The 2026 Paul E.Torgersen Graduate Student Research Excellence Award
PhD Student Awardees
2026 top four scores from the PhD category
1st Place Gaurav Duggal
Electrical Engineering
Advisors: Dr. Jeffrey H. Reed, Dr. R. Michael Buehrer, Dr. Harpreet S. Dhillon & Dr. Nishith
Wireless Localization in Next Generation Emergency Networks
2nd Place Jessica Gannon
Biomedical Engineering
Advisor: Dr. Eli Vlaisavljevich
Developing Histotripsy a Focused Ultrasound Therapy for Pancreatic Cancer
3rd Place Jack Tapocik
Mechanical Engineering
Advisor: Dr. Jonathan Boreyko
Barley Leaf Billiards: Spore Launching via Rebound Collision from Jumping-Droplet Condensation
4th Place Huan Yang
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Advisor: Dr. Hosein Foroutan
Beyond Passive Transport: A Framework to Predict When Microplastics Diverge from Water Flow in Gravel-Bed Streams
Top Ten Finalists List
Gaurav Duggal
Electrical Engineering
Advisor: Dr. Jeffrey H. Reed, Dr. R. Michael Buehrer, Dr. Harpreet S. Dhillon & Dr. Nishith Tripathi
Wireless Localization in Next Generation Emergency Networks
Jessica Gannon
Biomedical Engineering
Advisor: Dr. Eli Vlaisavljevich
Developing Histotripsy a Focused Ultrasound Therapy for Pancreatic Cancer
Malini Morapakkam Josiam
Engineering Education
Advisor: Dr. Walter C. Lee
An Investigation of the Perspectives of Women of Color on the Cultures of Undergraduate Engineering
Peidong Liu
Mining and Minerals Engineering
Advisor: Dr. Wencai Zhang
Integrated Critical Mineral Recovery and CO2 Mineralization from Oilfield Produced Water
Hyunwoo Shin
Industrial and Systems Engineering
Advisor: Dr. Sait Tunc
From Simulation Outputs to Adoption Decisions: Evidence-Guided Multi-Objective Optimization for Lung Allocation
Jack Tapocik
Mechanical Engineering
Advisor: Dr. Jonathan Boreyko
Barley Leaf Billiards: Spore Launching via Rebound Collision from Jumping-Droplet Condensation
Xiaofeng Wu
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Advisor: Dr. Hang Yu
AI-Driven Non-Destructive Quality Quantification of Additively Manufactured Components Through Laser Acoustic Resonance Spectroscopy and Physics-Informed Machine Learning
Huan Yang
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Advisor: Dr. Hosein Foroutan
Beyond Passive Transport: A Framework to Predict When Microplastics Diverge from Water Flow in Gravel-Bed Streams
Raquib Bin Yousuf
Computer Science
Advisor: Dr. Naren Ramakrishnan
Improving Artificial Intelligence Reasoning and Retrieval in Structured and Complex Information Spaces
Masters Student Awardees
2026 top four scores from the Masters category
1st Place Joshua Hansell
Material Science and Engineering
Advisor: Dr. Hang Yu
Transforming End-of-Life Automotive Aluminum Waste to Quality Components using Solid-State Additive Manufacturing
2nd Place Ahmed Shah Nisar
Civil Engineering
Advisor: Dr. Gerardo Flintsch
Evaluating Connected Vehicle and Traffic Speed Deflectometer Data for Pavement Network Monitoring and Deterioration Assessment
3rd Place Sarah Leach
Biological Systems Engineering
Advisor: Dr. Jonathan Czuba
Unsteady Flood Hydraulics and The Non-Uniqueness of the Stage-Inundation Relationship on Floodplains
4th Place Manav Shah
Computer Engineering
Advisor: Dr. Leyla Nazhandali
A PCA-Based Framework Leveraging Frequency-Dependent Piezoelectric Impedance for Macro-Scale Physical Unclonable Functions
Top Ten Finalists List
Suryansh Aryan
Aerospace Engineering
Advisor: Dr. Samantha Perry Kenyon
Design and development of Fault Tolerant Lunar Network and Navigation Architecture
Erika Buela
Civil Engineering
Advisor: Dr. Alex Brand
Ultrasonic Methods for Monitoring of Early-Age Setting in 3D-Printed Concrete
Yashodhan D. Hakke
Computer Engineering
Advisor: Dr. Dr. Almuatazbellah Boker
How CPSS and Multi-Agent Reinforcement Learning Can Reduce Community Fear During Disasters
Joshua Hansell
Material Science and Engineering
Advisor: Dr. Hang Yu
Transforming End-of-Life Automotive Aluminum Waste to Quality Components using Solid-State Additive Manufacturing
Advait Jadhav
Mechanical Engineering
Advisor: Dr. Mehdi Ahmadian
Redesign of an Electro-Magnetic Energy Harvesting Device for Rail Industry Applications
Sarah Leach
Biological Systems Engineering
Advisor: Dr. Jonathan Czuba
Unsteady Flood Hydraulics and The Non-Uniqueness of the Stage-Inundation Relationship on Floodplains
Ahmed Shah Nisar
Civil Engineering
Advisors: Dr. Gerardo Flintsch
Evaluating Connected Vehicle and Traffic Speed Deflectometer Data for Pavement Network Monitoring and Deterioration Assessment
Gbolahan Oladiji
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Advisor: Dr. Deb Mishra
Balanced Mix Design for Enhanced Performance of Stone Matrix Asphalt with Recycled Asphalt Shingles in Oklahomw
Manav Shah
Computer Engineering
Advisor: Dr. Leyla Nazhandali
A PCA-Based Framework Leveraging Frequency-Dependent Piezoelectric Impedance for Macro-Scale Physical Unclonable Functions
Gaurav Srivastava
Computer Science
Advisor: Dr. Xuan Wang
EffGen: Enabling Small Language Models as Capable Autonomous Agents