The George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing celebrated the exceptional achievements of outstanding faculty and staff during its annual Faculty and Staff Awards Ceremony on April 22 in McMurtry Auditorium.
Lisa Biswal, Senior Associate Dean of Engineering and Computing and William M. McCardell Professor in Chemical Engineering, opened the event: “Our honorees represent the heart of what we do here—which is developing solutions that solve for greater good.”
Jane Grande-Allen, Associate Dean for Faculty Development and Isabel C. Cameron Professor of Bioengineering, led the presentation of awards. She emphasized the importance of recognizing the people who drive the school’s mission: “We move fast, we think big, and we innovate constantly—but because so much is always happening, we don’t always pause to recognize the incredible impact our people are making. Today is that pause.”
Faculty Awards:
Outstanding Faculty Research Award: Qilin Li, Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
This award is for the faculty member who most contributed to highly impactful publications or publicly available software, based on research conducted at Rice and published/developed during the last five years. Li is recognized for her visionary use of technological innovations and computational system analysis in water treatment to achieve greater societal impact.
Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Advisor Award: Todd Treangen, Associate Professor, Computer Science
This award recognizes the achievements of a faculty member’s doctoral students who completed all degree requirements during the last four years. Treangan is recognized for his excellent mentorship of the PhD students in his lab, with their education and advancement forming the core of his research enterprise.
Teaching & Research Excellence by Tenured Faculty Award: Leonardo Dueñas-Osorio, Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering
This award is given annually to tenured faculty members who demonstrate excellence in both teaching and research. Dueñas-Osorio is recognized for his remarkable commitment and leadership in teaching, research and service within the department, research community and student experience.
Teaching & Research Excellence by Tenure Track Faculty Award: Kevin McHugh, Assistant Professor, Bioengineering
This award is given annually to tenure-track faculty members who demonstrate excellence in both teaching and research. McHugh is recognized for going above and beyond his teaching and mentoring responsibilities to support the school and department, as well as his research excellence and impact.
Roy E. Campbell Faculty Development Award: Raudel Avila, Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
This award provides junior, tenure-track engineering faculty members with $10,000 per year for three consecutive years to assist the faculty member in research efforts and development efforts. Avila has excelled in the first phase of his faculty career, and this award will support his developing collaborations.
Award for Excellence in Teaching in the School of Engineering and Computing: Sabia Abidi, Assistant Teaching Professor, Director of Bioengineering Undergraduate Studies
This award recognizes continued excellence in teaching and exemplary commitment to the education of undergraduate or graduate students within the School of Engineering and Computing. Abidi is recognized for her stellar work as an educator and her service on multiple committees in the department related to undergraduate education.
Curriculum Innovation Award: Arko Barman, Assistant Teaching Professor, Data To Knowledge Lab (D2K)
This award recognizes a faculty member who is improving the quality of education at Rice University through pedagogical and curricular innovation. Barman is recognized for contributions he has made in enhancing data science courses at Rice, particularly in D2K.
Outstanding Young Faculty Research Award: Daniel Preston, Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
This award recognizes outstanding research achievements, as evidenced by publications, program development results, software, and other research contributions, and is given to a faculty member ranked no higher than assistant professor or assistant research professor. Preston is recognized for his research achievements, including three startups launched by his lab and a “necrobotics” paper that was highlighted on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and received an Ig Nobel Prize.
Apprentice Award: Outstanding Postdoctoral Research Award: Atin Pramanik, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Materials Science and NanoEngineering
This award recognizes a postdoctoral researcher currently at Rice who has significantly contributed to a research program through highly impactful publications, proposal writing, or other endeavors at Rice University. Pramanik is recognized for his exploration of materials for energy storage, participation in battery-recycling projects and industry collaboration.
Staff Awards:
Hardy M. Bourland Award for Distinguished Service: Jessica Lee, Academic Administrator, Materials Science and NanoEngineering, and Amy Tang, Director Of Research Administration, School of Engineering and Computing
This award recognizes two staff members (one exempt and one non-exempt) in the School of Engineering and Computing whose performance is consistently outstanding or whose contributions have significantly improved the school as a whole. Lee is recognized for her unwavering dedication, exceptional organizational acumen, and steadfast commitment to excellence. Tang is recognized for her resourceful problem-solving and commitment to the success of the School of Engineering and Computing.
Rising Star Award: Aishani Saha, Research Specialist, Genetic Design and Engineering Center
This award recognizes a staff member who has created or utilized an opportunity to grow and develop in their role and as a result, has made important contributions to their unit. It is given to individuals beginning their career at Rice within the past three years. Saha has demonstrated extraordinary initiative and become one of the most productive researchers in the Bioengineering program and the BRC.
In addition to these School of Engineering and Computing awards, Grande-Allen acknowledged other faculty honors received over the past year, including six faculty members who earned young investigator awards, six elections to the National Academies, 11 faculty selected as fellows of various societies, and more than 50 awards across all departments.
After the ceremony, the celebration continued with a reception in Martel Hall.