Four scholars receive 2022-23 Lillian Gilbreth Postdoctoral Fellowships
Purdue Engineering announces four promising engineering scholars as the next cohort of Lillian Gilbreth Fellows.
Ala Eddin Douba, Mengxue Hou, Izzet Sahin and Hanjun Yang have been awarded Gilbreth Postdoctoral Fellowships, in memory of Lillian Moller Gilbreth, a Purdue professor from 1935-48. A world-renowned pioneer in the application of psychology to industrial engineering, Gilbreth’s work epitomized interdisciplinary research and broader impact on industry and society.
The goal of the Lillian Gilbreth Postdoctoral Fellowship Program at Purdue Engineering is to attract and prepare outstanding individuals with recently awarded PhDs for a career in engineering academia through interdisciplinary research, training and professional development.
The Gilbreth Fellowships, first awarded in 2018, recognize outstanding scholarly achievements and help recipients pursue innovative, interdisciplinary research with potential for broad impact on industry and society.
Fellowship Awardees 2022-23
Ala Eddin Douba
Douba is completing a PhD in civil engineering and engineering mechanics at Columbia University. He will collaborate with co-advisors Kendra Erk, associate professor of materials engineering, and Jan Olek, James H. and Carol H. Cure Professor in Civil Engineering, in the area of rheology and printability of cementitious mixtures. Douba's field of research is the modification and characterization of cement and concrete, including alternative binders such as polymer concrete and magnesium oxide concrete.
Mengxue Hou
Hou is a PhD candidate in electrical and computer engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology. She will work with Shaoshuai Mou, associate professor in the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and Shreyas Sundaram, Marie Gordon Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, in the field of resilience and learning for large-scale multi-agent autonomy. Hou's research interests include nonlinear filtering, learning and optimal control, underwater vehicle, human robot interaction.
Izzet Sahin
Sahin earned a PhD in mechanical engineering from Texas A&M University. He will conduct research in the area of revolutionary turbines for clean propulsion with Guillermo Paniagua, professor of mechanical engineering, and Guang Lin, professor of mathematics and mechanical engineering. Sahin's research focus is on the development and advancement of gas turbine blade cooling technology for both aircraft propulsion and power generation.
Hanjun Yang
Hanjun Yang earned a PhD in chemistry from Brown University. He has begun working with Letian Dou, Charles and Nancy Davidson Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering, and Libai Huang, professor of chemistry, in the area of design exciton and spin functionalities in halide perovskite epitaxial heterostructures. Yang's research interest focuses on the synthesis, structure and spectroscopy of perovskite materials.
