Walter Scott, Jr. College of Engineering

Faculty Awards

 

FACULTY NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL AWARDS

 

National Awards (as of June 12, 2020)

Assistant Professor Aditi Bhaskar has been elected to the board of directors for the Consortium of Universities for the Advancement of Hydrologic Science, Inc. (CUAHSI). The consortium is a research organization representing more than 130 U.S. universities and international water science-related organizations. CUAHSI receives support from the National Science Foundation to develop infrastructure and services for the advancement of water science in the United States. The board oversees all of the consortium’s activities. Bhaskar will serve a three-year term.

The National Science Foundation awarded Assistant Professor Ryan Bailey a five-year, $500,000 Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) award. This prestigious award supports early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education. Bailey is using the funding to investigate the origin of salt buildup in irrigated soil.

The American Society of Civil Engineers honored Professor Jorge Ramirez with the 2019 Arid Lands Hydraulic Engineering Award for “his exceptional wide-ranging research on arid lands hydrology and hydraulics, including analyzing the vulnerability of the U.S. water supply system to climate change,” according to an ASCE news release. The award also acknowledged his outstanding teaching and mentoring.

ASCE awarded Professor Robert Ettema the 2019 Harold R. Peyton Award for Cold Regions Engineering for his distinguished career of research, teaching, mentoring graduate students and publication. The award was presented during the CSCE-ASCE Cold Regions Engineering Conference in Quebec in August.

The United States Committee on Irrigation and Drainage recognized Associate Professor Jose Chavez with the 2019 Merriam Award for meritorious contributions to the advancement of the organization’s goals, which include fostering sustainable, socially acceptable and environmentally responsible irrigation, drainage and flood control systems and practices.

The Sustainable Water Infrastructure Management Center presented Professor Neil Grigg with the 2019 Industry Research Award at the SWIM Annual Conference in December. SWIM aims to bring together the global water industry to improve the performance, sustainability and resiliency of existing and future water infrastructure systems.

The American Society for Engineering Education awarded Teaching Assistant Professor Daniel Baker the Ferdinand P. Beer and E. Russell Johnston, Jr. Outstanding New Mechanics Educator Award for his exceptional contributions to mechanics education. ASEE is dedicated to furthering education in engineering and engineering technology.

The North American Membrane Society selected Assistant Professor Tiezheng Tong for the Young Membrane Scientist Award, one of five outstanding scientists in the field to receive the award this year. Tong uses membrane technologies to purify water that is especially challenging to transform into clean, safe water.

ASCE awarded Professor John Labadie the 2019 Best Seminal Paper Award for his paper, “Optimal Operation of the Multireservoir Systems: State-of-the-art Review,” which has been cited extensively and downloaded over 3,259 times.

Associate Professor Thomas Siller was selected as a 2019 ASCE Outstanding Reviewer, one of 10 reviewers chosen each year, based on the quality and timeliness of their reviews. ASCE journal reviewers voluntarily apply their expertise and time to ensure submitted articles are timely and worthy of inclusion.

ASCE’s Journal of Structural Engineering named a paper by research scientist Yanlin Guo and two co-authors as the 2019 Best Journal Paper in Structural Hazards, recognizing their work, “Generalized Wind Loading Chain: Time-Frequency Modeling Framework for Nonstationary Wind Effect on Structures,” as one of the top papers published in the journal.

Professor Karan Venayagamoorthy serves on the ASCE Environmental & Water Resources Institute Computational Fluid Dynamics Task Committee, which has been honored with the ASCE State of the Art of Civil Engineering Award for its book, “Computational Fluid Dynamics: Applications in Water, Wastewater, and Stormwater Treatment.”

International Awards (as of June 12, 2020)

ICE Publishing awarded Assistant Professor Joseph Scalia, and Professor and Department Head, Charles Shackelford as co-authors of the Geosynthetics International Prize for their paper, “Enhanced bentonites for containment of inorganic waste leachates by GCLs.” Ice Publishing Awards recognize exceptional work that benefits the civil engineering, construction and materials science community.  Shackelford accepted the award at the ceremony in London.