David Bevly has been named the inaugural Bill and Lana McNair distinguished professor of mechanical engineering, where he has been a faculty member since 2001.
Saad Biaz, professor of computer science and software engineering, has been awarded a grant of $320,000 for three years from the National Science Foundation to continue his NSF and Department of Defense-funded Research Experience for Undergraduates on Smart Umanned Aerial Vehicles site at Auburn. Biaz’s REU site has been awarded more than $1.5 million from the NSF since 2003.
Bryan Chin, director of the Materials Research and Education Center and Auburn University’s Detection and Food Safety Center, has been named the Daniel F. and Josephine Breeden professor of mechanical engineering.
John Evans, interim director of the Thomas Walter Center for Technology Management, has been named to the Charles D. Miller chair of industrial and systems engineering, where he has served as a faculty member since 2001.
Joel Hayworth, formerly a research professor in civil engineering, has been appointed as an associate professor of the department’s environmental engineering group.
Pradeep Lall, director of the National Science Foundation Center for Advanced Vehicle and Extreme Environmental Electronics, has been named the John and Anne MacFarlane professor of mechanical engineering.
Jeffrey LaMondia, assistant professor of civil engineering, and civil engineering senior Nathan Moore have been selected to receive the 2015 Fred Burggraf Award from the National Academy’s Transportation Research Board. One of the highest honors presented by TRB, the international award recognizes the year’s best research paper by researchers 35 years of age or under.
Shiwen Mao, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, has been named director of the Wireless Engineering Research and Education Center in the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering. He has also been named as the Samuel Ginn professor in conjunction with the appointment.
Daniela Marghitu, professor of computer science and software engineering, has received the DO-IT Trailblazer Award from the DO-IT (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking and Technology) program at the University of Washington. The program seeks to increase the success of people with disabilities.
Christopher B. Roberts, dean of the Samuel Ginn College of Engineering, was presented the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Notre Dame’s graduate school, where he earned his master’s and doctorate in chemical engineering.
Anton Schindler, director of the Highway Research Center, has been named the Mountain Spirit professor of civil engineering.
Richard Sesek has been named the Tim Cook professor of industrial and systems engineering, where he has served as a faculty member since 2009.
Puneet Srivastava, professor of ecological engineering in the Department of Biosystems Engineering and the Butler-Cunningham Eminent Scholar on Agriculture and the Environment in the College of Agriculture, has taken the reins of the interdisciplinary Water Resources Center at Auburn.
Steve Taylor, professor and head of biosystems engineering and director of Auburn’s Center for Bioenergy and Bioproducts, has received the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers’ 2015 James R. and Karen A. Gilley Academic Leadership Award for his outstanding academic leadership and exemplary service to the professional society.
Brian Thurow, W. Allen and Martha Reed associate professor of aerospace engineering, was selected for the Konrad Dannenberg Educator of the Year Award presented by the Greater Huntsville Section of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
Jorge Valenzuela, chair of the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, has been named the Philpott-WestPoint Stevens distinguished professor.
Jin Wang, Walt and Virginia Woltosz associate professor of chemical engineering, and Anthony Skjellum, director of Auburn’s Cyber Research Center, received an award of nearly $245,000 from the NSF to build a testbed of chemical reactors and Internet of Things sensors to monitor and examine big data analytics and create improved control of complex systems in the next generation of smart plants.
