End of Year Awards

2019 Wilson Banquet and Awards Presentation

Randy Vander WalGeorge H. Deike, Jr. Research Grant

The George H. Deike, Jr. Research Grant is awarded in support of an innovative research project

Randy Vander Wal, professor of energy and mineral engineering and materials science and engineering, was selected for his proposal “Transitioning to the H2 Economy Using Shale Gas.”

Joel LandryGladys Snyder Junior Faculty Grants

The Gladys Snyder Junior Faculty Grants are awarded to junior faculty for the development of new courses or the improvement of current offerings; for travel to professional meetings; to broaden the studies of junior faculty members; or to recognize significant contributions in research efforts.

Joel Landry, assistant professor of environmental and energy economics, was selected for his proposal “The Unintended Congestion Cost and Greenhouse Gas Emissions Impacts of Solar Policies in California.”

Mort WebsterJohn T. Ryan, Jr. Faculty Fellowship

This award was created to provide supplementary funds to an outstanding faculty member in the college to further their contributions in teaching, research, and public service.

Mort Webster, professor of energy engineering, was chosen for this fellowship.

Meng WangE. Willard and Ruby S. Miller Faculty Fellowship

The E. Willard and Ruby S. Miller Faculty Fellowship was created to support faculty of exceptional creativity who propose highly innovative approaches to major contemporary challenges in the earth, energy, and material sciences.

Meng Wang, assistant professor of environmental systems engineering, was selected for her proposal “Dynamics of Reactive Nitrogen Released into Environment in Biological Nutrient Removal Processes.”

Hamid Emami-MeybodiWilson Research Initiation Grant

The Wilson Research Initiation Grant was established to provide an extra spark to the research career of a junior faculty member.

Hamid Emami-Meybodi, assistant professor of petroleum and natural gas engineering, was selected for his proposal “A Diffusion Perspective on Solvent Injection in Ultratight Oil Reservoirs.”


 

2019 Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering student awards

The John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering had its 2019 Awards Banquet on April 15. This banquet recognizes students and faculty in the department. The banquet is held in conjunction with the G. Albert Shoemaker Lecture. EMS Energy Institute Students who received awards are listed below.

C. C. Wright Award

Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistants

Graduate Teaching Assistant

Madhu Singh Behzad Vaziri Hassas Lihe Xiu Jiehao Wang
Madhu Singh,
Ph.D. student
Behzad Vaziri Hassas,
Ph.D. student
Lihe Xiu,
Ph.D. student
Jiehao Wang,
Ph.D. student

Student Merit Awards

EME-PNGE Graduate
Merit Award

ME Graduate
Merit Award

Ian W. Wasserman Mpila Nkiawete Prakash Purswani Timothy Duffy
Ian W. Wasserman, ENENG
undergraduate senior student
Mpila Nkiawete, ENENG
undergraduate senior student
Prakash Purswani,
Ph.D. student
Timothy Duffy,
Ph.D. student

EME 2019 Photo Contest Winner

2019 Staff 5-Year Awards

Taylor Young, undergraduate junior student Third place winner – “Crater Lake” Christy English Jennifer Matthews
Taylor Young, undergraduate junior student
Third place winner – “Crater Lake”
Christy English,
staff assistant
Jennifer Matthews,
communications specialist

2019 Institutes of Energy and the Environment Seed Grants

The following EMS Energy Institute researchers were 2018–19 Institutes of Energy and the Environment (IEE) seed grant recipients:

Future Energy Supply

Serguei Lvov “Increasing Power Densities and Cycle Efficiencies of Novel, Thermally-Charged Flow Batteries Using Advanced Flow Cell Topologies”—Matthew Rau, College of Engineering; Serguei Lvov, (left) College of Earth and Mineral Sciences; Derek Hall, (right) College of Earth and Mineral Sciences; and Bruce Logan, College of Engineering Derek Hall

Human Health and the Environment

Energy and Environmental Resilience

“The Role of Olfactory Neuron Death in Particulate Matter- Induced Neurodegeneration” — Patrick Drew, College of Engineering, and Randy Vander Wal, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences Randy Vander Wal Tieyuan Zhu “Lighting Up the Subsurface for Tomorrow’s City: Initiating a Penn State DAS Array for Monitoring Geo/ Environmental Hazards”—Tieyuan Zhu, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences; Patrick Fox, College of Engineering; Andrew Nyblade, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences; and Eileen Martin, College of Science, Virginia Tech

Food-Energy-Water Systems

High-Performance Building Systems

Mohammad Rezaee “Rare Earth Element Enrichment from Mining Wastewater Streams”—Xueyi Zhang, College of Engineering; Mohammad Rezaee, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences; and Michael Hickner, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences “Uncertainty-Aware Transactive Building Controls”—Gregory
Pavlak, College of Engineering; Uday Shanbhag, (left) College
of Engineering; and Mort Webster, (right) College of Earth
and Mineral Sciences
    Uday Shanbhag Mort Webster

2019 Other Awards

Meng WangMeng Wang, assistant professor of environmental systems engineering, received funding provided by the University’s Wastewater Management Committee for her project, titled “Towards Energy Neutral Wastewater Treatment Plant by Enhanced Organic Carbon Capture and Mainstream Deammonification” Chris MaroneChris Marone, professor of geosciences, was awarded a 2019 Penn State Multidisciplinary Seed Grant for his collaborative research with Jing Yang, assistant professor of electrical engineering, on “Machine Learning Approaches for Safe Geothermal Exploration.”
Hilal Ezgi ToramanHilal Ezgi Toraman, Penn State assistant professor of energy engineering and chemical engineering, has been named the Virginia S. and Philip L. Walker Jr. Faculty Fellow in Materials Science and Engineering and Fuel Science Program. The fellowship was awarded to Toraman for her contributions to teaching, research and service in the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering.
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