On October 27, 2022, William States Lee College of Engineering was pleased to honor its leading research faculty during the inaugural Research Awards Ceremony. The ceremony recognizes 2021-2022 faculty for their research excellence as they forge the future of discovery and new knowledge for engineering.
The awards honors college faculty who contribute significantly to the objective of increasing research, innovation and scholarly activities. In addition to impactful, cutting edge research, the winners are congratulated on their efforts to secure funding and their mentorship of students through the discovery process.
In 2021-22 the College submitted 159 grant proposals, received 106 awards (67 new), secured nearly $14 million in funding and graduated 139 master’s and 39 Ph.D. students. College faculty have leadership or prominent roles in twelve of the seventeen UNC Charlotte designated research of areas of focus and distinction.
Newly created role of Associate Dean of Research
The recognition and awards ceremony is sponsored by Dean Robert Keynton and was developed by Dr. Brigid Mullany, Professor and the college’s first Associate Dean of Research. In this role, Mullaney will direct guide research faculty towards elevating the college’s research prominence in strategic areas.
The Award Medallion
Each winner received a commemorative coin, commissioned with the likeness of William States “Bill” Lee, III, Chairman and president of Duke Power (now Duke Energy), community and industry leader and namesake of UNC Charlotte’s College of Engineering. His commitment to education and research are celebrated with this wearable medallion, which is reserved for the annual award winners.
Congratulations to all award winners for their accomplishments and contributions.
Struck Gold Award
The candidate/team must provide details of a high impact, transformational, extramurally funded grant or contract, or worldwide award received during the last two academic years. The contribution must be widely recognized as highly meritorious and must have had a significant impact.
2022 Winner: Dr. Sukumar Kamalasadan, Professor
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Research focus: energy related research designed to devise tools to detect cyber and physical threats so as to improve grid resiliency and support critical infrastructure.
Early Career Award
Full-time faculty, including research faculty, with a minimum of three years of employment within the College of Engineering are eligible for this category. The candidates must demonstrate early research success which shows promise for future impact on their field of study.
2022 Winner: Dr. Jun Xu, Associate Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Science
Research focus: Materials and electrochemistry for vehicle battery safety, durability and multifunctionality
Senior Research Award
Full-time faculty, including research-faculty, who have been employed by the College of Engineering for five years are eligible. Candidates for this award must demonstrate a sustained record (over 10 years) of research and impact on their field of study.
2022 Winner: Dr. Badrul Chowdhury, Professor
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Research Focus: Renewable energy systems, multi-modal non-linear system vulnerability assessment, and energy storage in a smart grid environment
Special appreciation to:
Award committee:
Dr. Simon Hsiang, Dr. Sukumar Kamalasadan, Dr. Russel Keanini, Dr. Thomas Nicholas, and Dr. Srinivas Pulugurtha
Reviewers:
Dr. Aidan Browne, Dr. Simon Hsiang, Dr .Jimmie Miller, Dr. Russel Keanini, and Dr. Srinivas Pulugurtha
2022 Patent Awardees
In addition to research awards, W.S. Lee College of Engineering instituted an annual recognition of innovation by presenting plaques to new U.S. Patent awardees, commemorating their achievement.
Patent Number: 11,124,439
Patent Title—Devices, Systems, and Methods for Heterogeneous Catalytic Quenching of Hydrogen Peroxide In A Water Source
Inventor—Dr. Olya Keen
Patent Number: 11,040,896
Patent Title—Systems and Methods for Bromide Separation and Reuse
Inventor—Dr. Olya Keen, Dr. Mei Sun,and Dr.James Amburgey
Patent Number: 10,704,855
Patent Title—System and Method For Testing Firearm Operating Characteristics
Inventor—Dr. James Amburgey
Patent Number: 11,174,201
Patent Title—Carbon Storage Using Ash, Seawater, and Alkali Activator As A Non-Cement-Based Building Materials
Inventor— Dr. Shen-En Chen
Patent Number: 11,218,148
Patent Title—Diode-Clamped Solid-State Circuit Breaker without Dynamic Voltage Balancing Issues
Inventor—Dr. Madhav Manjrekar,and Dr. Ehab Shoubaki
Patent Number: 10,727,669/10,965,124
Patent Title—Apparatuses Including Power Electronics Circuitry and Related Methods of Operation
Inventor—Dr. Madhav Manjrekar, Dr. Somasundaram Essakiappan, and Dr. Ehab Shoubaki
Patent Number: 11,285,242
Patent Title—Processing and Bioactivation of a Novel Sic Medical Device
Inventor—Dr. Ahmed El-Ghannam
Patent Number: 11,292,749
Patent Title—Composite Carbide Compositions and Methods of Making the Same
Inventor—Dr. Ahmed El-Ghannam
Patent Number—10,718,597
Patent Title—Heterogeneously Stacked Multi Layered Metallic Structures With Adiabatic Shear Localization Under Uniaxial Dynamic Compression
Inventor—Dr. Qiuming Wei
Patent Number: 10,782,323
Patent Title—Wideband Contactless Magnetoresistive-Rogowski Current Sensing
Inventor—Dr. Babak Parkhideh
Patent Number: 10,965,128
Patent Title—Systems and Methods for Advanced Grid Integration of Distributed Generators and Energy Resources
Inventor—Dr. Babak Parkhideh, and
Dr. Robert Cox
Patent Number: 10,784,650
Patent Title—Light-Effect Transistor (LET)
Inventor—Dr. Yong Zhang