The 11th annual Materials Science and Engineering Distinguished Awards Gala at Cornell was brimming with community and research. During a reception and poster session held on May 8th at Baker Portico in the Physical Sciences Building, students presented their research to industry partners, faculty, and peers. After a reception and remarks from Department Chair, Lara Estroff, awards were presented to students in seven different categories.

Student Award Recipients

  • Outstanding Teaching Assistant

    • Sihun Lee
    • Daniel Tong

  • The Chris Ober Excellence in Materials Science and Engineering Masters Research Award

    • Joan Rodriguez Castellon, 1st place
    • Pantao Hu, 2nd place
    • Tarun Santosh Pokala Madhava Murthy, 2nd place

  • The Chris Ober Excellence in Materials Science and Engineering Ph.D. Research Award

    • Kaushik Chivukula, 1st place
    • Aias Asteris, 2nd place
    • Talisi Meyer, 2nd place

     

  • The Chris Ober Excellence in Materials Science and Engineering Master of Engineering Research Award

    • Alexander Power

  • The Chris Ober Excellence in Materials Science and Engineering Postdoctoral Research Award

    • Timo Fuchs

  • The Senior Thesis Award

    • Laura Orland, 1st place
    • Catherine Pak, 2nd place
    • David Wang, 2nd place

  • The Senior Lab Award

    • Alexis Sherman and Nicholas DeMayo
Students presenting during the MSE 2026 Awards Gala poster session.
MSE 2026 Awards Gala ariel photo of poster session.
Student presending to a faculty member during the 2026 MSE Awards Gala.

Alumni Honored with Career Achievement Awards

Glen Wilk ’90 recieved the 2026 MSE Distinguished Career Achievement Award in recognition of his outstanding career as a leader in industry. Following the awards ceremony, he presented a keynote to students, alumni, faculty, and industry partners about “The Hunt for High-k Gate Dielectric: A Materials Perspective”.

Dr. Wilk is a Vice President of Technology at ASM, where he currently specializes in developing novel Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) materials and processes for advanced nodes in the semiconductor industry. Prior to his current role, he ran the ALD business unit for 15 years and Epitaxy business unit for 6 years at ASM, where he was responsible for leading the development of the Pulsar, Synergis, and Intrepid products.

Dr. Wilk received his bachelor’s degree in materials science from Cornell University, and his master’s degree and Ph.D. in applied physics from Harvard University. Before ASM, he worked as a Senior Member of Technical Staff in the Central Research Labs at Texas Instruments, where his interests focused on silicon-based resonant tunneling diodes, novel transistor gate stacks and advanced process integration. Dr. Wilk subsequently worked as a Distinguished Member of Technical Staff in the Advanced Materials Department at Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, NJ, where he researched high-permittivity dielectrics, metal gate stacks, and CMOS device integration, as well as indium gallium arsenide and lithium niobate materials for high-speed and optoelectronic devices, respectively. Wilk currently has over 50 journal publications and holds over 60 U.S. patents.

Yu Kambe ’13 received the inaugural MSE Early Career Achievement Award in recognition of exceptional early-career achievements that demonstrate outstanding promise within the first 15 years after graduation from Cornell University in the field of materials science and engineering.

Dr. Kambe is the CEO and Co-Founder of NanoPattern Technologies, Inc., where he leads the development of next-generation inorganic photoresist formulations for the semiconductor industry. His background in materials science spans a broad range of advanced applications, including quantum dots for displays, metal oxides for semiconductors, cathode intercalation compounds for lithium-ion batteries and catalyst materials for PEMFC fuel cells.

Dr. Kambe received his bachelor’s degree in materials science from Cornell University in 2013. Following his graduation he moved to Silicon Valley to join C3Nano Inc. as a lead project engineer, developing advanced transparent conducting films.

In the fall of 2014, Kambe joined the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering as an inaugural Ph.D. student. Supported by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, he investigated fundamental ion transport in polymer electrolytes under Paul Nealey. Beyond the lab, he co-founded the Innovation and Commercialization Fellowship Program, an initiative that trains Ph.D. and postdoctoral researchers to conduct market diligence on early-stage technologies, and served as an associate at the Polsky Center’s George Shultz Innovation Fund. He has also contributed extensively to the university community, having served on the University of Chicago Alumni Board and currently sits on the PME Advisory Council.

After defending his dissertation in 2019, he founded NanoPattern Technologies, Inc. alongside co-founder Dmitri Talapin. With deep roots in advanced materials innovation and the startup ecosystem, including his early contributions to companies such as C3Nano and Envia Systems, Dr. Kambe holds more than 15 patents and has authored 14 peer-reviewed publications. Through his leadership and ongoing work, he continues to champion the importance of materials science and engineering as a discipline.

Yu Kambe and Lara Estroff during the 2026 MSE Distinguished Awards Gala
Glen Wilks giving a Keynote speech during the 2026 MSE Distinguished Awards Gala
Glen Wilks and Lara Estroff during the 2026 MSE Distinguished Awards Gala

View more photos from the 2026 Materials Science and Engineering Distinguished Awards Gala.