2024 awards honor AE students, faculty, alumni, and staff

4/29/2024 Debra Levey Larson

Written by Debra Levey Larson

The Department of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign recognizes undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, alumni, and staff with awards for their scholastic achievement and other contributions. Below is a listing of this year’s departmental awards as well as a partial listing of college, university, and external awards.

Faculty and staff awards:

Michael F. Lembeck

AIAA Teacher of the Year — Michael F. Lembeck

AE Staff Member of the Year — Heidi M. Bjerke

Dustin Burns

AE Staff Member of the Year — Dustin T. Burns

Yair Guerrero

Boeing Sustainable Aviation Pathways Scholarship — Yair N. Guerrero, Aurora, Illinois

Matt Brotnow

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics  Scholastic Achievement Award, awarded to the senior graduating with the highest GPA — Matthew W. Brotnow, West Chicago

Jeremy Huang

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics  Scholastic Achievement Award, awarded to the senior graduating with the highest GPA — Jeremy Huang, Cupertino, California

Eli Bennett

H. Everett Sutter Passion for Flying Scholarship, presented to a junior-level Aerospace Engineering student who exhibits a passion for flying — Eli M. Bennett, Brookline, Massachusetts

Vishnuh Bala

H.S. Stillwell Problem Solving Scholarship was established by a generous alumnus as a tribute to H.S. Stillwell and the role he played as a mentor to students. It is given to a junior-level or first-semester senior majoring in aerospace engineering who exhibits exemplary problem-solving skills — Vishnuh Bala, Arlington Heights, Illinois

Anna Marie Buss

H.S. Stillwell Leadership Award, presented to the undergraduate who exemplifies outstanding leadership qualities by participation in departmental extracurricular activities — Anna Marie Buss, Glen Carbon, Illinois

Josue Rugambwa Bashombe

H.S. Stillwell Memorial Scholarship – awarded to an aerospace engineering student — Josue Rugambwa Bashombe, Muanda, Kongo-Central, Democratic Republic of Congo

Nicole Orloff

Robert W. McCloy Memorial Award, presented to a junior or first-semester senior student in recognition of outstanding academic performance — Nicole Orloff, Bozeman, Montana

Morgan Scott

Lee H. Sentman Memorial Scholarship, presented to an aerospace engineering student in recognition of excellent academic performance — Morgan Scott, Greenup, Illinois

Abdulrahman Armouti,

Michael W. Miller Aerospace Engineering Innovation Award, was established to promote entrepreneurial ideas in the area of aerospace innovation — Abdulrahman Armouti, Naperville, Illinois

Junyi Cao

Roger A. Strehlow Memorial Award, presented to an undergraduate student in recognition of outstanding academic performance — Junyi Cao, Shanghai, China

Michael Haas

Robert Lee Chandler, BS ’54, and Carole Leslie Chandler Memorial Scholarship, is presented to an undergraduate student in recognition of outstanding academic performance — Michael J. Haas, Fairbury, Illinois

Arna Bhardwaj

Lawrence Bergman Undergraduate Research Award, is given in recognition for outstanding undergraduate research — Arna Bhardwaj, Reston, Virginia

Aaliyah Gaffey

Scott R. White Memorial Scholarship — Aaliyah Gaffey, Sterling, Illinois

More information is available on AE’s website about graduate awards.

Graduate student departmental awards

Vanessa Awate

Boeing Sustainable Aviation Pathways Fellowship — Vanessa Awate

Tuhin Bandopadhyay

Faculty Endowed Award — Tuhin Bandopadhyay

Tiger Hou

AE Alumni Advisory Board Fellowship, presented annually to a graduate student in recognition of outstanding research, academic performance, and research accomplishments — Tiger Hou

Christopher Young

Graduate Student Service Award, awarded to a student for service to the unit, beyond merely their academic and research responsibilities — Christopher C. Young and Aanchal Gupta

Aanchal Gupta

Graduate Student Service Award, awarded to a student for service to the unit, beyond merely their academic and research responsibilities —Aanchal Gupta

Preston A. Henne Aerodynamics Fellowship, established to fund a graduate student in the area of aerodynamics — Himavath Jois

Harry H. and Lois G. Hilton Fellowship, established to provide support for graduate students with a preference to those who study aeroelasticity — Nikhil Ashok

Bryan Cline

Kenneth Lee Herrick Memorial Award, given to an AE graduate student based on outstanding academic and research performance in the AE department — Bryan C. Cline

More information is available on AE’s website about graduate awards.

Faculty awards and recognitions

Phillip J. Ansell – AIAA Associate Fellow and The Grainger College of Engineering Rose Award for Teaching Excellence

Siegfried Eggl – honored with an asteroid named for him. “28751 Eggl” was announced at the Asteroids, Comets, Meteors Conference.

Matthew Clarke – 2024 list of Forbes 30 Under 30 – Science

Robyn Woollands – Young Investigator Program award from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research

Laura Villafañe Roca –NASA Early Stage Innovations award

Theresa Saxton-Fox – National Science Foundation CAREER award

Engineering Visionary Scholarship Recipients

Emily Grzyb
Emily Henning
Gabriela Zabiegaj
Sidney Lewensohn
Margaret Meacham
Aubrey Brown

Annalise Goodman
Carlo Alvarez
Emily Douglas
Sofia Aiquipa
Alexander Herrera
Julian Chawla

 

Engineering Visionary Scholarships are supported by the following: Rodney L. Burton Aerospace Engineering Visionary Scholarship Fund; Craig and Annette Bolt Aerospace Engineering Visionary Scholarship Fund; Class of 1977 Aerospace Engineering Visionary Scholarship Fund; Lembeck/Carmichael Aerospace Engineering Visionary Scholarship Fund; Scott R. White Aerospace Engineering Visionary Scholarship Fund; Gisinger Aerospace Engineering Visionary Scholarship Fund

External graduate awards

Allison Timm, National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship

Holly Dinkel, Amelia Earhart Fellowship

Hamza El-Kebir, Cyber-Physical Systems Rising Stars in Engineering and Health

Nitya Jagadam, Cornell University’s SmallSat Mission Design School

Graduate Teaching Assistants Ranked as Excellent by Their Students

Spring 2023
Grace Calkins
Zoey Flynn
Blaine Vollmer
Christopher Young
Wanzheng Zheng

Fall 2023
Noel C. Brindise
Nagesh Eranki
Manav Vora

Teachers Ranked as Excellent by Their Students

Spring 2023

Tim Bretl
Jason M. Merret
Joshua L. Rovey
Theresa Saxton-Fox

 

Fall 2023

Phillip J. Ansell
Daniel J. Bodony
Wayne Chang
Ioannis Chasiotis
Andres J. Goza
Jason M. Merret
Melkior Ornik
Francesco Panerai
Theresa A. Saxton-Fox
Negar Mehr
Brian S. Woodard


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This story was published April 29, 2024.