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Faculty and Student Recognitions

Recognitions, October 13

The first half of October brings exciting honors and funding awards for UT staff and students: Nuclear Engineering Researchers Win Office of Science Grant to Advance Fusion; Plant Sciences Faculty Recognized with the Above and Beyond Partner Award; UT Leaders Chosen for Complete Tennessee Leadership Institute; New Director of Heath IBEP Named; Microbiology Professor Honored by ASM; Nuclear Engineering Doctoral Student Wins Second Place at National GEM Consortium; Nuclear Engineering Doctoral Student Wins Student Paper Award from International Conference; UT Student Transportation Engineering Chapter Wins Outstanding Student Chapter Award.


Nick Brown, Ivan Maldonado, and Ondrej Chvala from UT's Department of Nuclear Engineering

Left to right: Nick Brown, Ivan Maldonado, and Ondrej Chvala

Brown and Maldonado Win Office of Science Grant to Advance Fusion

NE Associate Professor Nick Brown will lead a new study funded by the Department of Energy Office of Fusion Energy Science aimed at supporting the optimization and design of fusion engineering. The grant, which was awarded $1,080,000, will support research to advance design optimization of fusion engineering demonstration facility blanket during the research and development phase for a demonstration plants. Professor Ivan Maldonado is the Co-Principal Investigator and Research Assistant Professor Ondrej Chvala is the Co-Investigator for the project.


Pulte Recognized as ‘Above and Beyond’ Partner

AUT Plant Sciences professor Andy Pultendy Pulte, a faculty member with the UT’s Department of Plant Sciences, has been recognized with the Above and Beyond Partner Award presented by the National Agricultural Alumni and Development Association. The association grants this recognition to an individual who does not work in an institution’s alumni, communications, development or student services divisions, but who works as an effective partner with those who do. Award winners must have demonstrated leadership and organizational skills to inspire others to further the success of these programs and the institution.


UT Leaders Chosen for Complete Tennessee Leadership Institute

Ernest L. Brothers, Associate Dean of UT's Graduate SchoolTwo members of the UT community have been invited by the State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE) to participate in the 2021–22 cohort of the Complete Tennessee Leadership Institute (CTLI). Ernest L. Brothers, Associate DeanJaviette Samuel, Assistant Vice Chancellor for UT's Office of Diversity and Engagement of the Graduate School, and Javiette Samuel, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Engagement and Director of Community Engagement and Outreach, are among thirty-two leaders from higher education, K-12 education, government, business, and nonprofit organizations from Tennessee chosen for this cohort.


Skipper Named New Director of Heath IBEP

Ban Skipper, Executive Director of Aerospace and Defense Executive Programs at UTTickle College of Engineering is pleased to announce new leadership of the Heath Integrated Business and Engineering Program (IBEP), with the appointment of Ben Skipper as its newest director. Skipper currently serves as the Executive Director of Aerospace and Defense Executive Programs in the Haslam College of Business.


Goodrich-Blair Received ASM Award for Education

Heidi Goodrich-Blair, the David and Sandra White Professor and head of the UT Department of MicrobiologyHeidi Goodrich-Blair, the David and Sandra White Professor and head of the UT Department of Microbiology, received the 2022 Award for Education from the American Society for Microbiology (ASM). The ASM awards recognize leading scientists and researchers in the field for their contributions to research, education, diversity and professional accomplishments.


Adebayo-Ige Takes Second for Early PhD Technical Talk

Nuclear engineering doctoral student Promise Adebayo-IgeNuclear engineering doctoral student Promise Adebayo-Ige took second overall in the judging of the Early PhD technical talks at the recent National Consortium for Graduate Degrees for Minorities in Engineering and Science (GEM) conference in Houston. The work he presented was on calculating the heat flux that is incident upon plasma facing components (PFCs). Adebayo-Ige also won the GEM Fellowship in February, which came with a virtual internship (due to the COVID-19 pandemic) at Princeton Plasma Physics Lab, which houses the NSTX-U fusion reactor.


Dunkle Picks Up Student Paper Award from International Conference

NE Doctoral Student Nicholas DunkleThe case for molten salt reactors (MSRs) is continuing to gain prominence through research conducted in UT’s Department of Nuclear Engineering. Doctoral student Nicholas Dunkle recently received the JD Williams Student Paper Award in the Cross Cutting Topics area at the Joint Annual Meeting of the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management and European Safeguards Research and Development Association.


UT Student ITE Chapter Wins Robert Stammer Outstanding Student Chapter Award

The UT chapter of the Tennessee Section Institute of Transportation Engineers (TSITE) was recently presented with the Robert Stammer Outstanding Student Chapter Award at the 2021 TSITE Awards Summer Meeting. Established in 2003, this award recognizes the ITE student chapter within Tennessee that has outstanding contributions to the advancement of the transportation profession. Since 2012, UT has won ten consecutive Outstanding Student Chapter Awards.