5 faculty from SEAS receive UB exceptional scholar, innovative teacher awards

Adapted from a UB Now story by Robby Johnson

Introduced in 2002, UB’s Exceptional Scholar Award recognizes faculty members for their outstanding research performance at different stages of their careers. There are two types of awards: Sustained Achievement Awards and Young Investigator Awards.  

Abani Patra, a professor in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, received the Exceptional Scholar Award for Sustained Achievement. Recipients are selected based on their body of work over a number of years. The award is not meant to serve as a lifetime achievement honor, but rather as recognition for outstanding performance in a recent segment of a scholar’s career.

Josep Jornet, assistant professor, Department of Electrical Engineering; Oliver Kennedy, assistant professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering; and Lukasz Ziarek, assistant professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, received the Exceptional Scholar Young Investigator Award. The Award is presented to untenured faculty members who finished their terminal degree within the past eight years. The honor acknowledges awardees’ superior scholarly achievement and their position as an up-and-coming member of their field.

Dimitrios Koutsonikolas, associate professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, received the Teaching Innovation Award. Established in 2003, the Award is given to faculty members who have used new methods and approaches to teaching that have had a demonstrable effect on enhancing student-learning outcomes, including innovative uses of educational technology. All UB faculty members are eligible for the award.

The recipients will be honored at the annual Celebration of Faculty and Staff Excellence, to be held on Nov. 1.