Awards and honors

Scott Smith, chair of the Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Science Department, received the Outstanding Lifetime Service Award from the North American Manufacturing Research Institution of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (NAMRI/SME) at the 46th annual North American Manufacturing Research Conference (NAMRC) held in College Station, Texas.

The award honors distinguished members for their long-term dedication and contributions to NAMRI/SME.

Manuel Pérez-Quiñones, associate dean of the College of Computing and Informatics (CCI), recently received the Nico Habermann Award, presented at the Computer Research Association conference.

Tumininu (Tumi) Lawanson recently was named a Young Clean Energy Innovator of the Year by the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) at its Intersolar North American ceremony in San Francisco, California.

“Personally, I count it as a privilege and an honor to be recognized as one of two Young Clean Energy Innovators of 2018 by IREC,” said Lawanson. “I am especially grateful for the support of my research advisor, Dr. Valentina Cecchi, and the strong collaborative research environment provided at EPIC and the University.”

Physician and UNC Charlotte graduate candidate Saugat Karki was selected recently for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) prestigious Public Health Informatics Fellowship Program (PHIFP).

Rajan Puri, a doctoral student in mathematics, recently received the David Merchant International Student Award for Achievement from the Phi Beta Delta Honor Society for International Scholars. The award honors one international student who demonstrates exceptional accomplishments in the areas of scholarship and service.

Akin Ogundiran, professor and chair of the Africana Studies Department, has been inducted as a Visiting Fellow of Magdalene College, University of Cambridge. This honor recognizes his preeminent status as a researcher and scholar of emergent societies and social complexity in Yorubaland, Atlantic Africa and the African Diaspora during the past 700 years.

A Chicago production of Cordelia Lynn’s play “Lela & Co.,” directed by Associate Professor of Theatre Robin Witt, has received three Joseph Jefferson (Jeff) Awards honoring non-Equity Chicago theatre. 

The production received six Jeff Award nominations and won in the categories of Best Director (Play), Best Actor (Play) and Best Production (Play).

Assistant Professor Xinghua “Mindy” Shi, Department of Bioinformatics and Genomics, has earned a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award for the project “Integrative Approaches to Uncovering Complex Genotype-Phenotype Relationships in High Dimensional Genomics Data.”

Charlotte 49ers junior softball star Meredith Harris is among 14 student-athletes who received the Conference USA Spring Spirit of Service Award. This honor is designed to recognize the league’s student-athletes based upon significant community service, good academic standing and participation in their elected sport. 

The Spirit of Service award is presented three times throughout the season. These most recent honorees represent spring sports: baseball, golf, softball, tennis and outdoor track and field.

Judy Rose, special assistant to the chancellor for intercollegiate athletics, recently received high honors from the University and the state of North Carolina. 

Rose, who retires effective June 30, 2018, was named athletics director emerita by Chancellor Philip Dubois and received the state’s Order of the Long Leaf Pine. In April, she earned a UNC Charlotte Honorary Alumna Award.

Dubois noted Rose’s well-documented success story in leading the 49ers Athletics Department during the past 28 years.