Ten members of the J. Mike Walker ’66 Department of Mechanical Engineering were honored at the department’s 2019 Awards and Recognition Banquet.
The recipients included four staff members, five faculty and one graduate student.
In addition to the award recipients, the department also celebrated the induction of two former students to its Academy of Distinguished Graduates. Holly Ridings ’96 and Jay Still ’84 were both in attendance to accept the honor.
Ridings is the first woman to serve as chief flight director at NASA, directing human spaceflight missions from the Mission Control Center at Johnson Space Center in Houston, and Still serves as president, CEO and chairman of the board at Guidon Energy.
The awards and their recipients are as follows:
James J. Cain ’51 Staff Excellence Award
Sandra Havens, Program Specialist II
Adrienne Krenek, Administrative Associate IV
J. Mike Walker ’66 Staff Excellence Award
Nicole Latham, Administrative Coordinator I
Jennifer Bloom, Academic Advisor III
James J. Cain ’51 Graduate Student Teaching Award
Namita Anil Kumar, Ph.D. Student
J. Mike Walker ’66 Faculty Graduate Teaching Award
Dr. Jonathan Felts, Assistant Professor
Peggy L. & Charles Brittan ’65 Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award
Dr. Matt Pharr, Assistant Professor
American Society of Mechanical Engineers Best Teacher Award
Heather Lewis, Lecturer
Mechanical Engineering Industry Advisory Council Faculty Contributions Award
Dr. Srikanth Saripalli, Associate Professor and Gulf Oil/Thomas A. Dietz Career Development Professor II
Mechanical Engineering Industry Advisory Council Faculty Mentoring Award
Dr. M. Cynthia Hipwell, TEES Eminent Professor & National Academy of Engineering Member