Celebrating faculty excellence

Posted 6/08/2025

William States Lee College of Engineering faculty have been recognized for their exceptional contributions to research, innovation, teaching and service. These achievements reflect the College’s ongoing commitment to engineering excellence and societal impact.

College Administration

General News

University Recognitions

Million Dollar Circle

Chancellor Gaber honored several faculty members for leading research projects with active, external funding of $1 million or more in 2024, and for serving a key role in the University’s move to top-tier research university status.

The following engineering faculty were recognized:

Aidan Browne, Ph.D. (ETCM)
Youxing Chen, Ph.D. (MEES)
Robert Cox, Ph.D. (EPIC)
Farah Deeba, Ph.D. (ECE)
Saffeer Khan, Ph.D., P.E. (EPIC)
Ed Morse, Ph.D. (MEES)

Steven Schmid, Ph.D. (MEES)
Hamed Tabkhi, Ph.D. (ECE)
Brett Tempest, Ph.D. (CEE)
Terry Xu, Ph.D. (MEES)
Qiang Zhu, Ph.D. (MEES)

Learn more about the Million Dollar Circle

Innovation of the Year Awards

W.S. Lee College of Engineering faculty were recognized in four categories at the inaugural Invention of the Year Awards, which celebrates groundbreaking inventions and cutting-edge technology designed to solve today’s most pressing challenges.

They include:

Clean Energy and Power Systems: Optimized Magnetic Block Structure for Enhanced Coupling Coefficients in Wireless Power Transfer
Inventors: Tiefu Zhao, Ph.D. (ECE), Shen-En Chen, Ph.D. (CEE), Nicole Braxtan, Ph.D. (CEE), and Xiuhu (Mason) Sun, graduate student (ECE), Jiale Zhou, graduate student (ECE) and Karl Lin, graduate student (INES)
Information and Data Science: ArcNet-Lite: Lightweight Deep Neural Network for Real-Time Series AC Arc Fault Detection
Inventors: Tiefu Zhao, Ph.D. (ECE) and Kamal Paul, Ph.D., postdoctoral fellow
Life Sciences and Health: Vitrification Device
Inventor: Charles Lee, Ph.D. (MEES)
Physical and Material Sciences: Ceramic Powder Preparation for Additive Manufacturing
Inventor: Ahmed El-Ghannam, Ph.D. (MEES)

Learn more about the Invention of the Year Awards

College of Engineering Teaching, Research and Service Recognitions

Winners are pictured with college administration Dean Robert Keynton and Associate Dean Brigid Mullany or Associate Dean Brett Tempest.

Teaching Awards

Excellence in Graduate Teaching
Tina Chen, Ph.D. (ETCM)
Ron Smelser, Ph.D. (MEES)

Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching

Hunter Bachman, Ph.D. (MEES, photo not available)

Research Awards

Excellence in Research Award – Early Career
Youxing Chen, Ph.D. (MEES, EPIC)
Dipankar Maity, Ph.D. (ECE, photo not available)

Excellence in Research Award – Senior
Praveen Ramaprabhu, Ph.D. (MEES)

W.S. Lee College of Engineering Distinguished Scholar Award

Tao Hong, Ph.D. (ISE, EPIC)

New Patents

Sukumar Kamalasadan, Ph.D.(ECE)
Grid Ancillary Service with Uninterruptible Power Supply (US Patent: 11,984,759)

Omid Shoghli, Ph.D. (ETCM)
Hamed Tabkhi, Ph.D.(ECE)
Worker-In-The-Loop Real Time Safety System for Short-Duration Highway Workzones (US Patent: 11,961,392)

James E. Amburgey, Ph.D.(CEE)
Separation Media, Devices and Applications Thereof (US Patent:12,128,394)

Babak Parkhideh, Ph.D. (ECE)
Systems and Methods to Detect and Measure the Current Mismatch Among Parallel Semiconductor Devices
(US Patent: 11,982,693)

Trademark Registration

Robert Cox, Ph.D.(EPIC)
Polevolt™, Registration # 7316875

Faculty Service Award

Wayne Goff (ETCM)

Learn more about the W.S. Lee College of Engineering Awards

Professional Recognitions

Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) Fellow

Brigid Mullany, Ph.D., associate dean for research and professor of mechanical engineering and engineering science, was elected as a 2024 Fellow of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers. This honor reflects her outstanding contributions to the social, technological and educational aspects of manufacturing.

Learn more about Mullany

National Academy of Inventors (NAI) Senior Members

James Amburgey, Ph.D., P.E., and Olya Keen, Ph.D., P.E., each an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, were named Senior Members of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) for their innovative research contributions.

Learn more about Amburgey and Keen

“40 Under 40”

The Charlotte Business Journal’s annual “40 Under 40 Awards” spotlight the region’s most promising young professionals who are making significant impacts in their fields and communities. Lin Ma, Ph.D., assistant professor of mechanical engineering and engineering science, was named to Charlotte Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” for his impactful work in UNC Charlotte’’s Battery Complexity, Autonomous Vehicle and Electrification Research Center (BATT CAVE). His research in battery technology is helping position Charlotte as leader in clean energy innovation.

Learn more about Ma