May 6, 2024

Purdue ECE grad students win annual awards

Each spring, Purdue University’s College of Engineering recognizes the outstanding accomplishments of graduate students and postdocs through several prestigious awards. Graduate students also select an outstanding faculty mentor who has gone above and beyond to serve the graduate students in their program.
Winners of the annual Graduate Student Awards posing with Milind Kulkarni, Michael and Katherine Birck Head and Professor of ECE (center right) and Vladimir M. Shalaev, Bob and Anne Burnett Distinguished Professor of ECE (center left)

Each spring, Purdue University’s College of Engineering recognizes the outstanding accomplishments of graduate students and postdocs through several prestigious awards. Graduate students also select an outstanding faculty mentor who has gone above and beyond to serve the graduate students in their program.

Awards include:

  • Magoon Excellence in Teaching Award
  • Outstanding Graduate Research Award
  • Outstanding Graduate Service Scholarship
  • Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award

The Magoon Award for Excellence in Teaching is given to outstanding teaching assistants in memory of Estus H. and Vashti L. Magoon, who have influenced the lives of many engineering educators early in their careers through this award. The following ECE students received this honor in 2023:

  • Shahryar Zehtabi
  • Farhan Zahin
  • Gaurav Patel
  • Jason Jones
  • Abu Shafin Mahdee
  • Manas Tanneeru
  • Xinglan Wu

The Outstanding Research Award goes to graduate students who have demonstrated excellence and leadership in research through publications, participation in professional organizations, and willingness to mentor others. In 2024, Samuel Peana and Wenbo Sun were ECE students who received this honor.

The Outstanding Service scholarship is presented to engineering graduate students who have provided outstanding service to the graduate student community, the School, the College, and/or the University. ECE’s Alex D. Santiago Vargas was a 2024 recipient.

Finally, the graduate students in each School select an Outstanding Faculty Mentor to recognize his or her exceptional mentoring of engineering graduate students. These professors receive an engraved plaque with a personal tribute composed by the students. The graduate students in ECE chose James Davis, Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, to receive this year's award.

To see a complete list of current and past award recipients, please visit the CoE Graduate Education Program Awards page.