School of Engineering Awards for 2016

Two MechE professors win excellence in teaching awards.



The MIT School of Engineering recently honored outstanding faculty, graduate, and undergraduate students, with the following awards: 

Bose Award for Excellence in Teaching, given to a faculty member whose contributions have been characterized by dedication, care, and creativity: 

  • Maria Yang '91, associate professor of mechanical engineering

Junior Bose Award, for an outstanding contributor to education from among the junior faculty of the School of Engineering:

  • Polina Anikeeva PhD '09, the Class of 1942 Career Development Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Ruth and Joel Spira Awards for Excellence in Teaching, awarded to one faculty member each in three departments — electrical engineering and computer science, mechanical engineering, and nuclear science and engineering — to acknowledge “the tradition of high quality engineering education at MIT.” A fourth award rotates among the School of Engineering’s five other academic departments: 

  • Luca Daniel, professor of electrical engineering and computer science
  • Kenneth Kamrin PhD '08, assistant professor of mechanical engineering
  • Michael Short '05, PhD '10, assistant professor of nuclear science and engineering
  • Vinod Vaikuntanathan SM '05, PhD '09, assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science

School of Engineering Graduate Student Award for Extraordinary Teaching and Mentoring, established in 2006 to recognize an engineering graduate student who has demonstrated extraordinary teaching and mentoring as a teaching or research assistant: 

  • Zachary Sherman, graduate student in chemical engineering

Capers and Marion McDonald Award for Excellence in Mentoring and Advising, to a faculty member who has demonstrated a lasting commitment to personal and professional development:

  • Duane Boning '84, SM '86, PhD '91, director of the MIT and Masdar Institute Cooperative Program

The Barry M. Goldwater Scholarship, given to students who exhibit an outstanding potential and intend to pursue careers in mathematics, the natural sciences, or engineering disciplines that contribute significantly to technological advances in the United States: 

  • Lei Ding, electrical engineering and computer science
  • Chelsea Edwards, chemical engineering

The Henry Ford II Award, presented to a senior engineering student who has maintained a cumulative average of 5.0 at the end of their seventh term and who has exceptional potential for leadership in the profession of engineering and in society: 

  • Ava Soleimany, electrical engineering and computer science

Samuel M. Seegal Prize, awarded for excellence in teaching to a faculty member (or members) in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and/or the MIT Sloan School of Management, who inspires students in pursuing and achieving excellence:

  • John Sterman PhD '82, the Jay W. Forrester Professor of Management at the Sloan School of Management