Commencement Awards
Commencement Awards
Each year at commencement, the College, and each of the College’s departments, recognize graduating seniors with medallion awards. Below is information and videos on all 2023 medallion winners.
Click here to view past year awardees.
DaVinci Medallion for Excellence in Biomedical Engineering
Crystal Stackhouse
Sponsored by the Department of Biomedical Engineering, this award is presented to the most outstanding graduating senior in the department. Endowed by Dr. Mark Byrne, Founding Biomedical Engineering Department Head, and his wife, Mrs. Susan Byrne.
Criteria:
Outstanding Cumulative GPA Demonstrating Academic Excellence
Demonstrated Excellence in Creative Scholarship and Research
Professional Leadership
Exceptional Character and Outreach Leadership
Bio:
Crystal Stackhouse is a biomedical engineering and physics double major. She has been working in Dr. Nathaniel Nucci’s molecular biophysics laboratory in the College of Science of Mathematics since her sophomore year where she has led various projects studying protein structure and function inside of reverse micelle nanoparticles. She is a two-time NASA New Jersey Space Grant Consortium Awardee, recipient of the university-wide Undergraduate Research Award, and has presented her work at several conferences at both the regional and national levels. Outside of the laboratory, Stackhouse has served as a Physics Learning Assistant and Rowan Biomedical Engineering Ambassador. After graduation, she will pursue a Ph.D. in Biophysics at Stanford University, where she will further her training in independent research and mentorship for the future generation of scientists.
Clarence Slater Award for Excellence in Chemical Engineering
Casey Cox
Established by Dr. C. Stewart Slater, the founding Chair of the Chemical Engineering Department, this medallion is awarded to an outstanding graduating senior in the department. The award is named in memory of Dr. Slater’s father, Clarence, who was an eminent educator in Southern New Jersey, with 40 years of service as a teacher, department head and administrator at Atlantic City High School.
Criteria:
Student GPA (Chemical Engineering courses weigh heavily)
Undergraduate research (i.e., the student’s ability to excel in their junior/senior clinic project)
Activities in support of the Chemical Engineering Department
Bio:
Casey Cox is graduating in May 2023 with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering. She is a member of the John H. Martinson Honors College. She received the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) Othmer award in 2021. She also pursued a minor in Spanish and earned the NJ state seal of biliteracy in 2019. She began working in the Engineering Dean’s Office during her freshman year, and she later started working for the Chemical Engineering Department as both an office assistant and a lab technician assistant. Cox is a member of Rowan’s AIChE and SAMPE chapters, and she has served as treasurer for Rowan’s Tau Beta Pi engineering honor society. She has also served as a volunteer tutor for the Chemical Engineering Department. As a research assistant for Rowan’s Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Institute (AMMI), she has worked on several research projects related to sustainable materials, specifically biobased polymers. She has presented her research at several events and conferences, and she has co-authored a journal article to be submitted to ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering. She will continue her passion for polymer research by pursuing a Ph.D. in either Materials Science & Engineering or Polymer Science & Engineering.
Elizabeth Slater Award for Excellence in Chemical Engineering Graduate Studies
John Chea
The Elizabeth Slater Award for Excellence in Chemical Engineering Graduate Studies is awarded to an outstanding Chemical Engineering graduating graduate student each year. The medal is named in memory of the mother of Dr. C. Stewart Slater, the Founding Chair of the Chemical Engineering Department. His mother worked as a Secretary for the Music Department at Atlantic City High School, where she met Dr. Slater’s father. She served the country as an American Red Cross “Gray Lady” during WW II, helping wounded servicemen at Thomas England General Hospital.
Criteria:
Must be graduating in May of the year of the award, or have had degree conferred earlier in the given academic year
Leadership / independent work on graduate project(s)
Creativity in research pursuits
Quantifiable scholarly outputs (examples: co-authorship of journal papers, conference presentations, corporate seminars, invited talks, assistance with corporate or federal agency reports, interactions with grant sponsor, assistance with proposal preparation, etc)
Mentorship of undergraduate clinic and/ or summer students
Positive team dynamics in research group
Bio:
John David Chea is a Ph.D. candidate in chemical engineering, co-advised by Dr. Joseph F. Stanzione, III, and Dr. Kirti M. Yenkie. Chea has also worked as an ORISE (Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education) Research Participant under Dr. Gerardo Ruiz-Mercado at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. During his time at Rowan, his research focused on Sustainable Process Design, which includes solving sustainability issues through (1) the design and optimization of commercial-scale extraction and purification of bio-based chemicals from renewable feedstock, (2) developing a solvent recovery framework to minimize waste in the chemical industry, and (3) analyzing the end-of-life waste management infrastructure to identify hazardous mass release and exposure points that hinder circular economy from being achieved. These projects have been funded by the Army Research Laboratory Cooperative Agreement, National Science Foundation EnvS, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Pollution Prevention (P2) Program. In addition, Chea has mentored ten undergraduate students under the engineering clinic program and trained highly motivated first- and second-year students engineering students on effective and safe laboratory techniques. The three major research projects have resulted in 12 publications (8 peer-reviewed research articles, 3 conference papers, and 1 international patent) and 21 poster and oral presentations. After graduation, he will join the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Cincinnati, OH, as an ORISE postdoctoral fellow.
Ralph Alan Dusseau Award for Civil & Environmental Engineering
Casey Baquero
This medallion is presented to a student who has established an outstanding record of service, scholarship, leadership, hard work and dedication in the field and is donated by Dr. Ralph A. Dusseau, founding chair of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
Criteria:
Hard work and dedication
Ability to overcome obstacles
Service and scholarship
Bio:
Casey Baquero is a Civil and Environmental major. She previously worked on Dr. Lomboy’s clinic for Developing Self Consolidating Concrete. Beyond the lab, she has been active in the Rowan community, including running for Rowan’s Track and Field team. She is currently working as a full-time project engineer for Earth Engineering. Upon graduation, Baquero is looking forward to working for Weeks Marine as a construction Engineer, where she aspires to work her way into becoming a Project Manager.
Jamilur Reza Choudhury Award for Civil & Environmental Engineering
Ron Torculas
The Choudhury medallion is presented to a student who has established an outstanding record of academic achievement, interest in public policy and international affairs, and exceptional service in the field and is donated by Dr. Kauser Jahan.
Criteria:
Excellence in Academics
Interest in Public Policy and Global Affairs
Outstanding Service
Bio:
Ron Michael Yasona Torculas is in the civil engineering program. He also has a mechanical engineering minor with a focus in structures and materials. Additionally, Torculas is a member of the John H. Martinson Honors College. He has been heavily involved in activities around Rowan. In the department he has participated in the ASCE student chapter as well as with Engineers Without Borders as part of their clinic team. He worked as an undergraduate research fellow for the CREATEs Lab, assisting with research and performance testing on asphalt and bituminous concrete material. Outside the classroom, he has been heavily involved in the Rowan University Philippine American Coalition, as both an active general body member as well as on various positions of the executive board.
Y. Mehta Excellence in Graduate Studies in Civil and Environmental Engineering
Parisa Hosseini
This medallion is presented to a student who has excelled in graduate studies in Civil Engineering is awarded to a graduating graduate student each year. It was donated by Dr. Yusuf Mehta, director CREATES.
Criteria:
Leadership / independent work on graduate project(s)
Creativity in research pursuits
Quantifiable scholarly outputs (e.g. co-authorship of journal papers, conference presentations, corporate seminars)
Mentorship of undergraduate clinic and/ or summer students, and other graduate students.
Positive team dynamics in research group
Bio:
Dr. Parisa Hosseini is an Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Engineering Specialist at STV Inc, with a focus on automation, electrification, and ITS projects. She recently earned her Ph.D. degree in Transportation Engineering from Rowan. During her Ph.D. studies, she worked on many federally funded projects to improve transportation safety and mobility. Hosseini has contributed significantly to the field of transportation engineering, with several papers published in reputable journals and conference proceedings. Her academic and professional work has also been recognized with several prestigious awards, such as the "ITSNJ Student of Industry", “C&S WTS Philadelphia Corporate Sponsor Scholarship Award”, and the "Lifesavers Traffic Safety Scholarship." Additionally, she served as the Treasurer and President of the WTS Philadelphia Student Chapter, demonstrating her commitment to promoting diversity and leadership in transportation.
C. Ernest O’Neal Award for Electrical & Computer Engineering
Sanjay Thallam
Presented to an electrical & computer engineering student with an outstanding academic record and who has demonstrated strong leadership in professional societies, this award is sponsored by Dr. John L. Schmalzel, founding chair of the Electrical & Computer Engineering Department.
Criteria:
Top 5% GPA of graduating seniors
Strong leadership
Active in Student Chapter of IEEE
Bio:
Sanjay Thallam is a graduating with degrees in Electrical & Computer Engineering and Computing & Informatics. During his time at Rowan, he was heavily involved in clubs and extracurricular activities. He was Treasurer for the Robotics and Automation Society for three years and the Fundraising Chair for Rowan IEEE for a year. Additionally, he was an active member of the John H. Martinson Honors College and worked as a private tutor teaching programming skills to the next generation of engineers. During his summers, he interned as a software engineering intern at Micron Technology and Fluke Electronics. After graduation, he will be returning to Micron Technology as a DRAM Product Engineering Intern and following his internship, will be pursuing his Master of Engineering degree in Electrical & Computer Engineering at Cornell Tech – Cornell University’s campus in New York City.
Tirupathi Reddy Chandrupatla Award for Excellence in Mechanical Engineering
Joshua Knospler
Sponsored by the Department of Mechanical Engineering, this award is presented to the student who best demonstrates character, leadership achievements and potential, the attitude of a team player, and a strong GPA.
Criteria:
Student must be academically strong, as shown by his or her cumulative GPA
Student is of outstanding character, as noted by the faculty in the department
Student exemplifies the goals, aspirations and spirit of the department
Bio:
Joshua Knospler is graduating with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. He transferred to Rowan after receiving an associate’s degree from community college. While at Rowan, I was part of the Martinson Honors College, the Rowan 3D printing club, the spikeball team, and was Vice President of the Society of American Military Engineers (SAME). I plan to further my education by attending graduate school in the field of robotics. Knospler’s goal is to pursue a career in designing and manufacturing robotic systems.
Nicholas A. Peppas Sc.D. Medallion for Excellence in Doctoral Studies
Giuseppina Carannante
Sponsored by Anthony Lowman, Ph.D. in honor of Dr. Lowman’s Ph.D. mentor.
Criteria:
Excellence in doctoral studies
Bio:
Giuseppina Carannante is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering (ECE). She earned a B.S. in mathematics from the University of Naples Federico II, Italy, in 2014. In 2015, she joined the Mathematics Department at Rowan University, where she got her master’s degree in mathematics while working as a graduate assistant and conducting research work on Bayesian analysis of microarrays longitudinal data to elucidate underlying biological processes as well as disease mechanisms and pathways. Prior to starting her doctorate in spring 2018, she served as an adjunct professor teaching undergraduate courses in mathematics at Rowan and Camden County College. She was funded by a U.S. Department of Education Graduate Assistance in Area of National Need (GAANN) Fellowship and a National Science Foundation grant (NSF ECCS 1903466). Carannante was selected for the 2022 NSF iREDEFINE Professional Development Award, which prepares select Ph.D. students for rewarding academic careers and provides them with a professional network of peers and mentors. She is also the winner of: i) the 2022 Rowan Three Minute Thesis Competition (3MT®). First Place for Doctoral Presentation in the Rowan research communication competition; ii) the 2023 Rowan Excellence in Graduate Research; and iii) the 2023 Nicholas A. Peppas Sc.D. Medallion for Excellence in Doctoral Studies. Giuseppina is on the Graduate Dean’s List for achieving a GPA of 4.0 with a minimum of 9 credit hours of graded coursework per semester, 2015, 2016 and 2022, 2023. She is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Deep AI Solutions, LLC, a start-up company that provides state-of-the-art machine learning solutions and services to government and industry customers.
Irene Elizabeth Tracey Award for Excellence in Engineering
Ashleigh Jankowski
Awarded to an engineering student who has demonstrated excellence in scholarship, leadership, service, and character. This award is presented by faculty in the College of Engineering in memory of Irene Tracey, mother of Dr. James Tracey, founding dean of the College of Engineering.
Criteria:
Academic excellence
Service to profession and institution
Exemplary character and strong leadership qualities
Bio:
Ashleigh Jankowski is a Biomedical Engineering major on the Pharmaceutical Engineering and Therapeutic Delivery track, with a minor in Chemistry and the Bantivoglio Honors Concentration. She has been working in Dr. Mark Byrne's lab since fall of her freshman year developing novel methods of controlled therapeutic release, including the project she is currently leading developing bioconjugate DNA layers for controlled chemotherapeutic release from gold nanoparticles. Beyond the lab, Jankowski has been active in the Rowan community, including serving as BMES president, SWE service chair, and an active member of Rowan Unified Sports and the Honors College Food Insecurity Committee. Upon graduation, she is looking forward to pursuing her Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering, as she aspires to have a long and impactful research career developing therapeutic platforms to treat incurable diseases.