Omer Oralkan, professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Veronica Augustyn, associate professor and Jake & Jennifer Hooks Distinguished Scholar in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, have been honored for their research work by NC State’s College of Engineering with Alcoa Foundation Awards.
Oralkan received the Alcoa Foundation Distinguished Engineering Research Award, which is given to a senior faculty member for research achievements made over a period of at least five years at NC State, while Augustyn received the Alcoa Foundation Engineering Research Achievement Award, which recognizes young faculty members for significant research contributions during the preceding three years.
The awards were given during the College’s 2024 spring faculty meeting, held on April 30.
Omer Oralkan
As one of the top international leaders in ultrasound microsystems, Oralkan has brought significant visibility to the department at NC State.
Over the course of his career, Oralkan has won 14 scholarly awards, had his book contributions published four times, taught 12 short courses and tutorials and had six patents issued. He won the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Sensors Council Technical Achievement Award in 2022, earned his position as an IEEE Fellow in 2023 and became an American Institute For Medical and Biological Engineering Fellow in 2024.
In his faculty role, Oralkan has advised or served as a co-chair for nine Ph.D. and master’s students between 2019 and 2023. Prior to joining NC State, Oralkan was a Research Associate and then a Senior Research Associate in the E. L. Ginzton Laboratory at Stanford University, where he worked on capacitive micromachined ultrasonic transducers.
Oralkan’s ultrasound research spans four areas – neuromodulation, imaging, electronic nose technologies and implantable medical devices. Through funding via the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Oralkan has gotten much closer to revolutionizing brain-machine interfaces without surgery.
Oralkan’s work pushes the boundaries of neurotechnology, paving the way for the next phases of development in non-invasive BMIs for both military and civilian applications.
“Dr. Oralkan’s technical research has a demonstrated record of impact with wide ranging applications for our society, including healthcare, smart buildings, agriculture and food safety,” said Veena Misra, MC Dean Distinguished University Professor, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Fellow and interim department head.
Veronica Augustyn
Augustyn has not only published more than 20 papers in the last three years, but her research has also had a major impact in the science and technology of electrochemical environments.
Augustyn’s research, which focuses on the fundamental understanding of materials in electrochemical environments for relevant energy applications, has led to a new understanding of the structure, dynamics and interfacial behavior of materials for a wide range of electrochemical energy and conversion applications. This research is broadly motivated by the importance of electrochemistry as a means of efficiently converting and storing energy.
In the past few years, Augustyn has spoken at 100 seminars, keynote lectures and conference presentations, approximately 40 of which took place between 2021 and 2023. She has been invited to speak at the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine workshop on electrochemistry; three prestigious Gordon Research Conferences; and many of the top academic departments in the United States.
Her research is supported financially through the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy and the Office of Naval Research, among other sponsors. To date, she has received over $6 million in direct research funding to her group at NC State.
“Professor Augustyn’s consistent record of research excellence and impact, and her prestigious place in the energy storage science and technology community, is truly outstanding,” said Donald Brenner, Kobe Steel Distinguished Professor and department head in Materials Science and Engineering. “Winning the ALCOA Foundation Engineering Research Achievement Award would be an appropriate way for the College of Engineering to recognize her achievements.”
- Categories:
