Five PhD students in Drexel Materials have been recognized for outstanding accomplishments in their graduate work with prestigious awards from Drexel University’s Graduate College. The students were honored at this year’s Graduate Student Day celebration on Monday, May 16 at 5 p.m. in the Bossone Research Enterprise Center’s Mitchell Auditorium.
Outstanding Promise Award
PhD student Boris Dyatkin (advisor: Yury Gogotsi) is one of two winners of the Outstanding Promise Award in the category of Mathematical Sciences and Engineering. This award is bestowed upon students at graduation who are deemed to exhibit great promise in their fields and to enhance Drexel's reputation in the long term.
Boris is the tenth Drexel Materials student to receive this award, formerly known as the "Most Promise to Enhance Drexel's Reputation." Previous award winners from Materials include Kristy Jost (2015—advisor: Yury Gogotsi), Michael Naguib (2014 – advisors: Michel Barsoum and Yury Gogotsi), Nina Lane (2013—advisor: Michel Barsoum), Murat Kurtoglu (2011—advisor: Yury Gogotsi), Stephen Niezgoda (2010—advisor: Surya Kalidindi), Jessica Schiffman (2009—advisor: Caroline Schauer), and Davide Matthia (2008), María Pía Rossi (2007), and Ranjan Dash (2006), all advised by Gogotsi.
Outstanding Dissertation Award
PhD student Maria Lukatskaya (advisor: Yury Gogotsi) is the sole recipient of the Outstanding Dissertation Award in the category of Mathematical Sciences and Engineering for innovative doctoral dissertation research.
Maria is the sixth Materials student to receive this award. Previous award winners from Materials include Kelsey Hatzell (2015—advisor: Yury Gogotsi), Riju Singhal (2013—advisor: Yury Gogotsi), Stephen Nonnemann (2010—advisor: Jonathan Spanier), Aiguo Zhou (2008—advisor: Michel Barsoum), and Thomas Juliano (2004—advisor: Yury Gogotsi).
Teaching Assistant Excellence Award
PhD student Katie Jo Sunday (left; advisor: Mitra Taheri) is one of 12 students who have been awarded a Teaching Assistant Excellence Award in recognition of exceptional performance as a teaching assistant. Last year Katie Jo received the “Highly Commended” teaching award.
PhD student Cheng-Hsin (Johnson) Lu (right; advisor: Wei-Heng Shih) was acknowledged with Honorable Mention.
Research Excellence Award
PhD student Tian Zhou (advisor: Christopher Li) received Honorable Mention for the Research Excellence Award. This award recognizes students for excellence in research for the past year.