Dr. Poras T. Balsara

The Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science recently hosted its annual appreciation awards celebration, which recognized faculty, students and staff nominated by their peers for their outstanding contributions and positive attitude.

“The Jonsson School hasn’t slowed at all,” said Dr. Poras T. Balsara, the school’s interim dean and professor of electrical and computer engineering. “Certainly not in terms of productivity and curiosity. Certainly not in terms of innovation. I believe the drive and intellectual rigor of our school is evidenced by the accomplishments of our award winners recognized here today.”

The awards are categorized by staff, students and faculty teaching and research. The research awards recognized faculty at the assistant, associate and full professor levels. Decisions were based on research productivity, including PhD supervision, publications and research impact.

Annual ECS Awards

Full Professor Research Award

Dr. Kyeongjae “KJ” Cho
professor of materials science and engineering

Associate Professor Research Award

Dr. Chris Hinkle
assistant professor of materials science & engineering

Assistant Professor Research Awards

Dr. Alvaro Cárdenas
assistant professor of computer science

Outstanding Faculty Teaching Awards

Dr. Victor Varner
assistant professor of bioengineering
Dr. Balaji Raghavachari
professor of computer science
Dr. Ebru Cankaya
senior lecturer of computer science
Dr. Linda Morales
senior lecturer of computer science
Dr. Matthew Heins
senior lecturer of electrical engineering
Dr. Nicholas R. Gans
clinical associate professor of electrical engineering
Dr. Dani Fadda
clinical associate professor of mechanical engineering
Dr. Amy Walker
professor of materials science and engineering

Outstanding Teaching Assistant Teaching Awards

Hunter Stevenson
bioengineering
Harish Babu Arunachalam
computer science
Juan Manuel Florez Fandino
computer science
Neha Dawar
electrical and computer engineering
Mahmoud Abdelgelil
electrical and computer engineering
Johnathon LeClear
mechanical engineering

Outstanding A&P Staff Awards

Rod Wetterskog
assistant dean of corporate relations, UTDesign coordinator

Staff Awards

Beth Mahan
graduate admissions and recruitment, mechanical engineering
Michele Brown
administrative assistant II, materials science and engineering
Eric Moden
degree plan evaluator,computer science
Rhonda Walls
administrative project coordinator, computer science