Michigan Tech faculty earn honors in 2020 for their innovation and dedication.
Bhakta Rath Research Award
The Bhakta Rath Research Award recognizes a doctoral student and their Michigan Tech faculty adviser. The award was established by Bhakta B. Rath and his wife, Sushama Rath, to recognize those who conduct exceptional scientific and technological research in anticipation of the future needs of the nation while supporting potential advances in emerging technology, and will continue to apply this knowledge throughout their careers.
Sanaz Habibi
PhD Graduate, Chemical Engineering
What we do: Build microfluidics devices to watch viral infection happen in real time.
Why we do it: To better understand how antivirals work, we need a faster and less expensive way to see, diagnose, and monitor viral diseases.
Read more about Habibi's and Minerick's award.
Michigan Tech Research Award
The Michigan Tech Research Award recognizes outstanding scholarly achievement by a faculty member. It is based on the impact of the person's research, particularly sustained research or a noteworthy breakthrough. The Michigan Tech Research Award is symbolic of the University's high standard for research endeavors.
David Shonnard
Professor, Chemical Engineering
Richard and Bonnie Robbins Chair in Sustainable Use of Materials
Director, Sustainable Futures Institute
What I do: Promote sustainability in plastics recycling by using pyrolysis to reuse materials.
Why I do it: I want more chemical engineers to get involved in assessing the environmental impact of our work.
Read more about Shonnard's award.
National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Awards
The NSF Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award program integrates excellence in education and research. As NSF puts it, the award recognizes “early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models” with the potential to advance the mission of their department, institution, and fields of study.
Erika Hersch-Green
Associate Professor, Biological Sciences
What I do: Connect environmental and climatic factors to plant genomes and functional traits and community diversity patterns.
Why I do it: Being alive means successfully adapting to new conditions; how do plants adapt to new conditions and what factors influence their evolutionary potentials?
Read more about Hersch-Green's award.
Issei Nakamura
Assistant Professor, Physics
What I do: Model complex chemical interactions in ionic liquids and polymers.
Why I do it: Small differences in a model lead the way to big discoveries in new materials and devices.
Read more about Nakamura's award.
2020 Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award
The Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) is a consortium of more than 100 PhD-granting universities. Each year ORAU highlights the work of newer faculty through the Powe award and helps “member institutions retain their best young faculty members.”
Shan Zhou
Assistant Professor, Social Sciences
What I do: Examine how public policy can be integrated with third-party sustainability certification to promote clean technology adoption and social justice.
Why I do it: The hybrid form of collaborative governance between non-state actors and the public sector plays an increasingly important role in clean technology diffusion and climate change mitigation.
Read more about Zhou's award.
Michigan Technological University is a public research university founded in 1885 in Houghton, Michigan, and is home to nearly 7,500 students from more than 60 countries around the world. Consistently ranked among the best universities in the country for return on investment, Michigan’s flagship technological university offers more than 120 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science and technology, engineering, computing, forestry, business, health professions, humanities, mathematics, social sciences, and the arts. The rural campus is situated just miles from Lake Superior in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, offering year-round opportunities for outdoor adventure.
