3/27/2023 Julia Park 6 min read
Written by Julia Park
Each spring, MechSE students are recognized for their outstanding leadership, academic achievements, and character. The following graduate students are the recipients of the 2022-23 departmental awards and were honored on Friday at the awards ceremony and banquet.
Heng-Sheng Chang | Robert E. Miller Award for Teaching
This award was established to honor the career of Professor Robert E. Miller. Professor Emeritus Robert E. Miller earned three degrees from the College of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: a BS in aeronautical engineering (1954), and an MS (1955) and PhD (1959) in theoretical and applied mechanics. He joined the TAM faculty in 1959, and for thirty-five years he inspired generations of students through his superb teaching skills, devotion to his students, and service to his discipline. Professor Miller has been recognized for his contributions with the ASEE Mechanics Division Distinguished Educator Award, and the University of Illinois College of Engineering's Everitt Award and Advising Award. In 2000, he received the TAM Distinguished Alumni Award.
Shyuan (Jeffrey) Cheng | James O. Smith Memorial Award (Outstanding TA in TAM)
The family of James O. Smith initiated this fund soon after Professor Smith’s death in 1970. The award recognizes graduate students in the Theoretical and Applied Mechanics program who are determined to be the most effective teaching assistants.
Cheng is a PhD candidate working under Professor Leo Chamorro. His research and teaching is focused on experimental fluid mechanic, using laser diagnostics to study wind energy and fluid-solid interaction problems under turbulence effect.
Bashar Emon | Michael A. and E. Ann Sutton Graduate Student Award
The Michael A. and Elizabeth Ann Sutton Graduate Student Award is given to an outstanding graduate student in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, with preference given to research in solid mechanics or experimental solid mechanics. Dr. Michael A. Sutton established this award to honor the profound impact that the outstanding faculty in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics had on his professional career.
Emon is a PhD candidate in TAM. He earned his B.Sc. in civil engineering in 2012 and M.Sc. in structural engineering in 2014 from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET). He works with Professor Taher Saif to investigate the role of cellular force dynamics in regulating cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions that lead to metastasis in cancer. As a graduate student, Bashar also received the Beckman Institute Graduate Fellowship, CCIL TiME Traineeship (NIH T32), and MAVIS Future Faculty Fellowship.
Muhammad Haider | David Hinde Memorial Award
The David Hinde Memorial Award honors the memory of David Hinde, an alumnus of the department and former Research and Development Director of Hillphoenix. It is presented to a MechSE graduate student with a research interest in natural refrigerant technology.
Haider is a PhD candidate in MechSE working with Professor Stefan Elbel. His research is focused on developing robust and computationally efficient component and system models for advanced vapor compression systems. He initially worked on the CO2 ejector system, and proposed performance map for predicting fixed-geometry ejector performance across a wide range of operating conditions. Currently, he is investigating how the fractionation in low-GWP refrigerant blends can influence the system performance in the ejector systems. He is passionate about developing solutions that can help in realizing a sustainable future.
Liu Hong | Hassan Aref Memorial Award for Theoretical and Applied Mechanics
The Hassan Aref Memorial Award for Theoretical and Applied Mechanics is awarded to a select TAM graduate student of good academic standing with a research interest, preferably, in fluid mechanics.
Hong is a graduate student in the Renewable Energy & Turbulent Environment Group, focusing on developing efficient and practical 3D particle tracking and flow measurement methods from meter scale to micrometer scale. His accomplishments include 3D ray tracing simulation for complex lens and array of lens, robust calibration method for adaptive light field camera, precisely calibrated camera cage system, and parallelized real-time particle reconstruction. Liu developed a powerful tool for researchers to track 3D particles in microchannel nearly-instantaneously, which will contribute to understanding small scale particle motions, flow field and behaviors of microorganism.
Amir Ostadi Moghaddam | Outstanding Thesis Award (ME)
The Stanley I. Weiss Outstanding Thesis Award recognizes an ME student for an outstanding related MS or PhD thesis.
Ostadi Moghaddam received his BS and MS in mechanical engineering from Ferdowsi University of Mashhad (2013) and University of Tehran (2016), respectively. His PhD studies (2022) involved probing the biophysical properties of soft tissues, such as microstructure and mechanical properties, with application to the cervix and preterm birth. He is a postdoctoral fellow at the Beckman Institute, where he is using in-vivo characterization techniques and computational modeling to study collagenous tissue microenvironments.
Chongan Wang | Stanley I. Weiss Outstanding Thesis Award (TAM)
The Stanley I. Weiss Outstanding Thesis Award recognizes a TAM student for an
outstanding related MS or PhD thesis.
Wang joined UIUC in 2018 and graduated in 2022 with a PhD degree in TAM under the supervision of Professor Alex Vakakis and Professor Sam Tawfick. His PhD research mainly focuses on the non-reciprocity of nonlinear vibrations and acoustics. After graduating from UIUC, he went to UCSD as a postdoctoral associate, pursuing research on transition wave propagation in multi-stable lattices. Wang’s research advances the theoretical understanding and the design of manipulating nonlinear wave propagation with potential applications in targeted energy transfer, energy absorption/isolation, deformable structures etc.
Kai Zhou | Outstanding Teaching Assistant in Mechanical Engineering
This award is given to the mechanical engineering student whose teaching assistant service has been exemplary. Students are chosen to receive this award because of their initiative, reliability, commitment to the students, and their overall contribution to the teaching mission.
Zhou is a PhD candidate working for Professor Lili Cai. He focuses on renewable energy and its applications, including passive radiative cooling. He obtained a BS (2018) from the University of Science & Technology of China and an MS (2020) from Illinois. He enjoys teaching, swimming, and fitness exercises.
Additionally, Alumni Teaching Fellowships are awarded to MechSE students who have passed the doctoral qualifying exam and expressed an interest in a career in academia. Their selection is based on academic records, teaching ability, and potential for success in academia. During the past three semesters, MechSE had 10 Alumni Teaching Fellows who served as the principal instructor for one section of a required undergraduate course during this academic year. This year’s Alumni Teaching Fellows are:
- Christopher Askland
- Charul Chadha
- Heng-Sheng Chang
- Darioush Keivan Esfahani
- Jaekwang Kim
- Shahriar Muhammad Nahid
- Guillermo J. Colin Navarro Betsy Smith
- Wenbin Wan
- Joshua Whitman