Awards and Recognition

Himani Mishra ’27, a rising senior in engineering physics, has been named a 2026 Microscopy & Microanalysis Student Scholar by the Microanalysis Society, recognizing her paper, “Atomic-level, Depth-Resolved 3D Imaging of Voids with Electron Ptychography.” Mishra, who works in the lab of David Muller will be honored during the opening plenary session of the 2026 conference on August 3.

Amanda Huang ’26, a recent electrical and computer engineering graduate and member of Chris Schaffer’s research lab, has won a Fulbright fellowship. Amanda will work with folks at the Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology and Friedrich Schiller University in Jena, Germany to develop a novel intraoperative probe that combines linear and nonlinear optical imaging to identify tumor margins and deliver targeted laser ablation therapy.

Fengqi You, the Roxanne E. and Michael J. Zak Professor in Energy Systems Engineering, has been selected as the winner of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers’ 2026 Professional Achievement Award for Innovations in Green Process Engineering. You, who was recognized for his achievements in life cycle engineering to advance credible and decision-relevant sustainability analysis, will receive his award at the AIChE’s Annual Meeting in Minneapolis in November.

Clifford Whitcomb, professor of practice, had 16 students from the M.Eng. health systems project team invited to present posters at the Cornell Center for Health Equity Symposium. Many of the students, working on the Enhancing Maternity Mental Health Support project, are taking the Weill Cornell Medicine health systems pathway courses and used what they learned to develop applications for the M.Eng. project deliverable.

Congratulations to Gigatonne Bio, an interdisciplinary team of graduate students from Duffield Engineering, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Princeton, and Colombia that won the 2026 OpenAir Carbon Removal Challenge for their approach to covering mine waste into CO2 removal and critical metals with engineered bio-mining bacteria. Team members include Joseph Lee, Kyle Dayton, and Alia Almansoori, and the team was advised by professors Esteban Gazel and Buz Barstow.

Fengqi You, the Roxanne E. and Michael J. Zak Professor, had his research featured on the  May 2026 front cover of RSC Sustainability for the paper “Life Cycle Assessment of Seaweed-Based Biorefineries: Environmental Impacts, Hotspots, and Pathways for a Circular Bioeconomy.”

Alex Pizzola, assistant director of Engineering Advising, received the Individual Impact award at the Professional Staff Undergraduate Academic Advising Awards ceremony on May 7. The awards honors and recognizes professional staff academic advisors who make an investment in and offer transformative support to students as individuals in their academic journey.

Darrell Schlom, the Tisch University Professor, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences for his research working with theorists and other experimentalists to make, measure and perfect new oxide materials with exciting properties relevant to electronics.

Jacob Mays, assistant professor, has been appointed to the Market Surveillance Committee of the California Independent System Operator, the latter of which manages the grid and wholesale electricity market for about 80% of California and parts of Nevada.

Charlle Sy, professor of practice, and Oliver Gao, the Howard Simpson Professor of Engineering, received a joint grant from the Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability and Environmental Defense Fund for the project “Electric Vehicle Battery Recycling.”