Faculty and Staff Recognition
MechSE Alumni Effective Teaching Awards
Brian Mercer
Lecturer
Two-Year Alumni
Effective Teaching Award
Nick Glumac
Shao Lee Soo Professor
Five-Year Alumni
Effective Teaching Award
Kyle Smith
Associate Professor
Five-Year Alumni
Effective Teaching Award
For more than 50 years, the MechSE Alumni Board has sponsored two Alumni Effective Teaching Awards. The awards were established so that alumni two and five years into their professional careers have the opportunity to honor faculty whose teaching they now perceive as having had the greatest impact on their careers. Our former students vote to recognize truly outstanding teaching in the department - this year, the classes of 2021 and 2024.
MechSE Staff Award for Exemplary Service
Haruka Brown
Director of Research Administration
Sarah Power
Assistant Director of Business and Finance
Amy Rumsey
Administrative Aide
Robbie Vermillion
Office Manager, Undergraduate Programs
This honor is given annually to staff members for their contributions to the department and their outstanding service to faculty, students, and colleagues. Nominations are solicited and submitted by MechSE faculty, staff and students.
All of the nominees this year included:
- Rachel Berry
- Missy Biehl
- Kirk Branch
- Haruka Brown
- Shea Brunson
- Mindy Calcagno
- Kyle Cheek
- Joe Maduzia
- Julia Park
- Kaley Poll
- Sarah Power
- Amy Rumsey
- Gary Sedberry
- Rebecca Seymour
- Tammy Smith
- Robbie Vermillion
- Jaimee Wilson
- Kyle Wilcoxon
- Alyssa Wood
- Taylor Young
Additional Faculty Recognitions 2025-2026
List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent, Summer 2025
- Ke Tang
List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent, Spring 2025
- Leonardo Chamorro
- Elif Ertekin
- Randy Ewoldt
- Jie Feng
- Tom Golecki
- Jiajun He
- Shelby Hutchens
- Katie Matlack
- Brian Mercer
- Nenad Miljkovic
- Taher Saif
- Kyle Smith
- Petros Sofronis
- Ke Tang
- Kevin Wise
- L. Winston Zhang
Lili Cai
- Illinois Innovation Voucher award from the Illinois Science & Technology Coalition and the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity
Randy Ewoldt
- Elected Fellow of American Society of Mechanical Engineers
Jiajun He
- First Prize in Microtrac Scientific Challenge
Naira Hovakimyan
- Elected Fellow of the International Federation of Automatic Control
- Selected to the IEEE Control Systems Society’s Distinguished Lecturer Program
Elizabeth Hsiao-Wecksler
- Selected to the U of I Faculty Entrepreneurial Leadership Program
Shelby Hutchens
- Selected to the U of I Faculty Entrepreneurial Leadership Program
Mariana Kersh
- Four awards from the Carle Illinois College of Medicine: Golden Apple Award, Excellence in Innovation in Education Award, Excellence in Innovation Award, Physician-Innovator Team Award
Katie Matlack
- Named Deputy Editor, Wave Motion
Nenad Miljkovic
- Grainger College of Engineering Excellence in Translational Research Award
- Elected as Senior Member of IEEE
Ranveer Singh
- Outstanding Reviewer Award, Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter
Kyle Smith
- Selected to the U of I Faculty Entrepreneurial Leadership Program
- Grainger College of Engineering Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research
- Finalist in the XPRIZE Water Scarcity Competition
Janelle Wharry
- Elected to Board of Directors of the The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society
Kevin Wise
- Selected to the IEEE Control Systems Society’s Distinguished Lecturer Program