On April 22, the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) held its 15th annual Roger P. Webb Awards Program, which honors the students, staff, and faculty who have shown exceptional dedication to their professions and studies.

Event hosts were Keefe Bohannan (BEE ’95), applications engineering district manager for Keysight Technologies, and Leslie Sibert, vice president for distribution at Georgia Power.

Individuals receiving awards and recognitions at other campus ceremonies were also honored at this program. ECE Outstanding GTA Award winners were also recognized; they were Motaz Alfarraj, Qiang Hu, Jacob Keilman, Victor Rodriguez Toro, Tina Setter, and Taimour Wehbe.

Below are the recipients of the 2016 Roger P. Webb Awards. Congratulations to everyone on another fantastic year!

STUDENT AWARDS

Outstanding ECE Sophomore Award

Kristine L. Scott

Eta Kappa Nu, the honor society for ECE, recognizes the sophomore electrical or computer engineering student with the highest scholastic average.

ECE Junior Scholar Award

Alexander Popescu

This award is presented to the student who has junior standing and has the highest GPA in ECE.

ECE Undergraduate Research Award                                      

Jennifer Hunter

This award recognizes an undergraduate student who has demonstrated an unusually strong aptitude for research.

Most Outstanding ECE Senior Co-op Award                           

Elisabeth Sarah Bradley

This award is presented to the ECE senior co-op student who is considered of the highest caliber by his/her co-op employer.

Outstanding Service to Georgia’s Community Award                     

Sean Rodrigues

Investing time in community activities can have significant rewards for Georgia Tech in the future, and this award recognizes students who participate in and organize such activities and helps to motivate other students to do the same.

ECE Faculty Award                                                                        

Matthew Arceri

This award is given to the electrical or computer engineering student who, in the opinion of the ECE faculty, has done the most to improve the educational environment within ECE or Georgia Tech and has contributed significantly to both student welfare and student-faculty interactions.

Outstanding Electrical Engineering Senior Award               

Alan Dong

Eta Kappa Nu, the honor society for ECE, recognizes the senior electrical engineering student who has a very high scholastic average and who plays an active role in extracurricular activities.

Outstanding Computer Engineering Senior Award   

Ratchapong Tangkijvorakul

Eta Kappa Nu, the honor society for ECE, recognizes the senior computer engineering student who has a very high scholastic average and who plays an active role in extracurricular activities. 

ECE Senior Scholar Award                                                         

Steven Burg, Enmao Diao, Aditya Garg, William Gauspohl, Joseph Guinta, Richard Liou, Shai Messingher, Chryssia Natalia, Thanh-Phong Nguyen, Marius Petrut, Colin Sanders, Wesley Smith, Lee Thompson, Jonathan Tuck, Hanbin Ying     

These awards are given to the electrical or computer engineering seniors with the highest academic average.

Colonel Oscar P. Cleaver Awards                                                         

Siddharth J. Varughese (Fall 2015), Andrew McRae (Spring 2016)

These awards are made to the outstanding graduate students in ECE, as determined by scores made on the doctoral preliminary examinations during 2015-16.

ECE Graduate Teaching Assistant Excellence Award                     

Westin Williams

Teaching undergraduates is one of ECE’s most important missions, and this award recognizes excellence in this area. Teaching assistants are necessary to ensure that every student has the opportunity for personal attention during their course of study.

ECE Graduate Research Assistant Excellence Award                    

Song Hu, Nelson Lourenco

Research is the cornerstone to ECE’s success. Nurturing bright and hardworking graduate research assistants (GRAs) are among the most important factors in ensuring that ECE remains a leader in the research community. These awards will be given to the GRAs who have demonstrated particular excellence in performing their duties.

STAFF AWARDS

Hats Off Performance Award                                                    

Joi Adams, Angela Elleby

These awards recognize the classified staff members who have demonstrated exceptional job performance and/or service to ECE above and beyond the call of duty.

Research Spotlight Award                                                                      

Yuguo Tao

This award is presented to a researcher who has made a significant contribution to the research efforts in ECE.

Academic Spotlight Award                                                                     

Joyelle Harris 

This award is presented to the researcher, classified employee, or general faculty member who has made a significant contribution to the ECE teaching or academic program. 

FACULTY AWARDS

Outstanding Junior Faculty Member Award                                       

Muhannad Bakir

This award recognizes the most outstanding assistant professors and/or associate professors in ECE with less than 10 years since their initial faculty appointment.

ECE Outreach Award                                                                                

Patricio Vela

This award is presented to a faculty member for leadership and/or significant participation in outreach activities to interest and involve K-12 students in engineering, to increase participation of women and underrepresented minorities in engineering, and/or to recruit such students to the School of ECE. 

Richard M. Bass/Eta Kappa Nu Outstanding Teacher Award        

Alenka Zajic

W. Marshall Leach, Jr./Eta Kappa Nu Outstanding Teacher Award         

John Cressler

The Eta Kappa Nu teaching awards are presented to the most outstanding classroom instructors–one junior faculty member and one senior faculty member–as determined by the ECE senior class.

D. Scott Wills ECE Distinguished Mentor Award                               

Andrew Peterson

This award is presented to a faculty member whose mentoring of junior faculty–in connection with teaching or research activities over an extended period of time–is judged to be outstanding.

Distinguished Faculty Achievement Award                           

Raghupathy Sivakumar

This award is presented to the senior faculty member who has made significant contributions throughout his/her career.