NSF career honors, a top University of Arizona distinction, a prestigious teaching award and other national recognitions are just some of the kudos earned by the faculty and staff of the University of Arizona College of Engineering in 2011-12.
 
Acknowledgement from organizations such as the National Science Foundation, American Society of Civil Engineers and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers complemented international recognition from the European Union and the Technical University of Denmark. Award recipients were recognized at a special ceremony held by the College May 7 on the UA campus.
 
At the top of the achievement list was Paul Blowers of the UA department of chemical and environmental engineering, who was named a 2012 University Distinguished Professor. This significant university distinction will be presented to Blowers in a special ceremony by the Arizona Board of Regents in December 2012.
 
The is the university's highest honor, and the fourth consecutive year it has been won by the UA College of Engineering. Eduardo Sáez, also of chemical and environmental engineering, was named distinguished professor in 2011. Mary Poulton, head of mining and geological engineering, was honored in 2010, and Jerzy Rozenblit of the department of electrical and computer engineering was inducted in 2009.
 
Blowers also received Professor of the Year 2011 honors for Arizona from the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.
 
Achievements by UA College of Engineering faculty and staff in the last year also include:
 
Guzin Bayraksan of the systems and industrial engineering department and Achintya Haldar of the department of civil engineering and engineering mechanics, who both received a career award from NSF.
 
Bayaraksan also received the Five Star Teaching Award from the UA Honors College, and was promoted to associate professor. She was also recognized by the college with a Student Interface -- Most Supportive Junior Faculty award.

UA Engineering faculty and staff receiving kudos for 2011-12 include (from left) Mike Arnold, Guzin Bayraksan, Dean Jeff Goldberg, and Young-Jun Son.
 
Photo by Pete Brown/UA College of Engineering
 
Haldar received accolades as Outstanding Fellow Award 2011, Engineering Educator of the Year 2011 and Distinguished Member of ASCE. He also received the Excellent Contributions Award 2011 from the International Association for Computer Methods and Advances in Geomechanics, and was named Engineering Teaching Fellow by the college.
 
Mary Poulton, head of the department of mining and geological engineering, received the 2012 Society of Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (SME) Distinguished Member Award.
 
Jinhong Zhang of mining and geological engineering was named the 2012 Bly Outstanding Faculty winner.
 
Erica Corral of the department of materials science and engineering earned the 2011 Bradley Stoughton Award for Young Teachers from ASM International.
 
Reyes Sierra and Armin Sorooshian of the chemical and environmental engineering department were awarded a three-year research fellowship and teaching fellowship, respectively, by the College.
 
Naresh Samtani of chemical and environmental engineering was inducted into the AGP Diplomates by the Academy of Geo-Professionals.
 
Chandrakant Desai of chemical and environmental engineering was named Distinguished Member of ASCE. Desai retired in January 2012.
 
Tribikram Kundu of the department of civil engineering and engineering mechanics received the SPIE Non-Destructive Evaluation Lifetime Achievement Award.
 
Yi-Chang Chiu of civil engineering and engineering mechanics was named Delbert Lewis Distinguished Professor.
 
Mark Hickman and Robert Fleischman of civil engineering and engineering mechanics were named Engineering Faculty Fellow and Engineering Teaching Fellow, respectively.
 
Jesse Little and Ricardo Sanfelice of the aerospace and mechanical engineering department both received the Young Investigator Award from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, or AFOSR.
 
Perry Li and Xiaoyi Wu of aerospace and mechanical engineering were promoted to associate professor.
 
Ergowan Madenci and Pak Wong of aerospace and mechanical engineering were named College Faculty Fellows. Cholik Chan was named Engineering Education Fellow.
 
Joe Hartley of aerospace and mechanical engineering was the William Primm Cosart Prize recipient for 2011-12.
 
The UA department of electrical and computer engineering's Ahmed Louri was elevated to IEEE Fellow for 2011, Kathleen Melde was elevated to IEEE Fellow for 2012 and Jonathan Sprinkle was elevated to IEEE Senior Member. Melde was also named Arizona Engineering Education Fellow for 2011.
 
Roman Lysecky of electrical and computer engineering was promoted to associate professor with tenure.
 
Michael Marcellin of electrical and computer engineering was named Arizona Engineering Education Fellow 2011. Marcellin was also the recipient of the European Union Marie Curie Fellowship.
 
Jerzy Rozenblit of electrical and computer engineering received the IEEE Certificate of Recognition.
 
Rick Ziolkowski of electrical and computer engineering received an honorary doctorate from the Technical University of Denmark
 
Marwan Krunz of electrical and computer engineering was named Arizona Engineering Faculty Fellow (2011-2014). Krunz also received the Fulbright Senior Specialist Award for summer 2011.
 
Wolfgang Fink of electrical and computer engineering was elected Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, or AIMBE, for 2011.
 
Young-Jun Son of the department of systems and industrial engineering was named the 2012 da Vinci Fellow.
 
Dave Cox, Alonso Minjarez and Hal Tharp of electrical and computer engineering each received the Excellence at the Student Interface Award.
 
The 2012 Student Interface awards from the UA College of Engineering include:
 
Student Interface -- Graduate Teaching Assistant
Kenan Arik, aerospace and mechanical engineering
 
Student Interface -- Faculty 
Ali Bilgin, biomedical engineering
Paul Blowers, chemical and environmental engineering
Mary Poulton, mining and geological engineering
Marek Romanowski, biomedical engineering
Eduardo Saez, chemical and environmental engineering
 
Student Interface -- Faculty -- Overall Choice
Mark Hickman, civil engineering and engineering mechanics
 
Student Interface -- Faculty -- Seniors' Choice
Robert Fleishman, civil engineering and engineering mechanics
 
Student Interface -- Junior Faculty
Robert Erdmann, materials science and engineering
Ricardo Sanfelice, aerospace and mechanical engineering
Liana Suantak, electrical and computer engineering
 
Student Interface -- Most Supportive Junior Faculty
Guzin Bayraksan, systems and industrial engineering
 
Student Interface -- Most Supportive Senior Faculty
Mike Arnold, engineering management
 
Student Interface -- Most Supportive Staff Member
Ashley McLaren, systems and industrial engineering
 
Student Interface -- Most Supportive Teaching Assistant
Evan Richardson, systems and industrial engineering
 
Student Interface -- Research/Teaching Assistant
Pablo Mancheno, chemical and environmental engineering
 
Student Interface -- Senior Faculty
Edward Kerschen, aerospace and mechanical engineering
Hal Tharp, electrical and computer engineering
Donald Uhlmann, materials science and engineering
 
Student Interface -- Staff
Arla Allen, chemical and environmental engineering
Alonso Minjarez, electrical and computer engineering
Elsa Morales, materials science and engineering
Olga Ortiz, mining and geological engineering
Arvind Raman, aerospace and mechanical engineering
Kerrie Sonnenberg, biomedical engineering
Karen Van Winkle, civil engineering and engineering mechanics
 
Student Interface -- Teaching Assistant
Lahiru Ariyananda, electrical and computer engineering
Patrick Maloney, civil engineering and engineering mechanics
J. Ouellette, biomedical engineering
Pratt Rogers, mining and geological engineering
Jenny Taubert, materials science and engineering