Awards and Innovations

Awards and Innovations by Year

A summary of recent awards, innovations and other accomplishments from the UB MAE community.

  • PhD student Grant Hecht was named one of 33 SUNY students selected to receive a 2023 SUNY Graduate Research Empowering and Accelerating Talent (GREAT) Award.
  • Kemper Lewis, professor and dean of the University at Buffalo School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, was elected to the board of directors of TechBuffalo.
  • Sangwoo Shin, assistant professor, earned an NSF CAREER Award to further the understanding of cell movement. The findings could provide insight into how wounds heal, pathogens are transmitted and cancer spreads. 
  • Haley Parker, an aerospace engineering major, was selected as the student speaker for the Class of 2023 School of Engineering and Applied Sciences Undergraduate Ceremony.
  • Alum Marcus Yam, a Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer and foreign correspondent for the Los Angeles Times, was awarded the Chancellor Charles P. Norton Medal on May 20 at the first of the two SEAS graduate commencement ceremonies.
  • Associate Professor David Salac received a 2022-23 Faculty-Staff Distinction in Academic Integrity Award from the UB Office of Academic Integrity.
  • Mechanical engineering student Dominic LaVigne took second place in the University at Buffalo’s Henry A. Panasci Jr. Technology Entrepreneurship Competition (Panasci TEC). LaVigne and his partner, School of Management student Daniel Chan, will receive $10,000 for their company Exergi.
  • Professor Deborah D.L. Chung was named a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
  • Jennifer Stamm, assistant professor of teaching, was announced as the recipient of the 2022 Vanderhoef Faculty Award, which is given to a faculty member in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering who takes the extra effort to coach, mentor, and provide support for students.   
  • Assistant Professor of Teaching Brad Darrall received the Best Teaching Faculty of the Year Award for 2022 from the UB School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
  • Assistant Professor Eleonora Botta received the Early Career Teacher of the Year Award for 2022 from the UB School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
  • Kemper Lewis, dean of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, recieved RCR's 2022 Most Cited Paper Award and 2022 Most Downloaded Paper Award for his paper “Blockchain for the future of sustainable supply chain management in Industry 4.0,”.
  • Associate Professor Mostafa Nouh has been named a recipient for the 2022-23 President Emeritus and Mrs. Meyerson Award for Distinguished Undergraduate Teaching and Mentoring.
  • Michael J. Cadigan, BS ’79 mechanical engineering, was formally recognized at the 2023 Pledge to Professional ceremony for being named the 2022 Engineer of the Year from the UB Engineering and Applied Sciences Alumni Association.

  • Ethan Fort, a junior mechanical engineering major, won the Robert W. Young Award for Undergraduate Student Research in Acoustics.
  • Associate Professor Matthew Ringuette has been named an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
  • Elektra Ismael, a PhD student in aerospace engineering, received the SMART scholarship from the U.S. Department of Defense.
  • Professor Tarun Singh received the 2022 Award for Outstanding Contributions to International Education at UB from the university’s Council on International Studies and Programs.
  • Professor Shenqiang Ren received the 2022 UB Exceptional Scholar: Sustained Achievement Award, which honors outstanding professional achievement that has been focused on a particular body of work over a number of years.
  • Two MAE alumni—Dr. Sean Garrick and Dr. Joseph Kolly—have been selected to receive the department’s inaugural alumni awards.
  • Associate Professor James Chen has been named a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers
  • Anoop Kiran is the third UB aerospace engineering student to be named as a 20 Twenties by Aviation Week.
  • Mechanical and aerospace students Xiang Xi, Achira Boonrath, Anoop Kiran and Max Magee have been recognized, among others, for exemplary student research.  
  • John Crassidis, SUNY Distinguished Professor and Samuel P. Capen Chair Professor, has been named the second Moog Professor of Innovation.
  • A team of undergraduate mechanical and aerospace students mentored by Aaron Estes received the Stan Powell Memorial Award for Most Meaningful Lessons Learned at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Design/Build/Fly competition.
  • Assistant Professor Danial Faghihi received a National Science Foundation CAREER award to design superinsulation materials systems for use in buildings via data-driven predictive computational tool.
  • Derek Bourabah, a PhD student in aerospace engineering, won the best student paper award at the Third International Academy of Astronautics Conference on Space Situational Awareness.
  • A team of undergraduate mechanical and aerospace students mentored by Associate Professor Javid Bayandor, took first place in 2022 American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Regional Student Conference.
  • Professor Deborah D.L. Chung presented the inaugural Millie Dresselhaus Memorial Lecture at MIT.
  • John Crassidis, Samuel P. Capen Chair Professor and SUNY Distinguished Professor, was inducted into Niagara Frontier Aviation and Space Hall of Fame.
  • Alumnus Marcus Yam, BS ’06 aerospace engineering, a Los Angeles Times roving foreign correspondent and photojournalist, has won the Pulitzer Prize for breaking news photography. 
  • Several MAE students were recognized at UB's Celebration of Academic Excellence, including: Anoop Kiran, Grant Hecht, Chi Nnoka, Achira Boonrath, Safiya Dodoo, and Cailean Woods.
  • Assistant Professor Craig Snoeyink received an Early Career Teacher of the Year Award for 2021 from the UB School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
  • Brad Darrall, assistant professor of teaching, received the 2021 Vanderhoef Faculty Award, which is given to a faculty member in MAE who takes the extra effort to coach, mentor, and provide support for students.  
  • Danial Faghihi, assistant professor, received the prestigious NSF CAREER award. Title: “CAREER: Reliable Superinsulated Building Envelopes via Predictive Multiphysics Modeling” ($595,593).
  • Alumnus Dexter Johnson, NASA Technical Fellow for Loads and Dynamics, was named Engineer of the Year by the UB Engineering and Applied Sciences Alumni Association in recognition of his numerous contributions to the aerospace field and dedication to supporting others.
  • The Stanford University ranking named Professor Deborah D.L. Chung as No. 1 in the world in the Building and Construction field.