive virtual humans and published papers in peer-reviewed journals including Learning, Design, and Technology, Health Education and Behavior, Media Psychology, and arXiv preprint. His work was also published in the proceedings of the ACM Conference on Spatial User Interaction and Workshop on Everyday Virtual Reality. He also served as an invited presenter at IEEE Virtual Reality 2018 as well as other international conferences.
2019 Celebration of Excellence
Peter Kner’s research is currently funded by the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health. He serves as an associate editor for Biomedical Optics Express. He is on the program committees for the SPIE Adaptive Optics and Wavefront Control for Biological Systems Conference and the OSA Adaptive Optics: Methods, Analysis and Applications Conference. He is a co-director of the Analytical and Quantitative Light Microscopy Course at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. Changying “Charlie” Li published seven papers in high impact journals including Frontiers in Plant Science and Scientific Reports. He received a “Superior Paper Award," a distinction held by only 2.5% of papers published in Transactions of ASABE. He also received a Changjiang Scholar Award, the highest academic award presented to an individual in higher education by the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China. In addition, he was awarded a patent for his Berry Impact Recording Device. He also established the Phenomics and Plant Robotics Center, a campus-wide research center. Ben Manning, an instructor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, received his Ph.D. in Engineering from UGA in 2018. He leads new informatics courses in the College and serves as faculty advisor to Data Dawgs, a student organization focused on informatics, data science, machine learning and deep learning.
Leidong Mao published five papers in leading journals including the peer-reviewed Advanced Biosystems. He also served as an invited presenter at international conferences such as SCIX 2018, BMES Annual Meeting 2018, and Micro Nano Flows 2018. In addition, he was awarded a patent for Devices and Methods for Separating Particles. He also serves as director of UGA’s Nanotechnology and Biomedicine REU program. Javad Mohammadpour Velni published more than 20 peer-reviewed papers in leading journals and conference proceedings including IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid, ASME Mechanical Engineering, and Automatica. He received an NSF grant for a collaborative research project on advanced dual fuel natural gas engines. He is also a key contributor on a UGA team that received a $5 million USDA grant to develop strategies to increase the efficiency of lighting for controlled-environment agriculture. In addition, he was recognized by the UGA Career Center for making a significant contribution to the career success of graduates. WenZhan Song founded the Center for Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS), an interdisciplinary center designed to advance research and education in CPS and to transition CPS science and technology into engineering practice and real-world applications. His Presidential Seed Grant project on CPS for controlled environment agriculture led to a $5M USDA grant to optimize the cost-effectiveness of lighting in controlled environment agriculture. In addition, he published papers in leading journals including IEEE Internet of Things Journal. Mark Trudgen published papers in peer-reviewed journals including International Journal of Control. He also received a Learning Technologies Grant from the UGA Center for Teaching and Learning. In addition, he served as a mentor to several student groups, developed laboratories for using hardware donated by Rockwell, and served on the School of Electricial and Computer Engineering Curriculum Committee.
Zhong-Ru “Paul” Xie published a peer-reviewed paper in the journal Structure, contributed a chapter to the online text book, Molecular Docking, and contributed a chapter to the textbook, Resveratrol: State-of-the-Art Science and Health Applications. In addition, he served as a peer reviewer for several journals including International Journal of Molecular Sciences, Molecules, and Proteomes. Bingqian Xu published seven peer-reviewed papers in high-impact journals including Nature Communications, Journal of the American Chemical Society, and ACS Nano. He has established collaborations with researchers worldwide thanks to his group's expertise in single-molecule study methods. In addition, he served as an invited presenter at several national and international conferences, workshops and seminars. His research was featured in the proceedings of several conferences including Protein Science and Abstracts of Papers of the American Chemical Society. Kun Yao received the 2018 Lowry Gillespie, Jr. Engineering Curriculum Enhancement Award for his efforts to incorporate experiential learning in engineering courses. He was recognized by the UGA Career Center for his contributions to the career development of students. In addition, he serves as a peer reviewer for several journals including Nanotechnology, for which he received an outstanding reviewer award. Jin Ye joined the UGA College of Engineering in 2018 as an assistant professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. She is the director of intelligent power electronics and electric machines laboratory at the University of Georgia. She is a general chair of 2019 IEEE Transportation Electrification Conference and Expo (ITEC), a publication chair and women in engineering chair of 2019 IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Expo (ECCE). She is an associate editor for IEEE Transactions on Transportation Electrification and IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology. Her main research areas include power electronics, electric machines, energy management systems, smart grids, and electrified transportation.
Zion Tse published more than 20 papers in peer-reviewed journals including Annals of Biomedical Engineering, International Journal of Remote Sensing, and Journal of Medical Robotics Research. He was awarded two provisional patents and his work was featured in the proceedings of several conferences. In addition, he served as the coadministrator of the UGA Interdisciplinary STEM Building Steering Committee.
University of Georgia College of Engineering
2019 Celebration of Excellence
School of Environmental, Civil, Agricultural and Mechanical Engineering Robert Baffour was appointed clinical associate professor in 2018. He is a member of a team that received a nearly $3 million grant from the National Science Foundation to examine strategies to transform STEM education at R-1 universities. He also received a grant from the UGA Office of Public Service and Outreach to expand STEM education through recruitment, preparation and outreach programs for the African American community in metro Atlanta. He serves as co-chair of the Dean's Task Force for Diversity, Inclusion and Access in the College of Engineering and he mentors 50 K-12 minority students to help them prepare for college. Eliza Banu published an abstract in the proceedings of the Innovation in Teaching Conference 2018. Her work was also published in Proceedings of the American Society of Engineering Education Annual Conference. In addition, she received a grant to study the educational experience of transfer students at the UGA College of Engineering. She received an Emerging Scholar of Teaching and Learning Award in recognition of her scholarship from the UGA College of Education and the UGA Center for Teaching and Learning. Brian Bledsoe serves as founding director of the Institute for Resilient Infrastructure Systems. He published nine papers in peer-reviewed journals including Journal of Environmental Management, Journal of Hydrology, and Water. In addition, he served as a presenter at several national and international conferences and seminars. He leads a team that received $685,000 and $183,000 grants from the Georgia Department of Transportation for research on enhanced construction and stormwater practices for environmental stewardship. He also serves as principal investigator on projects funded by Southern Company, NASA, NSF, NOAA, Sea Grant, Water Research Foundation, and the National Cooperative Highway Research Program. Peter Carnell was named a clinical assistant professor in 2018. He published a paper in the proceedings of the American Society of Engineering Education Annual Conference and received a University System of Georgia STEM grant. In addition, he served as a presenter at ASEE 2018 and at several campus seminars. Mi Geum Chorzepa published 12 papers in peer-reviewed journals including Journal of Transportation Engineering Part
B: Pavements, Infrastructures, and International Journal of the Constructed Environment. Her work was also featured in the proceedings of several conferences, including Sustainable Civil Infrastructures. In addition, she received grants totaling more than $300,000 from the Georgia Department of Transportation. She was named Outstanding Reviewer by the Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities. KC Das published papers in four peer-reviewed journals including Energy Conversion and Management, Renewable Energy, and Biomass, Biofuels and Bioproducts. He is a key member of an interdisciplinary team from UGA and Virginia Tech that received a $1.2 million USDA NIFA grant to study the elimination of antibiotics and antibiotic resistant microbes in poultry waste. In addition, he served as Chairperson of the Georgia Section ASABE and served as a grant reviewer for national and international organizations. He participated in a twoweek study tour in Costa Rica studying sustainable agricultural practices and visiting research sites at several universities in Costa Rica. Ben Davis published papers in five peer-reviewed journals including Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing, Journal of Vibration and Acoustics, Journal of Fluids and Structures, Engineering Failure Analysis, and Nonlinear Dynamics. His work was also published in the proceedings of conferences and he served as an invited presenter at several conferences and seminars. In addition, he is a principal investigator or co-investigator on grants awarded by Gulfstream Aerospace, Georgia Department of Transportation, and the US Department of the Air Force. Stephan Durham published nine peer-reviewed papers including Journal of Transportation Engineering Part B: Pavements, ASCE, Infrastructures, and Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities. He is principal investigator or co-investigator on several Georgia Department of Transportation grants awarded in 2018 that total approximately $700,000. He serves as the federal and state ASCE Advocacy Captain for Georgia and participated in the 2018 ASCE Legislative Fly-In in Washington D.C. In addition, he serves as assistant dean for student success and outreach and received the 2018 UGA College of Engineering Faculty Fellow Award.
University of Georgia College of Engineering
Ben Fahrman joined the UGA College of Engineering in 2018 as a lecturer in the School of Environmental, Civil, Agricultural and Mechanical Engineering. He has been focused on improving his teaching by participating in Engineering Education Transformations Institute events and will attend the Active Learning Summer Institute at UGA in June, 2019. Tim Foutz leads a $2.1 million National Science Foundation Project focused on broadening participation in STEM education. His research published in the European Journal of Engineering Education focuses on improving student performance in engineering science courses. His work to bring coding into the elementary grades was presented at the Georgia Association of Educational Leaders Conference. He serves as a mentor in programs focused on at-risk students including firstgeneration students and is a transition coach for UGA’s Student Veterans Resource Center. He serves on the UGA President’s Grand Challenges Working Group, the UGA McNair Fellows advisory board and is a charter member of the Graduate School Mentoring Academy. Eric Freeman published five papers in leading peerreviewed journals including Biochimica et Biophysica Acta – Biomembranes, Biomicrofluidics, Scientific Reports, and Langmuir. His paper in Biomicrofluidics was recognized as a featured article and selected for promotion through the American Institute of Physics Scilights program. His work was also published in the proceedings of the ASME 2019 Conference on Smart Materials, Adaptive Structures and Intelligent Systems and SPIE Smart Structures and Nondestructive Evaluation. He also served as a guest editor for a collection of invited manuscripts on Bioinspired Structures and Systems within Smart Materials and Structures, a premier journal in Smart Materials. David Gattie published two papers on nuclear energy policy in The Electricity Journal and he contributed a chapter to the textbook Handbook of Energy Efficiency in Buildings. His work also appeared frequently in the popular press, including The Hill, InsideSources, and James. In addition, he served as an invited presenter at several international conferences. He led a a new collaboration between UGA’s College of Engineering, School of Public and International Affairs and Center for International Trade and Security.
2019 Celebration of Excellence
Dan Geller was appointed as the Extension Lead on the SPARC Project, a $15 million USDA-NIFA grant to develop carinata as a commercial biofuel crop in the Southeastern United States. He published peer-reviewed papers in Algal Research and the proceedings of the Association of Natural Resource Extension Professionals Annual Conference. He also served as lead UGA faculty member on a team with faculty from Georgia Tech and Emory that developed a model zoning ordinance to help guide the deployment of solar energy in Georgia counties. Jenna Jambeck was named a National Geographic Explorer and was named Scientific Co-Lead of National Geographic’s Source to Sea Plastics Initiative. She was co-author of a peer-reviewed paper in Science Advances concerning China’s ban on the import of non-industrial plastic waste. The paper has attracted international attention from the scientific community and the media. She serves as founding director of the Center for Circular Materials Management within the New Materials Institute. Caner Kazanci serves as one of the leaders of UGA’s new Mathematical Ecology Research Group. In addition, he served on the scientific advisory committee of the International Society of Ecological Modeling conference and as a peer reviewer for several international journals. His most recent research will soon appear in the peerreviewed journals Methods in Ecology and Evolution and Ecology Letters. Sung-Hee “Sonny” Kim was named a UGA Public Service and Outreach Faculty Fellow for his work with the Carl Vinson Institute of Government to implement cuttingedge research that predicts future problems in road networks. He was also named a Fellow of Geosynthetics Institute and served as an invited presenter at the First International Conference on Green Sustainable Road Industry in Egypt. At the conference, he received an appreciation plaque from a former prime minister of Egypt. In addition, he published 12 peer-reviewed journal articles, four peer-reviewed conference proceedings, and a book, "Advancements on Sustainable Civil Infrastructures." His research attracted over $820,000 in research funding in 2018 from several funding agencies and the private sector.
Thomas Lawrence serves as a leader of the UGA Engineering-German dual degree program and is the primary contact with the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology for UGA students’ study abroad portion of the program. He published peer-reviewed papers in Building and Environment, Energy and Buildings, and Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration. He also contributed a chapter to Handbook of Energy Efficiency in Buildings. He is a member of a UGA team that received a $5 million USDA grant to develop strategies to increase the efficiency of lighting for controlled-environment agriculture. Ke Li published a peer-reviewed paper in Chemical Engineering Journal, a publication with the highest impact factor in the field. He serves as editor of Journal of Emerging Contaminants and serves as a peer reviewer for several other journals including Water Research, Environmental Science and Technology, and Journal of Water Supply: Research and Technology – AQUA. Dominik May joined the UGA College of Engineering in 2018 as an assistant professor in the Engineering Education Transformations Institute. He contributed chapters to the international publications “Training Engineers for Innovation”, “Formation des ingénieurs à l’innovation”, and “Technikdidaktik - Eine interdisziplinäre Bestandsaufnahme”. He was elected vice president of the International Association of Online Engineering and submitted a successful application to bring the 17th International Conference on Remote Engineering and Virtual Instrumentation to UGA in 2020. In addition, he serves as editor-in-chief of International Journal of Emerging Technologies in Learning. Furthermore, he promotes the development of remote and virtual laboratories in the College by supporting internal projects with faculty across all three schools. Barbara McCord is a lecturer in the UGA College of Engineering’s School of Environmental, Civil, Agricultural and Mechanical Engineering. Her instructional responsibilities including teaching multiple sections of Fluid Mechanics and Heat Transfer. She is active in the Engineering Education Transformations Institute. John Morelock joined the UGA College of Engineering in 2018 and serves as associate director for educational innovation and impact in the Engineering Education Transformations Institute. His responsibilities include coordinating faculty and graduate student professional development opportunities. His research interests include
engineering faculty development, student motivation, game-based teaching and learning, gamified classrooms, and engineering faculty collaborations around the scholarship of teaching and learning. Ramana Pidaparti received the UGA College of Engineering’s 2018 Distinguished Faculty Scholar Award. He published the textbook "Design Engineering Journey" and served as an invited presenter at the World Conference on Artificial Intelligence and Robotics in Frankfurt, Germany. In addition, he published nine papers in peer-reviewed journals including Acta Mechanica Sinica, Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, and The Journals of Gerontology. A senior design team he mentored won sixth place in the NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge. Hamed Nabizadeh Rafsanjani joined the UGA College of Engineering in 2018 and serves as a lecturer in the School of Environmental, Civil, Agricultural and Mechanical Engineering. He brings more than eight years of professional experience to his role. Collaborating on projects funded by a variety of agencies including the National Science Foundation, he has developed research in data sensing and smart/sustainable buildings. Brandon Rotavera published six papers in peer-reviewed journals including Nature Communications, Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, ACS Earth and Space Chemistry, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, and the Journal of Physical Chemistry A. He delivered invited seminars at several universities in the United States and in the United Kingdom. In addition, he initiated the Graduate Research Excellence Award and administered the Riverbend Research Highlight Series, a bi-weekly graduate student seminar series, and was recognized by the UGA Career Center for having a significant, positive impact on students’ career decision-making process. Rawad Saleh published papers in peer-reviewed journals including Environmental Science & Technology, Aerosol Science and Technology, and Environmental Science and Technology Letters. He received a $420,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to study brown carbon. He also received the Ralph Powe award from Oak Ridge Associated Universities and a collaborative seed grant from the College of Engineering to study the toxicity of combustion emissions. In addition, he serves as a referee for several leading journals and serves as a grant reviewer for a number of organizations including the NSF and NASA. He was an invited presenter at seminars hosted by the USDA and Aerodyne Research, Inc.
University of Georgia College of Engineering
Siddharth Savadatti was promoted to Senior Lecturer in the UGA College of Engineering’s School of Environmental, Civil, Agricultural and Mechanical Engineering. He was named a Fellow for Innovative Teaching by the UGA Center for Teaching and Learning, and an Online Learning Fellow by the UGA Office of Online Learning. He also published a peer-reviewed paper in the proceedings of the American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference. John Schramski published peer-reviewed papers in BioScience and Nature Communications. He also served as an invited presenter at several national and international conferences and seminars including the opening keynote at the 2018 Berlin Bioeconomy Summit. He is an executive member of the board of directors of the International Society for BioPhysical Economics. Nicola Sochacka published peer-reviewed papers in the Journal of Engineering Education, Murmurations, and Scientia. Her research was also published in the proceedings of several national and international conferences including the 2018 American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Annual Conference and Exposition, Frontiers in Education, and CoNECD - The Collaborative Network for Engineering and Computing Diversity Conference. She served as an invited keynote presenter at the University of St. Thomas. She was named a Journal of Engineering Education Star Reviewer, one of only four recipients nationwide.
Instructional Action Team, and is collaborating with faculty across campus to transform STEM education on campus and at research universities nationwide. Benjamin Thomas received a grant through the UGA Office of Institutional Diversity’s New Approaches to Promote Diversity and Inclusion initiative. The project promotes diversity and inclusion through a mentorship program for the Burney-Harris-Lyons Middle School l-STEM Team, supported by the UGA chapter of the National Society of Black Engineers. He helped develop projects for the Experience Engineering summer camp and served as an engineering mentor/coach for several K-12 STEM teams. Sidney Thompson is the founding chair of the School of Environmental, Civil, Agricultural & Mechanical Engineering. In addition, he was elected a Fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers, a distinction held by fewer than 3% of ASCE members worldwide. Ernest “Bill” Tollner was named 2018 Engineer of the Year in Education by the American Council of Engineering Companies of Georgia. In addition, he received an ASABE Presidential Citation for his work on the revision of the National Engineering Handbook. He published a peer-reviewed paper in the proceedings of the 2018 American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineering Annual Meeting. He also serves as associate editor of Transactions of the ASAE and as a peer reviewer for several international journals.
David Stooksbury presented his research on the evolution of drought planning in Georgia at the Annual Meeting of the American Meteorological Society. He serves as graduate coordinator for the UGA Atmospheric Sciences Program and serves on the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities’ Board on Oceans, Atmosphere, and Climate. In addition, he serves as secretary of the American Association of State Climatologists. He is also active in the UGA River Basin Center and the Georgia Wind Energy Working Group.
Benjamin Wagner is a member of a team that received a $755,00 grant from the U.S. Department of the Air Force for MOCI: Multi-view On Board Computational Imager. He serves as a mechanical team mentor for the UGA Small Satellite Research Laboratory. In addition, for MCHE 3450, Mechanical Engineering Lab, he developed lectures and lab procedures for Introduction to Gas Turbines and Tensile Testing using the Benchtop Universal Testing Machine.
Hillary Tanner is a senior lecturer in the UGA College of Engineering. She was named one of 2018’s 100 Influential Women to Know in Engineering by Engineering Georgia magazine. Hillary is an active member of the Non-Tenure Track Faculty – Faculty Learning Community, is the faculty advisor for the Society of Women Engineers and is a member of the CENGR’s Agricultural Engineering Visioning Committee. Hillary is also part of the DeLTA (Department and Leadership Teams for Action)
Joachim Walther published peer-reviewed papers in Journal of Engineering Education, International Journal of Engineering Education, and Scientia. His work was also published in the proceedings of several national and international conferences including the 2018 American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Annual Conference and Exposition, Proceedings of the Society for Social Work and Research Annual Conference, and 2018 CoNECD - The Collaborative Network for Engineering
2019 Celebration of Excellence
and Computing Diversity Conference. He was named a Journal of Engineering Education Star Reviewer by ASEE. In addition, he serves as founding director of the Engineering Education Transformations Institute. Xianqiao “XQ” Wang published 14 peer-reviewed papers in leading journals such as Cerebral Cortex, Optics Letters, ACS Nano, Soft Matter, and Carbon. He also delivered eight presentations at prestigious international conferences or congresses. In addition, he was awarded the UGA College of Engineering’s 2018 Excellence in Instruction Award and one of his Ph.D. students, Mir Jalil Razavi, joined the State University of New York at Binghamton as a tenure-track Assistant Professor immediately after his graduation in May 2018.
Timothy Whitmoyer, a lecturer in the UGA College of Engineering, was a member of the committee that reviewed updates to the BSME requirements in the School of Environmental, Civil, Agricultural and Mechanical Engineering. He participated in Teaching for Equity in Engineering Education, a workshop hosted by the Engineering Education Transformations Institute. Adam Wineland joined the UGA College of Engineering in 2018 as a lecturer in the School of Environmental, Civil, Agricultural and Mechanical Engineering. He teaches multiple sections of Engineering Graphics and Design and served as an informal mentor to several students.
University of Georgia College of Engineering
Brock Woodson published six peer-reviewed papers in leading journals including Scientific Reports, Nature Communications, PLOS ONE, Annual Review of Marine Science and Journal of Physical Oceanography. He serves as an editor for CES Journal of Marine Science: journal du conseil and serves as a member of the Learning Technology Advisory Group within the UGA Center for Teaching and Learning. He also serves as a peer reviewer for several important international journals. Michael Yoder was one of 10 faculty members recognized by the UGA Student Government Association during its 2018 Professor Recognition Banquet. The event honors faculty members for their impact on instruction and their dedication to the education of UGA students within and beyond the classroom. A senior lecturer, he also serves as the faculty advisor to the UGA student chapter of ASABE.
2019 Celebration of Excellence
University of Georgia College of Engineering
Paul D. Coverdell Center n 500 D.W. Brooks Drive n Athens, Georgia 30602 n engineering.uga.edu