RCEAS announces Ingenuity, teaching awards

Faculty, students and alumni recently received Lehigh Engineering Ingenuity Awards from the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science for leadership, scholarship, research and teaching.
Two professors received teaching awards from the Lehigh student chapters of professional societies.
Manoj Chaudhury, the Franklin J. Howes Jr. Distinguished Professor of chemical and director of the Polymer Interfaces Center, received the Lehigh Engineering Ingenuity Award for Distinguished Faculty.
Chaudhury, an expert in adhesion and wetting, was cited for simple, ingenious and illuminating experiments and for research that is beautifully conceived, clarifies basic ideas, and immediately suggests ways in which it can be used practically.
Three other professors were nominated for the Distinguished Faculty Award. They were Wojciech Misiolek, the Loewy Chair in Materials Forming and Processing and director of the Institute for Metal Forming; Rick Blum, the Robert W. Wieseman Chair in Electrical Engineering and director of the Signal Processing and Communication Research Laboratory; and Robert P. Wei, the Paul B. Reinhold Professor of Mechanics.
Jeff Linderoth, assistant professor of industrial and systems engineering, received the Lehigh Engineering Ingenuity Award for Exceptional Accomplishment in Teaching and/or Research by a Junior Faculty Member.
Linderoth, an expert in computation and optimization, was cited for his award-winning contributions to grid programming and for being the ideal Lehigh professor - engaging, witty, a wonderful colleague and a tremendous teacher.
Samir Ghadiali, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and mechanics and a member of a member of Lehigh’s bioengineering and life sciences program, was also nominated for the Exceptional Accomplishment Award.
Richard Kurz '05, a mechanical engineering major, received the Lehigh Engineering Ingenuity Award for Undergraduate Leadership. Kurz was praised for leadership by example in action, perseverance and congeniality among his contemporaries. Kurz is team director for the Micro Aerial Vehicle (MAV) Design Project and manager of the Lehigh Choir, where he has helped raise money for choral scholarships in conjunction with the choir's 130th anniversary.
Jill Gliem '05, a chemical engineering major, was also nominated for the Undergraduate Leadership Award.
Menal Guzelsoy, a Ph.D. candidate in industrial engineering, received the Lehigh Engineering Ingenuity Award for Graduate Research and Scholarship. Guzelsoy was described as one of those rare students with just the right mix of motivation, talent and maturity to be a very productive researcher. He was cited for his contributions to a complex software framework project and also to ground-breaking theoretical research.
Hannah Dailey, a Ph.D. candidate in mechanical engineering, was also nominated for the Graduate Research and Scholarship.
George Kledaras '87, founder of several technology companies, including, most recently, CecilRep and FIXML Flyer, received the Lehigh Engineering Ingenuity Award for Alumni/Friend of the College. Kledaras, a member of Lehigh's Board of Trustees, holds a B.S. in electrical engineering from Lehigh. He was cited for his ingenuity in bringing engineering solutions to the world of finance and for being a leader in developing financial software for instantaneous global trading anywhere, anytime and, most importantly, by everyone.
Bob Beggs, senior manager for advanced logistics and development programs with the Rotorcraft Division at Boeing Co., was also nominated for the Alumni/Friend Award.
Two professors received teaching awards from students representing the Lehigh chapters of professional societies.
Rick Vinci, associate professor of materials science and engineering, received the Teaching Excellence Award for teaching mainly within a department. Vinci is a three-time recipient of the Gilbert E. Doan Award, which is presented each year by seniors in the materials science and engineering department to the person who has best served them as a mentor, in the technical, professional, civic, moral and spiritual dimensions of their education.
Meghanad Wagh, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering, received the Service Teaching Excellence Award for teaching a service course for non-majors.