Awards & Recognition

Our faculty, staff and students are recognized nationally and internationally for their professional excellence.

Latest Awards

More recent awards
    • Adrian Bejan (MEMS) won a silver medal in the 2023 Nautilus Book Awards in Science and Cosmology for his book “Time and Beauty”
    • Earl Dowell was awarded the 2022 American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Thomas K. Caughey Dynamics Award.
    • Tony Jun Huang was elected as a member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts.
    • Robert Kielb received the International Symposium for Unsteady Aerodynamic, Aeroacoustics & Aeroelasticity of Turbomachines Award for Unwavering Support and Contributions.”
    • David Mitzi received a Spiers Memorial Medal from the Royal Society of Chemistry.
    • Christine Payne was selected as an Ivy+ Provost Leadership Fellow.
    • Best Review of 2020, Nanoscale Horizons—Gaurav Arya and Marcello DeLuca
    • Fellow, American Chemical Society (ACS)—Matthew Becker
    • Lifetime Achievement Award, International Association for Green Energy—Adrian Bejan
    • Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science—Cate Brinson
    • Deputy Human Risk Manager, NASA Johnson Space Center—Dan Buckland
    • Fellow, National Academy of Inventors—Tony Jun Huang
    • Tom Sawyer Award, International Gas Turbine Institute/American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)—Bob Kielb
    • Fellow, Royal Society of Chemistry (UK)—Christine Payne
    • Deputy Human Risk Manager, NASA Johnson Space Center—Dan Buckland

  • National Academy of Engineering Membership

    • Kenneth C. Hall, Julian Francis Abele Distinguished Professor and Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science

    National Recognition and Professional Leadership

    • Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science—Tony Huang
    • Senior Member, National Academy of Inventors—Amanda Randles
    • Chair, Aerospace Engineering Peer Committee, National Academy of Engineering—Earl H. Dowell
    • Chevalier, l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques (France)—Adrian Bejan
    • TÜBA International Academy Prize in Basic & Engineering Sciences, Turkish Academy of Sciences—Adrian Bejan

    Professional Society Recognition

    University Awards and Honors

    • Aleksander S. Vesic Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Duke University—Michael Rubinstein
    • Hugo L. Blomquist Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, Duke University—Matthew Becker
    • Bass Fellow, Duke University—Christine Payne
    • Capers & Marion McDonald Award for Excellence in Mentoring & Advising, Pratt School of Engineering—Rebecca Simmons
    • Deans Award for Leadership in Program & Operational Excellence, Pratt School—Patrick McGuire

    News Media Recognition

  • National Research and Professional Leadership Awards

    • Trailblazer Award, National Institutes of Health—Stefan Zauscher
    • Humboldt Research Award, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation—Adrian Bejan

    Professional Society Recognition

    • Van C. Mow Medal, American Society of Mechanical Engineers—Tony Jun Huang

    Early Career Awards

    • Early Career Award, Association for Computing Machinery Special Interest Group on Embedded Systems—Miroslav Pajic

    University and School Honors

    • Graduate Dean’s Award for Excellence in Mentoring (Duke University)—Jennifer West
    • Distinguished Alumni Award (University of Illinois Department of Mechanical Science & Engineering)—Ken Gall

    Media Recognition

    • Top 1% of Highly Cited Researchers, Clarivate Analytics—David Mitzi and Benjamin Wiley

  • National Research and Professional Leadership Awards

    • Member, Academia Mexicana de Ciencias (Mexico)—Adrian Bejan
    • Benjamin Franklin Medal in Mechanical Engineering, Franklin Institute (United States of America)—Adrian Bejan

    Professional Society Recognition

    • Fellow, Materials Research Society—David Mitzi
    • Ralph Coats Roe Medal, American Society of Mechanical Engineers—Adrian Bejan
    • Aerodynamics Award, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics—Kenneth C. Hall
    • Dedicated Service Award, American Society of Mechanical Engineers—Kenneth C. Hall
    • Bingham Medalist, Society of Rheology—Michael Rubinstein

    Early Career Awards

    • IEEE-CS Technical Consortium on High Performance Computing Award for Excellence for Early Career Researchers in High Performance Computing—Amanda Randles
    • Grace Murray Hopper Award, Association for Computing Machinery—Amanda Randles
    • Kalvi Fellow, National Academy of Sciences and the Kalvi Foundation—Guglielmo Scovazzi

    University and School Honors

    • Member, Bass Society of Fellows (Duke University)—Wilkins Aquino and Michail Zavlanos

    Distinguished and Plenary Lectures

    • Plenary speaker, Global Power and Propulsion Society-Shanghai Conference—Robert Kielb

  • National Academy of Engineering Membership

    • Jennifer West

    National Research and Professional Leadership Awards

    • Member, National Academy of Inventors – Jennifer West

    Early Career Awards

    • Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers – Guglielmo Scovazzi
    • Analytic Chemistry 2017 Young Innovator Award – Tony Jun Huang
    • Bessel Prize, Humboldt Foundation – Stefano Curtarolo

    University and School Honors

    • 2017 Alumnus of the Year Award, (Politecnico di Torino) – Guglielmo Scovazzi

    Distinguished and Plenary Lectures

    • Distinguished Lecturer, Midwest Mechanics Seminar Series – John Dolbow
    • Keynote Lecturer, Global Power & Propulsion Forum, Zurich, Switzerland – Bob Kielb
    • Distinguished International Visitor Event, Durham University, United Kingdom – Adrian Bejan

  • National Academy of Engineering Membership

    • Elected in 2016 – Jennifer West

    National Research and Professional Leadership Awards

    • 2016 Nevada Medal, Desert Research Institute – Missy Cummings
    • Bessel Research Award, Humboldt Foundation – Stefano Curtarolo
    • Chevalier dans l’Ordre National du Mérite;  Directeur des relations entreprises, National Institute of Applied Sciences (France) – Sylvie Lorente

    Professional Society Recognition

    • 2016 Reed Aeronautics Award, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics – Earl Dowell
    • Finalist, 2015 Gordon Bell Prize – Amanda Randles
    • Editor, ASME Journal of Turbomachinery – Kenneth Hall
    • Special Session in his honor, International Congress of CERMODEL – Tomasz Hueckel
    • American Physical Society Outstanding Referee of the Physical Review and Physical Review Letters Journals 2016 – Volker Blum
    • Fellow, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics – Missy Cummings
    • Advisor, Acta Mechanica Sinica journal – Earl Dowell
    • Best paper award, IEEE Robotics and Automation Society International Conference on Humanoid Robots – Kris Hauser
    • Best Paper, IEEE International Conference on Computational Science – Amanda Randles
    • Frocht Award, Society for Experimental Mechanics – Lawrence Virgin
    • Vice chair & chair-elect, Gordon Research Conference on Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering – Jennifer West
    • Executive Council member, International Association for Computational Mechanics, John Dolbow

    Early Career Awards

    • Named to the World Economic Forum Young Scientist List 2015 – Amanda Randles

    University and School Honors

    • Faculty Director, B.N. Duke Scholarship Program (Duke University) – Mike Gustafson
    • 2016 Dean’s Award for Inclusive Excellence in Graduate Education (The Graduate School, Duke University) – MRSEC – Stefan Zauscher, director
    • Capers and Marion McDonald Teaching and Research Award (Pratt School) – Jennifer West
    • Honorary doctorate in engineering, University of Pretoria (South Africa) – Adrian Bejan
    • 2015 Distinguished Alumnus Award, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi – Ashutosh Chilkoti
    • Research Impact in Human-Computer Interaction Award, Center for Human-Computer Interaction, Virginia Tech – Regis Kopper
    • Honorary doctorate (DSc), Nottingham University (UK) – David Needham

    Distinguished Lectureships and Speakerships

    • Keynote lecture,  Academy of Europe annual conference – Adrian Bejan
    • Invited lecture, New York City Junto Society – Adrian Bejan
    • Invited lecture, Alianta Awards Gala – Adrian Bejan
    • Keynote speech, Predictive Multiscale Materials Modeling conference (Cambridge University) – Stefano Curtarolo

    Media Recognition

    • “20 Engineering Management Professors You Should Know,” Online Engineering Programs – Hadley Cox, Jeff Glass, and Brad Fox
    • Editor’s Choice, Journal of Applied Physics – Adrian Bejan

  • Research and Professional Leadership Awards

    • Clemson Award for Basic Research, Society of Biomaterials – Jennifer West
    • Highly Cited Researcher, Thomson-Reuters – Jennifer West

    Early Career Awards

    • Young Investigator Award, Creative and Novel Ideas for HIV Research – Benjamin Yellen

    Professional Society Recognition

    • Fellow, National Academy of Inventors – Ashutosh Chilkoti
    • Fellow, IACM – John Dolbow
    • Elected Secretary, USACM – John Dolbow
    • Member, Advisory Board of DOE ASCAC – John Bolbow
    • Member Spotlight, AIAA Carolinas – Earl Dowell
    • Chair, AIMBE College of Fellows – Jennifer West
    • 75th Anniversary Gold Medal, ASME Heat Transfer Division – Adrian Bejan
    • Boeing/ASME Best Paper Award, AIAA SciTech Conference – Earl Dowell

    University and School Honors

    • Thomas Langford Lectureship Award (Duke University) – Missy Cummings
    • Stansell Family Distinguished Teaching Award (Pratt School) – Jeffrey Glass

    Distinguished Lectureships and Speakerships

    • Memorial Lecturer, Northwestern University – Jennifer West

    Technology and Research Leadership

    • Member, Editorial Board of Computational Mechanics – John Dolbow

Undergraduate Awards

  • Raymond C. Gaugler

    Smithsonian Archives

    Awarded to an outstanding senior for achievement in materials science or engineering

    The Gaugler Award recognizes the senior who made the most progress in developing competence in materials science or materials engineering.

    The basis for selection is scholarship record, research or design projects completed at Duke, and interest in a materials-related career.

    Patricia S. Pearsall established the award in memory of her grandfather, the president of American Cyanamid before his death in 1952.

  • Presented to an outstanding senior in memory of T.C. Heyward, Sr.

    The award is presented annually by the Duke chapter of Pi Tau Sigma in memory of T.C. Heyward, Sr., to an outstanding senior in mechanical engineering.

    Selection is made by a committee of engineering faculty on the basis of academic excellence, engineering ability and leadership.

    Pi Tau Sigma is the national mechanical engineering honorary society.

  • Recognizes academic achievement

    The Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science Faculty Award is presented annually in recognition of academic excellence to the graduating mechanical engineering senior who attained the highest level of achievement in all subjects.