Meet the 2007 Recipients

Information Science

The team that won the top prize in the Information Science category developed a technology called Markerless Motion Capture, which is a way to analyze and express human motion in mathematical terms. This model marks an advancement from previous human motion capture methods, which use passive markers that are attached to different body parts of the subject and are therefore intrusive in nature. It has important applications in different areas such as biomechanics, surveillance, computer animation and human-computer interaction.

The team included Clark School Professor Rama Chellappa (above), electrical and computer engineering, and graduate student Aravind Sundaresan.

Physical Science

Fire protection engineering Chair and Professor Marino di Marzo and Professor Amr Baz, mechanical engineering, were runners-up in the physical science category for their work, “Integrating Sensor Monitoring the Allowable Heat Exposure Time for Firefighters.”

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Meet the 2008 Recipients

Physical Science

The Physical Science Invention of the Year went to mechanical engineering professors Jaydev Desai and S. K. Gupta along with University of Maryland School of Medicine professors Marc Simard and Rao Gullapalli. Clark School graduate students Nicholas Pappafotis and Wojciech Bejgerowski were also recognized. The group's invention is a robot that can assist surgeons operating on brain tumors.

Life Science

The Invention of the Year in the Life Sciences went to Prof. Peter Kofinas and graduate student Daniel Janiak in the Fischell Department of Bioengineering. Their invention is a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) capable of filtering viruses from the blood.

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Meet the 2009 Recipients

Physical Science

Invention of the Year 2009 -- Physical Science In the Physical Science category, Martin Peckerar (professor of electrical and computer engineering [ECE]) and Neil Goldsman (professor of ECE and the Institute for Systems Research [ISR]), won for their "World's Highest Energy Density Thin-Film Battery." The battery will make possible a number of stronger, smaller products, including wireless sensor networks, active RFID, wearable electronics and medical devices. Yves Ngu, Zeynep Dilli and George Metze from the National Security Agency also worked on this project.

Life Science

Invention of the Year 2009 -- Life ScienceIn the Life Science category, Matt Dowling (a graduate student in the Fischell Department of Bioengineering) and Srini Raghavan (chemical and biomolecular engineering associate professor) were honored for their "nano-velcro" chitosan-based bandage, which could significantly reduce mortality rates among cases with uncontrollable bleeding. The researchers collaborated with Dr. John Hess and Dr. Grant Bochicchio from the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Information Science

Invention 2009In the Information Science category, John Baras (professor of ECE and ISR) was recognized for his work with the Army Research Laboratory on a key exchange system to secure Internet transactions. His invention is of interest for national defense systems, major banking companies, and other industries where secrecy is of great importance.

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The President's Medal

This award is the highest bestowed by the university and recognizes a member of the College Park community who has made extraordinary contributions to the social, intellectual and cultural life of the campus. William Fourney, professor of mechanical engineering and associate dean, received the President's Medal from campus president C.D. Mote, Jr. in 2006.

Kirwan Undergraduate Education Award

Former University of Maryland President William E. Kirwan and Patricia H. Kirwan have established a fund to support the university-wide Kirwan Undergraduate Education Award. The award recognizes recognizes faculty or staff who have made exceptional contributions to the quality of undergraduate education at the University. Professor Jim Wallace, mechanical engineering, is the 2006 recipient of this award.

Kirwan Research and Scholarship Prize

Former University of Maryland President William E. Kirwan and Patricia H. Kirwan have established a fund to support the university-wide Kirwan Faculty Research and Scholarship Prize. The Prize recognizes a faculty member for a highly significant work of research, scholarship, or artistic creativity completed within the last three years. It can be awarded for a publication, an invention, a performance, or any other activity within the faculty member's academic discipline. Professor Ashwani K. Gupta (mechanical engineering) received the prize in 2003. Professor Anthony Ephremides won this award for the 2001-2002 academic year.

The President's Distinguished Service Award

This award recognizes exceptional performance, leadership, and service by a member of the university staff. Recipients of this award have a record of exemplary performance and distinctive contributions to the operation of an administrative, academic, research, or service unit on campus. They have clearly demonstrated initiative toward the improvement of university programs or campus activities and have shown commitment to the campus community as a whole. In the fall of 2001, Maureen Meyer, assistant dean for finance and personnel, received the award for her hard work, dedication, loyalty and profound contributions to the university over the years.

This award was instituted by the Clark School to recognize exceptionally influential research accomplishments by its faculty.

Meet Our 2012 Recipient

Peter Kofinas, professor in the Fischell Department of Bioengineering and associate dean for faculty affairs and graduate programs focuses on the synthesis, characterization and processing of novel polymer-based nanostructured systems that have a variety of uses across medicine, energy storage and microelectronics. Presently, he focuses on novel blood coagulation-inducing polymer hydrogels, sensors for the detection of chemical and biological threats, nanocomposites for flexible antennae and design of shape-conforming nanostructured polymeric battery energy storage systems.

After 15 years at the Clark School, Kofinas and his students have published 57 peer-reviewed publications, which have been cited 966 times, with a steep climb in citations over the past 5 years. He has filed nine patent applications, speaks extensively at other academic institutions and serves annually on review panels for several federal agencies.

Kofinas has earned more than $11 million in federal research grants. He is a CAREER Award winner and a two-time recipient of the UMD Outstanding Invention award. He is a Keystone Professor and received the Clark School’s Junior Faculty Outstanding Teaching Award in 1999.

Past Recipients

• 2012: Peter Kofinas, Bioengineering
• 2011: Michael Zacharia, Mechanical Engineering and Chemistry
• 2010: Allen Davis,  Civil and Environmental Engineering
• 2009: Michael Pecht, Mechanical Engineering and Center for Advanced Life Cycle Engineering
• 2008: K. J. Ray Liu, Electrical and Computer Engineering
• 2007: Rama Chellappa, Electrical and Computer Engineering
• 2006: Ashwani Gupta, Mechanical Engineering
• 2005: Edward Ott, Electrical and Computer Engineering
• 2004: Thomas Antonsen, Electrical and Computer Engineering
• 2003:  William Bentley, Bioengineering
• 2002: Inderjit Chopra, Aerospace Engineering
• 2001: Ramamoorthy Ramesh, Materials Science and Engineering

This award was instituted in 2010 by the Clark School to recognize exceptionally influential research accomplishments by its junior faculty.

Meet Our 2012 Recipient

Associate Professor Silvia Muro, the only molecular and cell biologist in the Fischell Department of Bioengineering, has established herself as an innovator in the field of targeted therapeutic and drug delivery, particularly for the treatment of rare lysosomal diseases such as Fabry, Pompe, and Niemann-Pick. Muro and her group members have won numerous grants and awards for their work, including a $1.72 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) R01 grant to develop new treatments for genetic diseases affecting lungs and brain; the Controlled Release Society's
2011 Outstanding Consumer and Diversified Products Paper Award for the design of safe, efficient and noninvasive strategies to transport drugs across the blood/brain barrier; and the 2010 University of Maryland Life Sciences Invention of the Year award and first place in the 2012 Professor Venture Fair for the development of a novel drug delivery strategy that uses targeted carriers capable of crossing the gastrointestinal epithelium via natural vesicular transport mechanisms. She has published close to 50 high quality manuscripts in top-tier journals. The members of her research group have also received numerous accolades, including best paper and best poster awards, graduate research awards, and articles featured on the covers of high-impact publications. Prior to joining the Clark School and the Institute for Bioscience & Biotechnology Research (IBBR), Muro's efforts to understand diseases such as propionic acidemia, a life-threatening metabolic disorder affecting newborns, led to the world’s first genetic pre-natal diagnosis and multiple awards from the European and Spanish Societies for the Study of Inborn Errors of Metabolism.

Past Recipients

• 2012: Silvia Muro, Bioengineering
• 2011: John Cumings, Materials Science and Engineering
• 2010: Thomas Murphy,  Electrical and Computer Engineering

This award is given to a faculty member whose service to his or her department, to the Clark School, and to the university has been judged outstanding.

Meet Our 2012 Recipient

Dr. K.J. Ray Liu, Christine Kim Eminent Professor in Information Technology and Associate Chair in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, was the recipient of the 2012 Faculty Service Award.

Dr. Liu was instrumental in revamping the Clark School’s Master’s inTelecommunications Program as ECE’s associate chair of graduate studies and research. He also revised the department’s graduate program to increase the size and number of Ph.D. students to rank among the largest and highest quality in the country, while leading curriculum reform at both the graduate and undergraduate level to enhance quality.

Meanwhile, Dr. Liu led by example with his research and service contributions in the field of signal processing. He is a world-renowned speaker and scholar, has been recognized as an ISI Highly Cited Researcher and serves as editor-in-chief of IEEE’s Signal Processing Magazine. Amidst all of this great work, he also has advised numerous graduate students who have gone on to tenured faculty positions across the nation.

Previous Recipients

• 2011: Dimitrios Goulias, Civil and Environmental Engineering
• 2010: Norman Wereley, Aerospace Engineering
• 2009: Alison Flatau, Aerospace Engineering
• 2008: Richard McCuen, Civil and Environmental Engineering  
• 2007: Nam Sun Wang, Biomolecular Engineering
• 2006: James Milke, Fire Protection Engineering
• 2005: Deborah J. Goodings, Civil and Environmental Engineering
• 2004: William Fourney, Aerospace Engineering
• 2003: Linda Schmidt, Mechanical Engineering
• 2002: David Holloway,  Mechanical Engineering
• 2001: Jose Torero, Fire Protection Engineering
• 2000: Andre L. Tits, Electrical and Computer Engineering
• 1999: Chung Y. Tsui, Mechanical Engineering
• 1998: Theodore G. Smith, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
• 1997: William L. Fourney, Aerospace Engineering
• 1996: David I. Bigio, Mechanical Engineering

This award is given to a senior faculty member for excellence in teaching. Prior to 2000, the Poole and Kent Teaching Award for Senior Faculty was known as the Outstanding Teaching Award for Senior Faculty.

Meet Our 2012 Recipient

Professor Christopher Davis has served in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering for 37 years. An expert in optics, he introduced a new core graduate course in optical communication systems, which has become one of the most popular in the program. A Keystone professor, he also teaches a capstone design course in optical design, a unique opportunity at the undergraduate level. He will be re-introducing a 100-level honors class called “The Light Fantastic: Light, Optics and Lasers.” Students appreciate his engaging teaching style, which ties concepts to real-world scenarios, like the circuit theory hidden in rock and roll music. He has an open-door office hours policy, allowing students to meet with him whenever he is in his office. Professor Davis was named a Distinguished Scholar-Teacher in 1989.

Past Recipients

2011: Rama Chellappa, Electrical and Computer Engineering
2010: Adrian Papamarcou, Electrical and Computer Engineering
2009: Kenneth Kiger and Peter Sandborn,  Mechanical Engineering  
2008: Sandra Greer,  Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
2007: Mikhail Anisimov, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
2006: M. Sherif Aggour,  Civil and Environmental Engineering  
2005:  K.J. Ray Liu,  Electrical and Computer Engineering  
2004:  Guangming Zhang,  Mechanical Engineering  
2003:  James Duncan,  Mechanical Engineering  
2002:  David Bigio,  Mechanical Engineering  
2001:  Nam Sun Wang,  Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering  
2000:  Charles Striffler,  Electrical and Computer Engineering  
1999:  William Walston,  Mechanical Engineering  
1998:  Anthony Vizzin,  Aerospace Engineering  
1997:  Richard Calabrese,  Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering  
1996:  Patrick Cunniff,  Mechanical Engineering  
1995:  John Anderson,  Aerospace Engineering  
1994:  William Destler,  Electrical and Computer Engineering  
1993:  Thomas Reagan,  Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering  
1992:  Daniel Garber,  Civil and Environmental Engineering  
1991:  James Dally,  Mechanical Engineering  
1990:  Gary Pertmer,  Nuclear Engineering  
1989:  David Holloway,  Mechanical Engineering  
1988:  Frank Munno,  Nuclear Engineering  
1987:  Isaak Mayergoyz,  Electrical and Computer Engineering  
1986:  Clifford Sayre,  Mechanical Engineering

This award is given to a staff member whose service to his or her department, to the school, and the university has been judged outstanding.

Meet Our 2012 Recipient

The recipient of the 2012 Dr. Marilyn Berman Pollans Outstanding Service Award for Staff is Ms. Heidi Sauber, director of the Engineering Co-op and Career Services Office.  As Director of Co-op and Career Services, Ms. Sauber helps Clark School students find internship opportunities, as well as full-time employment upon graduation. Thanks to the efforts of Ms. Sauber and her staff, more than 1,000 Clark School students participate in a co-op or internship each year. She has forged relationships across the University, as well as with countless corporate and governmental recruiters, to ensure that our students are able to achieve their goals and advance their careers. She takes an active role in campus-wide career fairs, Maryland Day and Visit Maryland recruitment activities. One recruiter says Ms. Sauber is the measure by which he judges all other career services directors. She is the essence of a team player.

Past Recipients

• 2011: Kathy Lopresti, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering
• 2010: Sharon Hodgson, Fire Protection Engineering
• 2009: Teresa Moore, Electrical and Computer Engineering
• 2008: Debra Densmore, Engineering Co-op and Career Services Office
• 2007: George Syrmos, Office of Advanced Engineering Education
• 2006: Eric Schurr, Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute
• 2005: Kathleen Hart, Materials Science and Engineering
• 2004: Al Santos, Civil and Environmental Engineering
• 2003: Janet Murphy, Engineering Dean's Office
• 2002: Daniel Carafelli, Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute
• 2001: Naji Hammad, Engineering Copy Center
• 2000: Nancy Swader, Electrical and Computer Engineering
• 1999: Bryan Hill, Aerospace Engineering
• 1998: Victoria Daul, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
• 1997: Rebecca Sarni, Aerospace Engineering
• 1996: Terry Chase, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
• 1995: Patricia Baker, Mechanical Engineering
• 1994: Terry Clark, Aerospace Engineering
• 1993: Maureen Meyer, Aerospace Engineering

This award is given to a junior faculty member for excellence in teaching.

Meet Our 2012 Recipient

Associate Professor Teng Li won the 2012 E. Robert Kent Outstanding Teaching Award for Junior Faculty.  The award has been given since 1986 to honor Clark School junior faculty members for excellence in teaching.

Li’s teaching philosophy – to help students “develop an inquisitive mind in seeking knowledge” - drives the way he approaches the undergraduate and graduate courses he teaches such as ENES220 Mechanics of Materials, ENME382 Engineering Materials and Manufacture, and ENME670 Continuum Mechanics.
Li has been honored not only for inspiring and motivating his students in the classroom, but also for developing educational and research collaborations through iMechanica.org, a blog he co-founded that has become the largest online community of mechanics in the world.

Past Recipients

• 2011: Pamela Abshire, Electrical and Computer Engineering
• 2010: Srini Raghavan, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
• 2009: Min Wu, Electrical and Computer Engineering
• 2008: Peter Sunderland, Fire Protection Engineering
• 2007: Thomas Murphy, Electrical and Computer Engineering
• 2006: Sheryl Ehrman, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
• 2005: Romel del Rosario Gomez, Electrical and Computer Engineering
• 2004: Elisabeth Smela, Mechanical Engineering
• 2003: Kaye Brubaker, Civil and Environmental Engineering
• 2002: Glenn Moglen, Civil and Environmental Engineering
• 2001: Eric Seagren, Civil and Environmental Engineering
• 2000: Darryll Pines, Aerospace Engineering
• 1999: Peter Kofinas*, Chemical Engineering
• 1998: Jose Torero, Fire Protection Engineering
• 1997: Robert Sanner, Aerospace Engineering
• 1996: Adrian Papamarcou, Electrical and Computer Engineering
• 1995: Nam Sun Wang, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
• 1994: James Milke, Fire Protection Engineering
• 1993: Guangming Zhang, Mechanical Engineering
• 1992: Allen Davis, Civil and Environmental Engineering
• 1991: Wesley Lawson, Electrical and Computer Engineering
• 1990: Roberto Celi, Aerospace Engineering
• 1989: Mark Lewis, Aerospace Engineering
• 1987: George Harhalakis, Mechanical Engineering
• 1986: Richard Calabrese, Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

 
* Dr. Kofinas was formerly with Materials & Nuclear Engineering.