Annually, the College of Graduate Studies sponsors graduate student awards for excellence in research and teaching. Acknowledging graduate students for their accomplishments is an important part of providing a rewarding academic experience. The College of Graduate Studies offers these awards annually to recognize our outstanding graduate students in a variety of categories:
- Outstanding Dissertation (completed dissertation in Spring 2022, Summer 2022, or Fall 2022)
- Outstanding Master’s Thesis (completed thesis in Spring 2022, Summer 2022, or Fall 2022)
- Award for Excellence by a Graduate Teaching Assistant (for GTAs who are not instructors of record, but provide teaching support under the direction of a lead teacher)
- Award for Excellence in Graduate Student Teaching (for instructors of record)

Information, such as eligibility and application requirements, for each award is located at the following site: https://graduate.ucf.edu/awards-and-recognition/. Winners of previous Graduate Awards of Excellence at the college level are listed here: https://grad.cecs.ucf.edu/awards-and-support/graduate-student-awards/.
Faculty should submit their nominations to their department’s Graduate Program Director by 5:00 PM on Thursday, January 5th , 2023 or an earlier deadline set by the Graduate Program Director. Afterwards, each CECS department will advance up to one nomination per category to the CECS Academic Affairs Office no later than 12:00 PM on Thursday, January 12th, 2023. Only nominations from Graduate Program Directors will be considered.
It is up to each CECS department to best determine how to select its nominee for each category. The CECS Awards Committee will review the nominations from the departments and select the CECS nominee in each category. The applications for the CECS nominees will be forwarded to the College of Graduate Studies on Friday, January 20th, 2023. At the university level, the Graduate Council will review the applications from the colleges and make recommendations to the Dean of the College of Graduate Studies, who will make the final selections and notify award winners. Each university-wide award winner will receive a certificate and a cash award of $1,500.
It is a pleasure to celebrate the success and excellence of our graduate students.
For each of the categories listed above (Outstanding Dissertation, Outstanding Master’s Thesis, GTA Award, Graduate Student Teaching), the list below archives the CECS nominees. For nominees that were selected as the university-wide winners, their names are highlighted by **.
Outstanding Dissertation
(Selected university wide winners are highlighted by **)
2022
Dr. Sijie Zhu, Computer Science PhD, Toward Real-World Cross-View Image Geo-Localization
2021
**Dr. Shraddha Nehate, Electrical Engineering PhD, Characterization of Hydrogenated Boron Carbide and Boron Carbon Nitride Thin Films and Applications
2020
**Dr. Lin Hu, Materials Science and Engineering PhD, Designing Metal Nanocatalysts and Tuning their Microenvironment for Gas-involving Electrocatalysis
2019
No Nominee
2018
**Dr. Jared Church, Environmental Engineering PhD, ELECTROCHEMICAL MICROSENSORS FOR IN SITU MONITORING OF CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS IN ENGINEERED AND NATURAL AQUATIC SYSTEMS
2017
Dr. Khurram Soomro, Computer Science PhD, ONLINE, SUPERVISED AND UNSUPERVISED ACTION LOCALIZATION IN VIDEOS
2016
**Dr. Afshin Dehghan, Computer Science PhD, GLOBAL DATA ASSOCIATION FOR MULTIPLE PEDESTRIAN TRACKING
2015
**Dr. Juneyoung Park, Civil Engineering PhD, EXPLORATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF CRASH MODIFICATION FACTORS AND FUNCTIONS FOR SINGLE AND MULTIPLE TREATMENTS
2014
Dr. He Shen, Mechanical Engineering PhD, BIO-INSPIRED ATTITUDE CONTROL OF MICRO AIR VEHICLES USING RICH INFORMATION FROM AIRFLOW SENSORS
2013
Dr. Cuncong Zhong, Computer Science PhD, COMPUTATIONAL METHODS FOR COMPARATIVE NON-CODING RNA ANALYSIS: FROM STRUCTURAL MOTIF IDENTIFICATION TO GENOME-WIDE FUNCTIONAL CLASSIFICATION
2012
**Dr. Abhishek Saha, Mechanical Engineering PhD, EVAPORATION, PRECIPITATION DYNAMICS AND INSTABILITY OF ACOUSTICALLY LEVITATED FUNCTIONAL DROPLETS
2011
**Dr. Haitham Bahaitham, Industrial Engineering, PhD, A FRAMEWORK FOR QUANTIFYING SUSTAINABILITY OF LEAN INPLEMENTATION IN HEALTHCARE ORGANIZATIONS
2010
Dr. Ehsan Yakhshi-Tafti, Mechanical, Materials and Aerospace Engineering, PhD, THERMALLY-INDUCED MOTION OF DROPLETS ON A THIN LIQUID LAYER AND ITS APPLICATION TO DROPLET MANIPULATION PLATFORMS
Outstanding Master’s Thesis
(Selected university wide winners are highlighted by **)
2020
Timothy Grondin, Aerospace Engineering MS, Design and Mechanical Characterization of Functionally Graded Sandwich Beams Fabricated via Additive Manufacturing
2021
**Shahzeb Mustafa, Computer Science MS, Optimizing Peer Selection among Internet Service Providers (ISPs)
2020
**Daniela Diaz, Environmental Engineering MS, Emulsion Characterization Study for Improved Bilgewater Treatment and Management
2019
No Nominee
2018
**Kamol Chandra Roy, Civil Engineering MS, UNDERSTANDING CRISIS COMMUNICATION AND MOBILITY RESILIENCE DURING DISASTERS FROM SOCIAL MEDIA
2017
**Firat Irmak, Aerospace Engineering MSAE, A FLEXIBLE PHYSICS-BASED LIFING METHOD FOR METALS UNDER CREEP AND THERMOMECHANICAL FATIGUE
2016
**Christian Garcia, Aerospace Engineering MSAE, GEOLOCATION OF DISEASED LEAVES IN STRAWBERRY ORCHARDS FOR A CUSTOM-DESIGNED OCTOROTOR
2015
**Jared Church, Environmental Engineering MS, DISHWASHING WATER RECYCLING SYSTEM AND RELATED WATER QUALITY STANDARDS FOR MILITARY USE
2014
Erica R. LaBerge, Environmental Engineering MS, STUDY OF THE FORMATION AND CONTROL OF DISINFECTION BY-PRODUCTS ORIGINATING FROM A SURFACE WATER SUPPLY ON THE VOLCANIC ISLAND OF GUAM
2013
**Steven M. Kraft, Mechanical Engineering MS, THE CHARACTERIZATION OF THE EFFECTS OF STRESS CONCENTRATIONS ON THE MECHANICAL BEHAVIOR OF A MICRONIC WOVEN WIRE MESH
2012
**Ashley Ewh, Materials Science & Engineering MS, EFFECTS OF ALLOTROPIC TRANSFORMATIONS ON INTERDIFFUSION BEHAVIOR IN BINARY SYSTEMS
2011
**Zhao Wang, Electrical Engineering MS, NONLINEAR ESTIMATION AND CONTROL FOR ASSISTIVE ROBOTS
2010
Carson Slabaugh, Mechanical, Materials and Aerospace Engineering MS, HEAT TRANSFER AUGMENTATION IN A NARROW RECTANGULAR DUCT WITH DIMPLES APPLIED TO A SINGLE WALL
Award for Excellence by a Graduate Teaching Assistant
(Selected university wide winners are highlighted by **)
2022
Chien Hsuan Chen, Materials Science and Engineering PhD
2021
Timothy Copeland, Civil Engineering PhD
2020
**Brandy King, Computer Science MS
2019
No Nominee
2018
Burak Sen, Civil Engineering PhD
2017
Arup Kumar Ghosh, Computer Science PhD
2016
**Honorable Mention**Arup Kumar Ghosh, Computer Science PhD
2015
**Soheil Salehi Mobarakeh, Computer Engineering PhD
2014
Muamer Ali Abuzwidah, Civil Engineering PhD
2013
Wilawan Onkham, Industrial Engineering PhD
2012
Catherine Kammerer, Materials Science & Engineering PhD
2011
**Andrea Cumming, Environmental Engineering PhD
2010
Chowdhury K. A. Siddiqui, PhD, Civil, Environmental and Construction Engineering
Award for Excellence in Graduate Student Teaching
(Selected university wide winners are highlighted by **)
2022
Alexis Benamira, Computer Science PhD
2021
Sreeram Sundaresh, Electrical Engineering PhD
2020
Sahar Hooshmand, Computer Science PhD
2019
N/A
2018
Pankaj Pramod Kulkarni, Mechanical Engineering PhD
2017
No nominee
2016
No nominee
2015
Mohamed Awwad, Industrial Engineering PhD
2014
Stephanie C. Bolyard, Environmental Engineering PhD
2013
Catherine Kammerer, Materials Science and Engineering PhD
2012
Saeed Hadian Niasar, Civil Engineering PhD
2011
Jonathan Cazalas, Computer Science PhD
2010
Mohamed Ahmed, Civil, Environmental and Construction Engineering PhD