On Thursday, May 4, 2023, the ISE Department held its annual Awards Ceremony in Mohler Laboratory. It is our pleasure to announce and celebrate the achievements of our alumni, faculty, staff, and students. The first award below was given by the Rossin College on May 8.
2023 Rossin Excellence in Research Scholarship & Leadership Award
Professor Frank E. Curtis has won the 2023 P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science Excellence in Research Scholarship & Leadership Award. This award recognizes a Rossin college faculty member who has demonstrated outstanding scholarship and is considered to be a prominent research leader in their field. Frank E. Curtis is a Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in the Lehigh ISE Department. His research spans theory, algorithm design, and numerical computation in the field of continuous mathematical optimization. This Rossin recognition follows the 2018 INFORMS Computing Society Prize, the 2021 SIAM/MOS Lagrange Prize in Continuous Optimization, and 2023 Lehigh’s Libsch Research Award. Congratulations Frank!
2023 ISE Distinguished Alumni Award for Excellence in Industry
We are pleased to announce Paul Camuti, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology and Sustainability Officer as the recipient of the 2023 ISE Distinguished Alumni Award for Excellence in Industry. This annual award acknowledges the importance of our remarkable alumni community, and its many contributions to our educational mission and industry engagement over the years. For more than 30 years Paul has been at the intersection of industrial and digital transformation and sustainability. Prior to joining Trane, he was founder and president of Smart Grid Applications for Siemens Energy and CEO of Siemens Corporate Research. In addition, he has worked with Eaton Corporation and Westinghouse Electric. Congratulations Paul!
2023 Lawrence E. White Fellowship
We are pleased to announce Josie Charles as the recipient of the 2023 Lawrence E. White Fellowship for Master’s in Management Science and Engineering. This fellowship is made available through the generosity of Lehigh and department alumnus Lawrence E. White (’64, ’65, ’69) for a full tuition towards 30 credits of master’s degree study. Josie Charles is currently an undergraduate senior at Lehigh University completing a BS in ISE and a minor in Computer Science Engineering. During her time at Lehigh she has competed on the Division 1 Lehigh Softball team. Her hometown is Issaquah, Washington. The Selection Committee was formed by Professors Luis Nunes Vicente (committee chair), Robert H. Storer, and Tamás Terlaky. Congratulations Josie!
2023 Van Hoesen Family Best Publication Award
We are pleased to announce Mohammadhossein Mohammadisiahroudi as the recipient of the seventh annual Van Hoesen Family Best Publication Award. Mohammad will receive a $1,000 monetary prize for his paper “An Inexact-Feasible Interior Point Method for Linear Optimization with High Adaptability to Quantum Computers”, co-authored with Ramin Fakhimi and Professor Tamás Terlaky. This award inspires students to publish influential research, software tools, and applications, and was made available through a generous gift of Everett Van Hoesen ‘55. The Selection Committee was formed by Professors Karmel S. Shehadeh (committee chair), Professors Frank E. Curtis and Luis F. Zuluaga. Congratulations Mohammad!
2023 ISE Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award
The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Awards were newly created in 2023 to recognize members of the ISE Community who have shown exemplary commitment, leadership, and service to the advancement of the ISE DEI goals during the current academic year. The Selection Committee was formed by Professor Luis F. Zuluaga (committee chair), Miki Sakai, Mythreyi Sekar, and Professor Gregory L. Tonkay. ISE is pleased to announce three inaugural winners:
Lauren Fountain is pursuing a BS dual degree in ISE and IBE Finance. Lauren serves on the Society for Women in Engineering (Lehigh University Section). In this position she has led numerous initiatives to further opportunities for women in Engineering. In particular, Lauren organized the sixth annual Women and Non-Binary in STEM Dinner at Lehigh University this spring. Also, Lauren attended and helped to raise funds for other women students to attend the annual Society for Women in Engineering conference. Quoting from Lauren’s award nomination letter: “In [Lauren], I see a young professional with a strong desire to better the world for women and young girls…”. Congratulations Lauren!
Roman Mitchell serves on the executive board of Lehigh University’s Lehigh’s African Student Association and National Society of Black Engineering. In this position, Roman has led numerous initiatives to further opportunities for black students in STEM and Engineering. In particular, Mitchell fundraised to support the attendance of a group of students to the annual National Society of Black Engineers Conference. Also, Roman moderated a panel discussion on “Traveling while Black Through the Education System” as part of Lehigh's Traveling While Black Virtual Experience. The nomination letter emphasizes the high level of commitment with which Roman approaches all these important DEI activities. Congratulations Roman!
Professor Ana-Iulia Alexandrescu is the Director of the Lehigh ISE Outreach Program. In this position, Ana has led numerous initiatives to maintain and further a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment at the ISE Department. These initiatives has been geared towards K-12 students, women, minorities, and underrepresented groups. In particular, Ana has established connections with two local K-12 programs to promote engineering problem-solving and introduce K-12 students to systems engineering. Also, Ana has worked with a group of undergraduate women in engineering to create K-12 activities for middle-school girls to gain exposure to STEM concepts. As stated in Ana’s nomination letter, Ana has actively participated in every facet of the plan established by the ISE Department to fulfill its DEI goals. Congratulations Ana!
2023 MIT Supply Chain Excellence Award
Each year MIT presents its Supply Chain Excellence Award to outstanding graduating seniors from Lehigh. The awards recognize students’ potential for leadership in supply chain management and provide tuition scholarships to the MIT Supply Chain Management Master’s Degree. Winners were selected based on personal statements and on their academic excellence at Lehigh.
The ISE Department is pleased to announce that Morgan Heller and Abagail Poulin are the recipients of the 2023 MIT Supply Chain Excellence Award. Meghan Wood received an Honorable Mention for the 2023 MIT Supply Chain Excellence Award and Julia Helliesen was named as a Qualified Nominee of the 2023 MIT Supply Chain Excellence Award. Congratulations Morgan, Abagail, Meghan, and Julia!
2023 Lehigh ISE Student and Faculty of the Year Awards
Lehigh ISE is honored to announce the following awards in recognition and appreciation of students and faculty, for their achievements throughout the 2022-2023 academic year. The department congratulates these students and faculty and thanks them for their contributions and dedications to the ISE Department.
- Industrial and Systems Engineering Sophomore of the Year: Melissa Caraccio
- Integrated Business and Engineering Sophomore of the Year: Sara Menand
- Industrial and Systems Engineering Junior of the Year: Brooke Cannon
- Integrated Business and Engineering Junior of the Year: Keith Cheung
- Industrial and Systems Engineering Senior of the Year: Sarah Butensky and Josie Charles
- Integrated Business and Engineering Senior of the Year: Tobey Bill
- Industrial and Systems Engineering Master's Student of the Year: Parth Malkan
- Management Science and Engineering Master's Student of the Year: Matthew Harrison
- Healthcare Systems Engineering Master's Student of the Year: Amanda Curry
- Financial Engineering Master's Student of the Year: Asim Turk
- ISE Ph.D. Student of the Year: Secil Sozuer
- Undergraduate Faculty Member of the Year: Professor Gregory L. Tonkay
- Master's Faculty Member of the Year: Professor Lawrence V. Snyder
- Ph.D. Faculty Member of the Year: Professor Xiu Yang