Administrative/Professional Customer Service Award Finalist: Kitty Cooper (nominated by Professor Pedro Irazoqui). Kitty was praised in her nomination for her coordination efforts for the preeminent team for Implantable Networks of Wireless Nanoelectronic Nodes, her indispensable support of our Development Office, and her organization for the past three years of the International Symposium on Label-free imaging. This is in addition to her “normal” responsibilities in the administrative office of the Weldon School. Her boundless energy and enormous enthusiasm are indispensable to and a critical component of our success.

Leadership Award Recipient: Korina Wilbert (nominated by Dr. Andrew Brightman). Korina’s leadership efforts on behalf of the College of Engineering in building a communication community and sharing best practices put her at the forefront of this year’s nominees. She has been the Weldon School’s communications specialist since 2012, and in that position has been proactive in designing a communications strategy for the School and leading the implementation of that plan through workshops, partnership development, and integration of social media. College-wide, Korina has built a networked community of communications specialists, which has led to greatly increased educational opportunities and collaboration among the schools and departments. Her extraordinary leadership and innovation initiative has impacted the entire College of Engineering.

Team Award Recipient: Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering Preclinical Studies Research Team: William Schoenlein, Melissa Bible, Rick Sieber, Gena Brock, Tina Cleary, and Tracy Moller (nominated by Professor George Wodicka).  The Weldon School is an internal hub for translational research, as well as a visible focal point for external collaborations with the medical device industry in Indiana. The School’s diverse faculty focus their efforts on the solution of important clinical problems through technological means. Over the past two decades, BMEs have been inventors on more than 100 issued U.S. patents, with over half licensed, resulting in royalty income that surpasses that of any other academic unit on campus. These accomplishments were made possible through the dedication, deep knowledge, and team-centric efforts of our Preclinical Studies Research Team. The Team allows us to collaborate with and support our industrial partners in ways that rapidly move critical technologies down the development pipeline toward patient care and clinical impact. Having such an experienced and dedicated team within our School allows us to continue to expand our extramural research relationships. They collectively represent a truly unique resource that sits at the center of our School’s many accomplishments.

The honorees were recognized at the annual Staff Awards Banquet on December 4 hosted by Leah Jamieson, John A. Edwardson Dean of Engineering.

Congratulations to all, and our sincere thanks for all your incredible efforts.