College of Engineering Honors Faculty Excellence

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Top from left: Jamie Hestekin, Alan Mantooth and Ashlea Milburn; below: Kyle Quinn and Greg Thoma.

College of Engineering faculty and staff gathered May 7 to celebrate faculty excellence in teaching, research, service and collaboration.

Greg Thoma, professor and Bates Teaching Endowed Professorship in Chemical Engineering from the Ralph E. Martin Department of Chemical Engineering, earned the John L Imhoff Award for Research. Thoma was recognized for his standing as an international expert in the field of agricultural lifecycle assessment. He serves on two United Nations Technical Advisory Groups and has been invited to present to audiences around the world, including a speech to the World Bank about fruit and vegetable sustainability that was simulcast to 15 countries.

Kyle Quinn, assistant professor of biomedical engineering, earned the Rising Star Faculty Award. Quinn was honored for his high level of scholarly activity, including publications, graduate student advising, external research funding and patent submissions. Quinn's research in the microstructure of skin changes related to aging is transforming the fields of biomedical engineering, skin biology and wound healing.

Jamie Hestekin, Professor of Chemical Engineering and holder of the Ralph E. Martin Professorship in Chemical Engineering, earned the College's Collaborative Faculty Research Award. Hestekin was chosen for both the scope and success of his interdisciplinary research. He has earned nearly $3 million in collaborative grant funding since 2014 and has published 10 collaborative papers that span work in five departments.

Alan Mantooth, distinguished professor of electrical engineering and holder of the Twenty-First Century Research Leadership Chair in Engineering, earned the Faculty Distinguished Achievement Award for Outstanding Public Service. Mantooth was chosen for his global service to the field of electrical engineering. In two years, Mantooth traveled more than 400,000 miles and visited six continents, delivering presentations at meetings and conferences around the world. He also organized technical meetings from Fayetteville to Shenzen, China, to Busan, South Korea.

Ashlea Milburn, associate professor of industrial engineering, earned the Dean's Award of Excellence in Rising Teaching. Milburn was recognized for her outstanding teaching evaluation scores and positive feedback from her students. Milburn teaches one of the most difficult courses in the industrial engineering curriculum and still has some of the highest evaluation scores in the department. Students praised her dynamic teaching, engaging in-class conversations and ability to connect course material to real-world applications.

To view photos from the event, visit the College's Facebook page.