College of Engineering and Computer Science Receives Awards from the Engineers’ Council

Five faculty members from the FAU College of Engineering and Computer Science received awards from the Engineers’ Council, a national non-profit professional society that advances education in engineering and the sciences and recognizes engineers for their accomplishments.

The award recipients were honored in February at a virtual banquet hosted by the Business Development Board of Palm Beach County, a private, not-profit corporation that works to stimulate the economy and promote business diversity through the relocation, retention, and expansion of local companies.

“We are extremely proud of our faculty for their exceptional contributions and efforts in the areas of research, education, and community engagement,” said Dr. Stella Batalama, dean of the FAU College of Engineering and Computer Science. “Their awards exemplify the cutting-edge research and innovative projects that we are consistently pursuing at our College.”

The Engineers’ Council Annual Honors and Awards celebration held during National Engineers Week attracts hundreds of people each year from across the country, who represent engineering, manufacturing, education, and technical society organizations. Additional information can be found at the Engineers’ Council web site, https://engineerscouncil.org/.

Additional details about this year’s award recipients and their achievements can be found below.

Evangelos Kaisar , director of the Freight Mobility Research Institute (FMRI), director of the Multimodal Intelligent Transportation Systems Laboratory, and professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatics Engineering, received the “Distinguished Engineering Educator Award, which honors senior university faculty who have a top reputation for engineering education, mentorship, and leadership. Dr. Kaisar is an internationally recognized expert in the field of transportation and logistics engineering, particularly in the areas of modeling and simulation, and his teaching career spans more than two decades. He was awarded a $7 million grant from the US Department of Transportation with additional state of Florida matching funds of $3.5 million to establish FMRI.

Ramesh Teegavarapu , graduate program director, founder of the Hydrosystems Research Laboratory, and professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Geomatics Engineering, also received the “Distinguished Engineering Educator Award,” in recognition of his research activities, as well as his contributions toward student engineering enrichment. Dr. Teegavarapu has over 15 years of research experience specializing in hydrological modeling and water resources systems, securing more than $4 million in funding. He has been a Fulbright Scholar, as well as a Fulbright Specialist program. Over the last five years, Dr. Teegavarapu published 28 book chapters, six books, and 21 research papers and was engaged in 40 research talks worldwide. Using innovative state-of-the-art classroom learning tools, he is dedicated to improving undergraduate engineering education.

Myeongsub Kim , associate professor in the Department of Ocean and Mechanical Engineering, received the “STEM Educator Award” in recognition of his outstanding teaching, mentoring, and leadership within the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Dr. Kim has been with FAU for over six years. He recently developed and taught three new courses on energy conversion and sensor technology that were popular among undergraduate students. As a passionate and dedicated educator he has supervised more than 60 undergraduate and several graduate students on research projects. He has been the recipient of multiple teaching awards at FAU, including the Engineering Junior Faculty Teaching Award, the Distinguished Mentor Award, and the Faculty Talon Award.

Oge Marques , professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, received the “Outstanding Engineering Achievement Merit Award,” which honors individuals who have made significant contributions to a particular area of engineering activity. Dr. Marques has been teaching at FAU for over two decades and has taken a leading role in preparing and teaching five fully online courses in computer science. During the last five years, Dr. Marques published four technical books, 11 journal papers, and 10 conference papers. He also delivered four keynote speeches and 50 invited talks and presentations. Dr. Marques has been recognized for his exceptional teaching abilities, having received the 2019 Engineering Educator of the Year Award from the Engineers’ Council and multiple FAU teaching awards. He is also an ACM Distinguished Speaker, Fellow of the Leshner Leadership Institute for Public Engagement, and senior member in several professional societies.

Hanqi Zhuang , chair and professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, also received the “Outstanding Engineering Achievement Merit Award,” in recognition of his extraordinary research activity and department leadership. Over his 30-year career, Dr. Zhuang has become a renowned researcher in the fields of signal processing, acoustics, and machine learning. Recent collaborative projects include a $6 million DARPA award to augment the military’s undersea surveillance capabilities; $4 million DoE grant to support Hispanic and low-income students; and $350,000 NASEM grant to develop a machine-learning base model to predict the Loop Current System at the Gulf of Mexico. Under Dr. Zhuang’s leadership over the past few years, several new graduate programs have been implemented, and six faculty members in his department are NSF CAREER award recipients.