Materials Students Receive Multiple Prestigious Commencement Awards

Materials students have collected an impressive number of prestigious Drexel awards and honors given through the Office of Graduate Studies to close out the 2015 academic year, including two Research Excellence Awards and a sweep of all the awards specifically for Engineering program students.

Those recognized for their achievements include:

Kristy JostKristy Jost
Outstanding Promise Doctoral Award

PhD candidate Kristy Jost (advisor:  Yury Gogotsi) has been selected to receive an Outstanding Promise Doctoral Award in the area of Mathematical Sciences and Engineering. At every Commencement, three awards are presented to graduating doctoral students who are deemed to exhibit great promise in enhancing Drexel’s reputation in the future. The awards, with a cash prize of $1000 and a certificate of recognition each, are in the following categories: Social Sciences (for students in Business, Education, Information Science, Psychology); Mathematical Sciences and Engineering (for students in Mathematics, all Engineering programs); Physical and Life Sciences (for students in Bioscience, Chemistry, Physics, Environmental Science and Policy, Biomedical Engineering, Nursing and Health Professions, Public Health).

Kristy is the ninth Materials student to receive this award, formerly known as the "Most Promise to Enhance Drexel's Reputation." Previous award winners from Materials include 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.

Kelsey HatzellKelsey Hatzell
Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award

PhD candidate Kelsey Hatzell (advisor:  Yury Gogotsi) has been selected to receive an Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award in the area of Mathematical Sciences and Engineering. As with the Outstanding Doctoral Promise Award, three awards are presented at each Commencement to graduating doctoral students who have written outstanding dissertations that reflect great research. The awards, each with a cash prize of $1000 and a certificate of recognition, are in the following categories: Social Sciences (for students in Business, Education, Information Science, Psychology); Mathematical Sciences and Engineering (for students in Mathematics, all Engineering programs); Physical and Life Sciences (for students in Bioscience, Chemistry, Physics, Environmental Science and Policy, Biomedical Engineering, Nursing and Health Professions, Public Health).

Kelsey is the fifth Materials student to receive this award. Previous award winners from Materials include 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).

Tatyana HuseynovaTatyana Huseynova
Outstanding Master’s Award

Graduating BS/MS student Tatyana Huseynova (advisor: Caroline Schauer) has been awarded the Outstanding Master’s Award in the category of Mathematical Sciences and Engineering.
This award is “presented to master’s degree students at Drexel who demonstrate the highest standards of scholarship, leadership ability and strong commitment to civic responsibility among their peers.” Recipients receive a prize of $500 and a certificate of recognition. She is the second Materials student to receive this award, previously won by BS/MS student Yujun “Terry” Xie (2014 – advisor: Steven May).

Sean GarnerOlha MashtalirSean Garner (left)

Olha Mashtalir (right)

Research Excellence Awards

Materials PhD candidates Sean Garner (advisor: Antonios Zavaliangos) and Olha Mashtalir (advisor: Yury Gogotsi) are the recipients of Research Excellence Awards. This award is given to students “who have exhibited outstanding research/scholarship/creativity in the past year.” Sean and Olha are two of six students receiving this year’s award. Awardees received a certificate of recognition and monetary award at the Graduate Student Day reception held on May 29, 2015.

Katie Jo SundayKatie Jo Sunday
Highly Commended, Teaching Excellence Award

PhD candidate Katie Jo Sunday (advisor:  Mitra Taheri) received the designation “Highly Commended” in the Teaching Excellence Award competition. Katie Jo was recognized for her teaching contributions at the Graduate Student Day reception on May 29.


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