MABE Faculty, Staff, Students, and Alumni Honored at Awards Banquet

On April 25, the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering (MABE) held their annual awards banquet at The Foundry to honor their top students, outstanding faculty and staff, and to recognize an accomplished alumnus.

Lee Martin, a MABE alumnus and board member and Emeritus Professor of Practice in UT’s Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering, was the guest speaker during the event.

Student award winners were:

Andrew Barrett, Edith Hansen, and Micah Vranes 
Outstanding Junior Award in Aerospace Engineering (Recipients of the award had the highest GPAs in their major.)

Amelya Fox and Mary Tasket 
Outstanding Junior Award in Biomedical Engineering (Recipients of the award had the highest GPAs in their major.)

Henry Coatney, Aidan Holihan, Aidan Lay, Zachary Ross, William Stallions, and Harper Thompson 
Outstanding Junior Award in Mechanical Engineering (Recipients of the award had the highest GPAs in their major.)

Michael Fox, Even Hals, Matthew Megazzini, and Nathan Pitcher 
Outstanding Senior Award in Aerospace Engineering (Recipients of the award had the highest GPAs in their major.)

Eliza Conner, Rachel Ivy, Sarah Miller, Andrew Mixon, and Jordan Mullay 
Outstanding Senior Award in Biomedical Engineering (Recipients of the award had the highest GPAs in their major.)

Abrian Abir, Caroline Altoonian, Elijah Callender, and Anfinn Chilsen 
Outstanding Senior Award in Mechanical Engineering (Recipients of the award had the highest GPAs in their major.)

Charles “Derrick” Bailey 
Outstanding University Scholar Award in Aerospace Engineering

Joseph Brown (No photo available)
Outstanding University Scholar Award in Biomedical Engineering

Benjamin Sparkman 
Outstanding University Scholar Award in Mechanical Engineering

Charles “Derrick” Bailey 
Godbold Scholarship for Academic Excellence and Service Award

Lauren Lester (No photo available)
Outstanding Graduate Student Award in Aerospace Engineering

Azarang Asadi 
Outstanding Graduate Student Award in Biomedical Engineering

Sanjita Wasti 
Outstanding Graduate Student Award in Mechanical Engineering

Anirban Roy and Preetam Sharma
Graduate Student Service Award

Faculty and staff award winners were:

Andy Sarles 
Thomas Stewart McCorkle Family Endowed Faculty Teaching Award
Made possible by the generous endowed gift from Thomas Stewart McCorkle, who is a MABE graduate. This award is given annually to an outstanding tenured/tenure-track faculty who excels in the classroom. The selection criterion is based on student feedback and senior exit surveys.

Brett Compton 
Thomas Stewart McCorkle Family Endowed Faculty Research Award
Made possible by the generous endowed gift from Mr. Thomas Stewart McCorkle, who is a MABE graduate. This award is given annually to an outstanding tenured/tenure-track faculty member who leads an impactful and active research program.

Bradley Jared and Wei Wang 
Louis and Ann Hoffman Endowed Excellence in Research Award-Tenure Track
This award is given to a tenure-line faculty member with an active research program and has been on a positive trajectory, and both research expenditures and scholarly productivity are key metrics.

Stephanie TerMaath 
B. Ray Thompson Endowed Excellence in Research Award -Tenured
This award is given to a tenured faculty member who established a sustained research program over the years.

Xiaopeng Zhao 
MABE Outstanding Faculty Initiative & Leadership Award
This award is given to a faculty member who goes above and beyond in leadership.

Hans DeSmidt and Trevor Moeller 
J.A.M. Boulet Outstanding Faculty Service Award
This award is given to faculty/staff who go above and beyond in serving our programs.

Dustin Crouch 
MABE Translational Research & Innovation Award
This award is given to a faculty member whose research is translational and innovative.

Chad Duty 
Volunteer Spirit Award
This award is given to a faculty member who embodies the Volunteer Spirit.

Andrew Dickerson 
“The Momentum” Award
This is a new award given to a faculty member who is on a tremendous trajectory in their career. The overall criterion is to excel in all aspects of a faculty member’s duties (teaching, research, and service), and draw positive attention to our department.

Nita Drozd  
Outstanding Staff Award
This is a new award given to an outstanding staff member.

Bryan Good 
Pi Tau Sigma Excellence in Teaching Award
This award is given to the faculty member who receives the most votes on the Pi Tau Sigma survey that’s sent out each spring to juniors and seniors to vote for their favorite MABE professor.

Alumni award winner was:

Mancil Milligan 
Accomplished Alumni Award
This award honors UT alumni who have achieved great things in their profession, volunteer roles, and civic involvement.