Awards

The College of Computing & Informatics (CCI) is proud to recognize exceptional students for academic and research excellence through College awards. Based on available funding, both undergraduate and graduate CCI students achieving above and beyond in the fields of computing and informatics are selected by faculty committees to receive the following awards:

A* Award
The A* award is given annually to an outstanding undergraduate student in recognition for academic excellence with the potential to become a star in the field.

The name A* was introduced in 2005. Previously in 2003-2004 the award was sponsored by the Delaware Valley Technical Recruiters.

Past Award Winners
- 2020: Shuyi Gu
- 2019: Peter Gagliardi
- 2018: Nhan Nguyen
- 2017: Thomas Amon
- 2016: David Monteleone
- 2015: Sam Bever
- 2014: Keith Horrocks
- 2013: Michael Conway
- 2012: Philip Maconi
- 2011: Gabriel Schwartz
- 2010: Jordan Osecki
- 2009: Daniel De Sousa
- 2008: James Thiel
- 2007: David Andrew Oakes
- 2006: Joshua B. Shaffer
- 2005: Craig Schroeder
- 2004: Anthony R. Twardowski
- 2003: Yelena Kushleyeva
Boeing Award
Awarded annually to undergraduate students in Computer Science recognizing academic contributions.

Past Award Winners
- 2013: Mateusz Stankiewicz
- 2012: Yen Duong
- 2011: Maria Kolakowska
- 2010: Isaac Gerhart-Hines
- 2009: Jordan Osecki and Patrick Smith
- 2008: Marc Winners
- 2007: Brian David Pyles
- 2006: David M. Turner
- 2005: Sunny Wong
- 2004: John Novatnack
- 2003: Olga Kerchentseva
James B. Maginnis Award
The James B. Maginnis Award is presented annually "to an upper division student majoring in computer science, in recognition of academic excellence."

Professor Maginnis had been a member of the Drexel faculty since 1958. He received his BS degree in physics with a minor in mathematics in 1946 from Duke University, and his MS in physics in 1948 from Syracuse University. A member of the Navy Reserves, he was company Commander in the Naval Reserve Officers’ Training Corps while in college, and served sea duty on the USS Columbia. From 1950 to 1952 he was recalled to active duty and served as Personnel Officer and Division Officer aboard the USS Mount Olympus. He retired from the Navy Reserves with the rank of Commander.

Professor Maginnis was employed by the American Viscose Corporation for seven years; he was Head of the Computing Research Section of the Chemical Research Division at American Viscose from 1955 to 1958. Professor Maginnis served as Director of the Computing Center at Drexel from 1958 to 1969 and, in this capacity, played a major role in the development of the computing facilities at Drexel, beginning with the introduction of the IBM 650, progressing to the IBM 1620, and then to the IBM 360. He was past chairman of the University Faculty Council, and chairman of the department Tenure Committee from 1971 to 1991.

In addition to memberships in several professional and honorary societies, he was an invited speaker at many meetings and conferences, he participated in community activities, he was a consultant to several corporations, and he served as special advisor to Governor Scranton about data processing matters in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Among his publications were a text "Elements of Compiler Construction", a text "Fundamental ANSI COBOL Programming", and a chapter on compiler construction in a handbook of computers and computing.

Professor Maginnis was recognized as one of Drexel’s outstanding teachers. Never complacent, he continued to innovate and bring new ideas into the classroom. He touched the lives of many generations of students through his enthusiasm for teaching, and served as a source of inspiration for both students and faculty. In 1988 he was the recipient of the Samuel Mercer, Jr. Award for distinguished instruction. He will long be remembered for his sense of humor, compassion, breadth of experience, and an unyielding delight at staying abreast of the computing field.

Past Award Winners
- 2020: Marius Garbea
- 2019: Robert Ross
- 2018: Adam Feldscher
- 2017: Austin Herring
- 2016: Sarah Kushner
- 2015: Jeremy Bennett
- 2014: Kristian Calhoun
- 2013: Akhil Kapoor
- 2012: Keith Ayers
- 2011: Andrew Sherman
- 2010: Melissa Aaron
- 2009: Richard Ratmansky
- 2008: Timothy Chagnon
- 2007: Sunny Huynh
- 2006: Cosmin Nicolaescu
- 2005: Derek Bowen
- 2004: Olga Kerchentseva
- 2003: Robert Lass
- 2002: Kathy-Ann Charles
- 2001: Mu Yang
- 2000: Anthony Sciamanna
- 1999: Martin Traverso
- 1998: Joshua Henly
- 1997: Vincent Cicirello
- 1996: Andrew Adamov
- 1995: Robert Sliwa
- 1994: Joseph Valentine
- 1993: Jeffrey Pierantozzi
Jay Modi Memorial Award
Pragnesh Jay Modi (1975-2007) joined the Computer Science Department at Drexel University as an assistant professor in 2005 upon completing his PhD from the University of Southern California and a post doctoral research position at Carnegie Mellon University. Professor Modi was an outstanding teacher and a rising star in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) community. He was selected as one of the top ten young AI researchers by the IEEE Intelligent Systems Advisory Board and received the prestigious NSF CAREER award. His dissertation, "Distributed Constraint Optimization for Multiagent Systems," made several fundamental contributions to the field and is widely cited in the multiagent community. In recognition of his impact, the The International Foundation for Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems has named its outstanding student paper after him.

In the relatively short time Jay spent at Drexel, he was instrumental in building the PhD program and the prestige of the College and University. In addition to his technical accomplishments, Jay was a valuable member of the Computer Science Department, the College of Engineering, Drexel University and his research community. He was a great friend and is greatly missed.

The Jay Modi Award is presented annually to a Computer Science PhD student in recognition of academic excellence and the potential to become a leader in the field. Each year, the Jay Modi Award winner is announced as part of the annual Jay Modi Memorial Lecture.

Past Award Winners
- 2019-20: Denisa Qori
- 2018-19: Bander Alsulami
- 2017-18: Sam Snodgrass
- 2016-17: Alberto Uriarte
- 2015-16: Gabriel Schwartz
- 2014-15: Lingchuan Meng
- 2013-14: Linge Bai
- 2012-13: Stephen Lombardi
- 2011-12: Michael Brennan
- 2010-11: Maxim Shevertalov
- 2009-10: Louis Kratz
- 2008: Evan Sultanik
Jay Modi Lecturers
- 2018-19: Michael Kearns, PhD - The Ethical Algorithm
- 2017-18: Brian Kernighan, PhD - Digital Humanties - Watch Online
- 2016-17: Lynn Andrea Stein, PhD - Making Meaning on the Web
- 2015-16: David Walker, PhD - Confluences in Programming Languages Research
- 2014-15: Vijay Kumar, PhD - Aerial Robot Swarms - Watch Online
- 2013-14: Peter Stone, PhD - Learning and Multiagent Reasoning for Autonomous Robots - Watch Online
- 2012-13: Balachander Krishnamurthy, PhD - Internet Privacy: Towards More Transparency
- 2011-12: Robert Sedgewick, PhD - Algorithms for the Masses
- 2010-11: Sven Koenig, PhD - Keeping Up with a Changing World
- 2009-10: Manuela Veloso, PhD - Planning, Execution, and Learning for Autonomous Robots in Uncertain Dynamic Environments
- 2008: Milind Tambe, PhD - Multiagent Systems: Lessons Learned From Putting Theory Into Practice
Those wishing to make a contribution to the Jay Modi Memorial Fund may do so by contacting cciinfo@drexel.edu
Maple Founders Award
The Maple Founders Award is given annually to an outstanding student in the area of computational science and engineering. It is awarded to a junior or senior in the college who shows potential for teaching or advanced work in computational or computer science.

This award is sponsored by Maplesoft, the company behind the Maple computer algebra system. This award builds on Drexel's strengths in symbolic computation, use of computer algebra systems in education, and the long relationship between Drexel and Maplesoft.

Past Award Winners
- 2020: Rishi Patel
- 2019: Joseph Urbano
- 2018: Yuwei Zhou
- 2017: Andrew DiNunzio
- 2016: Matthew Roll
- 2015: Michael Conway
- 2014: Kyle Patron
- 2013: Kristian Calhoun
- 2012: Patrick Lockner
- 2011: Daniel Zollers
- 2010: Aaron Rosenfeld
- 2009: Nam Pham
- 2008: Vito Salerno
- 2007: Kyle C. Binder
- 2006: Sean T. Durkin
- 2005: Aliaksei U. Sandryhaila
- 2004: Lenard Anthony Sieger
- 2003: Yevgen Voronenko
- 2002: Lisa Anthony
- 2001: Mitch Peabody
- 2000: Ross Snyder
- 1999: Martin Traverso
- 1998: Joel Eden
- 1997: Clinton V. Hepner
- 1996: Igor Vodov
- 1995: Hoi Man Chang
- 1994: Octavian Belcea
- 1993: Andrew Porebski
Other College Awards
College-level Awards

Dean's Student Leadership & Service Award
- 2020: Sabah Lala
- 2019: Blessing Adogame
Outstanding Undergraduate Student Award
- 2020: Hunter Heidenreich, Dan Schwartz
- 2019: Guruansh Singh
Student Teaching Excellence - Graduate
- 2020: Dan Schoepflin
- 2019: Sean Grimes
PhD Research Excellence
- 2020: Swathi Jagannath
- 2019: Meen Chul Kim
Outstanding Undergraduate Research Award
- 2018: Robert Ross, Hollis Liu
- 2017: Samantha Bewley, Rachel Goeken
- 2016: Travis Dutko
- 2014: Daniel Ziegler
Distinguished Service Award
- 2017: Alex Marion
- 2016: Dan Ziegler
Department of Computer Science Awards

Undergraduate

High Performance Computing Award
- 2020: Safa Aman, Nick A. DeFilippis, Shuyi Gu, Stephen P. Hansen, Hunter S. Heidenreich, Daniel E. Schwartz, Huy M. Vo
- 2019: Safa Aman, Peter Gagliardi, Royce Rajan, Robert Ross, Joseph Urbano
- 2018: Alexander Nhan, Zakary Olyarnik, Robert Ross, Erik Robert Suman
- 2017: Nathan Bender
- 2016: Jeremy Bennett
Distinguished Service Award for Outstanding Leadership
- 2020: Safa Aman
- 2019: Jennifer Bondarchuk
- 2018: Safa Aman
- 2017: Dan Ziegler
- 2016: Vu Bui
Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching/Course Assistant Award
- 2020: Samridh Prasad
- 2019: Chris McCole, Klaus Nuredini
- 2018: Phuc Ngo, Ryan Efendy
- 2017: Kyle Abramowitz
- 2016: Ian Shinbrot, Samantha Bewley
- 2014: Daniel Ziegler
Graduate

Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award (Computer Science Department)
- 2019: Daniel Schoepflin
- 2018: Brandon Packard
- 2017: Ehsan Khosroshahi
- 2016: Justin Horvitz
- 2014: Mark Boady
Outstanding Graduate Research Award (Computer Science Department)
- 2019: HongZhou Frank Fang
- 2018: Scott Haag
- 2017: Gavin Harrison
- 2016: Lu Xiao
- 2014: Brandon Packard, Lingchuan Meng
Department of Information Science Awards

Undergraduate

Student Teaching Excellence - Undergraduate
- 2020: Stephen Hansen
- 2019: Charlie Chiccarine
Graduate

Outstanding Graduate Student Award
- 2020: Lydia Smith
- 2019: Qiong Feng
Graduate Distinguished Service Leadership Award
- 2020: Swathi Jagannath
Exceptional Academic Achievement Award
- 2020: Erin Carney
Graduate Outstanding Research Achievement Award
- 2020: Zheng Chen
Graduate Outstanding Teaching Assistant, Instructor of Record
- 2020: Adam Johs
Graduate College Awards

Outstanding Mentorship Award
- 2020 Finalist: Leah Kulp
Teaching Assistant Excellence Award
- 2020 Winner: Steve Earth (For Classroom Instruction); Highly Commended: Joel Pepper (For Academic Support)
Faculty and Professional Staff Awards

Faculty Teaching Excellence
- 2020: Thomas Heverin, PhD
- 2019: Christopher Carroll
Faculty Research Excellence
- 2020: Geoff Mainland, PhD
- 2019: Yuanfang Cai, PhD
Faculty Leadership Award
- 2020: Dario Salvucci, PhD
Professional Staff Leadership Award
- 2020: Will Ahern
- 2019: Marie Fazio
Professional Staff Achievement Award
- 2020: Liz Costello
- 2019: Mike Galloway

Awards

A* Award

Boeing Award

James B. Maginnis Award

Jay Modi Memorial Award

Maple Founders Award

Other College Awards

College-level Awards

Department of Computer Science Awards

Undergraduate

Graduate

Department of Information Science Awards

Undergraduate

Graduate

Graduate College Awards

Faculty and Professional Staff Awards