Recipient: LAURENT PILON - SCIENCE

Laurent Pilon, Ph.D., a professor in the mechanical and aerospace engineering department at the University of California, Los Angeles, is recognized for seminal and interdisciplinary contributions to the field of heat transfer, combined with interfacial phenomena, materials science and electrochemistry, for the development of sustainable energy technologies.

Dr. Pilon and his collaborators have authored six book chapters and more than 170 archival journal publications, and filed seven patents. Over the last 19 years, he has advised 22 master’s students, 30 Ph.D. students and five postdoctoral scholars. Dr. Pilon is an associate editor of ASME's Journal of Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage.

 

Recipient: MICHAEL OHADI - ART

Michael Ohadi, Ph.D., a Minta Martin professor of mechanical engineering at University of Maryland, College Park, is recognized for pioneering contributions in the application of electrohydrodynamics to enhanced heat and mass transfer, liquid-vapor separation and micropumping processes; in novel heat and mass transfer designs for single phase and phase change processes; and in the development of novel, additively manufactured heat exchangers for polymer and polymer composites, and metals and super alloys.

Dr. Ohadi joined UMD in 1990. His research has been cross-disciplinary and team-based, with active collaborations with materials science and engineering, and chemical and electrical engineering disciplines. He served as program director at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Project Agency–Energy (2016-20).

 

Recipient: WEBB MARNER - GENERAL

Webb Marner, Ph.D., an adjunct professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles, is recognized for extensive, exemplary contributions to ASME, the Society's Heat Transfer Division and the thermal science community through technical experience in industry, academia and government.

Dr. Marner's professional career includes a faculty position at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in Rapid City and technical staff positions at Heat Transfer Research, Inc. in Alhambra, Calif. In 1980 he joined the California Institute of Technology's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, where he spent most of his career. Dr. Marner began teaching thermal science and system design courses at UCLA in 1991.

 

Recipient: TATIANA MOROSUK

Tatiana Morosuk, Ph.D., Dr. habil., head of the exergy-based methods for refrigeration systems department at Technische Universität Berlin, is recognized for outstanding and innovative contributions to the science of theoretical and applied thermodynamics, particularly eminent teaching and research in the areas of advanced exergy-based methods, refrigeration and cryogenic processes, and electric power generation plants.

Dr. Morosuk also serves as deputy director of the Institute for Energy Engineering at TU Berlin (2015-17; 2021-). In 2015 she began serving as a study dean for two international master's programs, and that same year two additional programs were established under her leadership. Dr. Morosuk has supervised/co-supervised 16 Ph.D. and more than 100 master's theses. She has published eight books and more than 400 research papers, and she has 10 patents.

 

Recipient: JOVICA RIZNIC – GOLD

Jovica Riznic, P.Eng., Ph.D., technical specialist at the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, is honored for the development of complex numerical models and innovative diagnostics to better measure, calculate and understand the structure of the two-phase flow in nuclear power plants; and for key contributions to steam generator life cycle management.

At the CNSC, Dr. Riznic works on regulatory analysis and assessment of technical issues with operating nuclear power plants, with a focus on fitness-for-service assessment of major components. He is also an adjunct professor/thesis advisor at the University of Waterloo and Purdue University, and a faculty member at Algonquin College.

 

Recipient: BRIAN WODKA – SILVER

Brian Wodka, P.E., division manager of the York, Pa. office of RMF Engineering, is recognized for demonstrated leadership that has advanced the power industry, particularly achievements in systems design, regulatory changes, standards development, training and ASME service.

Mr. Wodka has spent his entire career involved in steam systems and power plant engineering, inspection, operation, commissioning, reliability and forensic analysis. He has published multiple technical papers and articles as a subject matter expert on power plant performance and reliability. For the past 10 years, he sits on both the Maryland Board of Boiler Rules and the Maryland Board of Stationary Engineers.

 

Recipient: NENAD MILJKOVIC

Nenad Miljkovic, Ph.D., an associate professor of mechanical science and engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, is recognized for significant contributions to the fundamental understanding of phase change heat transfer, particularly the dropwise condensation of steam, and the development of materials to enable the dropwise condensation of low surface tension fluids.

Dr. Miljkovic also leads the Energy Transport Research Laboratory; and he has courtesy appointments in electrical and computer engineering, and the Materials Research Laboratory. He is associate director of the Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Center, a National Science Foundation industry–university cooperative research center at UIUC.

 

Recipient: MICHAEL THOULESS

Michael Thouless, CEng, Ph.D., the Janine Johnson Weins professor of engineering, an Arthur F. Thurnau professor, and an associate chair of the mechanical engineering department at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, is recognized for seminal studies of fracture and plasticity of thin films, layered materials and adhesive materials, particularly pioneering efforts related to all aspects of cohesive zone modeling.

Dr. Thouless has been with U-M since 1995. With collaborators at the university, he has pioneered fracture-fabrication techniques for nanoscale devices; and developed novel design strategies for protection against blast and impact, and for protection against ice adhesion. Dr. Thouless has published 178 papers, and he has 10 patents.

 

Recipient: YUHANG HU

Yuhang Hu, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering, and the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, is honored for pioneering contributions to the field of soft active materials through research at the interface of mechanics and materials chemistry that combines theory with simulations and experiments, and spans from fundamental mechanics to novel applications.

At Georgia Tech, Dr. Hu has established an internationally visible and externally funded research program. She has published more than 50 peer-reviewed papers, and has delivered seminars and talks at conferences and peer institutions.

 

Recipient: DAVID R. DOWLING

David R. Dowling, Ph.D., chair of the naval architecture and marine engineering department at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, is recognized for the pioneering development of novel and robust techniques for remote focusing of acoustic waves, and remote localization and characterization of sound sources in complicated, noisy and imperfectly known environments. Dr. Dowling assumed his current position in July 2021. With U-M since 1992, he has taught and conducted funded research in acoustics and fluid mechanics. Dr. Dowling has authored/co-authored more than 200 conference presentations and more than 100 journal articles, and has supervised/co-supervised 22 doctoral students.