College Recognition

• Francis Alison Faculty Awards
• Excellence in Teaching (Faculty and Graduate Students)
• Excellence in Undergraduate Advisement and Mentoring (Faculty)

>> Faculty Excellence Awards Website

COE Faculty Award for Excellence in Research and Entrepreneurship award recognizes a faculty member for excellence in research and/or entrepreneurship as demonstrated by significant discoveries, scholarship, and/or technology transfer. It is intended for scholars who are making an impact in their field and on society, and are acknowledged as leaders in their fields. One award will be given each year. Winner receives $1,500 (paid via S-contract) and a certificate.

COE Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching recognizes a faculty member for demonstrated, sustained excellence in teaching. It is intended for teachers who are making a positive impact on their students and/or the scholarship of engineering education. Nominees will be evaluated on the basis of teaching quality, innovation, and demonstrated commitment to student learning. One award will be given each year. Winner receives $1,500 (paid via S-contract) and a certificate.

COE Faculty Award for Excellence in Mentoring and Advising recognizes a faculty member for a demonstrated, sustained commitment to fostering the intellectual, creative, scholarly, and professional growth of her/his advisees and mentees, which may include undergraduate students, graduate students, and/or faculty at earlier career stages. Nominated faculty actively engage mentees, build community, promote diversity, and foster a culture of inclusion. One award will be given each year. Winner receives $1,500 (paid via S-contract) and a certificate.

COE Faculty Award for Excellence in Service and Community Engagement recognizes a faculty member for outstanding and dedicated professional or community-related service. Examples of service may include but are not limited to advising student organizations, facilitating service-learning opportunities, department or university committee membership, involvement in event programming, development of new university initiatives, and community engagement not related to the candidate’s profession. One award will be given each year. Winner receives $1,500 (paid via S-contract) and a certificate.

COE Outstanding Early Career Faculty Award recognizes an early career faculty member who excels at research, teaching, and other professional activities. It is intended for faculty who are rising stars in the College and discipline. One award will be given each year. Winner receives $1,500 (paid via S-contract) and a certificate.

COE Award for Staff/Faculty Partnership recognizes faculty who demonstrate and value the staff-faculty partnership. An award for Staff/Faculty Partnership is also given for a staff member each year. See Staff awards. One award will be given each year for a faculty member and one award will be given each year for a staff member. Each winner receives $1,500 (paid via S-contract) and a certificate. Consideration will be given to nominees who have made significant contributions or possess valued qualities and attributes, such as:

• Partnering as a team with staff
• Advocating for and promoting staff
• Fostering a collaborative work atmosphere
• Soliciting staff input and feedback regularly
• Treating all members of the College community with respect, compassion, and understanding
• Displaying good citizenship and a positive attitude
• Showing patience and sensitivity when discussing difficult topics
• Being a trusted leader and a contributing, productive, and engaged member of the College

Eligibility

• All tenure-track/tenured and continuing-track faculty in the College are eligible for these awards, except for the Early Career Award, which is open only to those at the rank of Assistant Professor.
• Research professors will be considered eligible for faculty research award.
• The nominee for a particular award cannot have won that specific award previously.

>> View Past Recipients of Faculty Awards

COE Staff Award for Excellence recognizes a staff member’s exemplary service to the College in support of its mission and vision. One award for each category will be given each year. Each winner receives $1,500 (paid via S-contract) and a certificate. To be considered for the award, candidates must:

• Demonstrate a commitment to provide excellent service to students, alumni, faculty and staff; go above and beyond college standards to be respectful and helpful and ensure that interactions with the above-mentioned parties are exceptional and problems are resolved.
• Display dedication to continuously improving customer satisfaction based on a commitment to learn from past experiences and feedback, and to find creative and appropriate solutions to customer problems
• Promote positive morale through a congenial, supportive attitude and by providing service to others; lead by example and demonstrates effective service interactions with all
• Demonstrate exceptional ability to foster collaboration, communication, and cooperation among colleagues and members of the college community.
• Go above and beyond in their work in order to help others and do so with a high degree of excellence, professionalism, and integrity; thus, contributing significantly to improving the overall College of Engineering environment and experience.

COE Staff Innovation Award is given to a staff member who applies creativity to develop new or improve existing processes, methods, systems, products, or services and encourages others to do the same. Innovation is a core component of the College of Engineering’s mission. One award for each category will be given each year. Each winner receives $1,500 (paid via S-contract) and a certificate. To be considered for the award, candidates must:

• Generate valuable ideas that have helped to develop new or improved processes, methods, systems, programs, or services for their team, department, or the college
• Identify a situation or problem and approach the solution from novel and diverse perspectives to address challenges in an innovative manner
• Clearly define requirements and resources needed to implement new ideas with a practical, task-oriented mindset approach to innovation
• Consider constraints that limit innovation, and work within constraints to create novel approaches. Find ways to make the most out of existing resources
• Convert ideas from general concepts into action plans; swiftly move from ideas to implementation
• Develop an effective solution to a difficult problem in a productive manner or improve a solution’s overall effectiveness through a new method or approach
• Develop and implement a plan that benefits the community

COE Staff Inspirational Leadership Award recognizes an individual who inspires others. They influence without authority, often putting the interests of others ahead of their own, and serves as “a champion for staff.” The award is presented to a staff member who has continuously shown the highest integrity and exemplary work ethic in carrying out their work. One award for each category will be given each year. Each winner receives $1,500 (paid via S-contract) and a certificate. To be considered for the award, candidates must:

• Foster an atmosphere of collaboration and creativity, which contributes to the efficiency and effectiveness of productivity
• Demonstrate leadership qualities by effectively managing their workload while successfully taking on additional projects
• Inspire and motivate others to take advantage of opportunities that enhance professional development
• Empower others to achieve results in support of the College’s goals
• Display an outstanding level of teamwork in the workplace
• Act as a change leader for the benefit of their peers
• Encourage cooperation and collaboration among coworkers and fostering a collegial team environment.

COE Award for Staff/Faculty Partnership recognizes staff who demonstrate and value the staff-faculty partnership. An award for Staff/Faculty Partnership is also given for a faculty member each year. See Faculty awards. One award will be given each year for a faculty member and one award will be given each year for a staff member. Each winner receives $1,500 (paid via S-contract) and a certificate. Consideration will be given to nominees who have made significant contributions or possess valued qualities and attributes, such as:

• Partnering as a team with faculty
• Advocating for and promoting faculty
• Fostering a collaborative work atmosphere
• Soliciting faculty input and feedback regularly
• Treating all members of the College community with respect, compassion, and understanding
• Displaying good citizenship and a positive attitude
• Showing patience and sensitivity when discussing difficult topics
• Being a trusted leader and a contributing, productive, and engaged member of the College

Eligibility

• All full- or part-time staff in the College of Engineering are eligible.
• Staff who are not technically College employees but work primarily in COE are eligible.
• Misc-wage (non-benefitted) employees are eligible.
• The nominee must have been with the College for at least six months by the award deadline and must be currently affiliated at the time of the award.
• The nominee for a particular award cannot have won that specific award previously.
• Group nominations are not allowed; awards are given to individuals only.

>> View Past Recipients of Staff Awards

COE Award for Post-Doctoral Researcher Excellence recognizes a postdoctoral fellow who has demonstrated excellence in research, teaching, mentoring, service, and/or leadership. One award will be given each year. Nominees are expected to demonstrate excellence in the following areas (as applicable):

• Research (peer reviewed publication, proposal submission, secured funding, fellowships, patent)
• Mentoring and teaching (college or K-12 teaching, exemplary mentoring of graduate/undergraduate students)
• Professional leadership and service (editorial, peer review experience, service for professional organization)
• Community service and outreach (volunteer experience)

Eligibility

• Applicant has completed at least six months of service at UD as a postdoctoral fellow by the award deadline and is currently affiliated at the time of the award.
• Only work as a UD post-doc position should be included in the nomination (not previous work).
• The nominee cannot have won this award previously.

The winner receives $1,500 (paid via S-contract) and a certificate.

The George W. Laird Merit Fellowship is given to honor the memory of George W. Laird. He earned an A.B. degree at Hamilton College in 1964. He then attended the University of Delaware, where he was awarded a B.M.E. degree with highest honors in 1968 and an M.M.A.E. degree in 1971. On September 6, 1977, at the age of 35, George W. Laird was killed in a tragic accident.

Determined that something positive should come from this seemingly senseless loss, his family and friends established a fund to support a major fellowship, based on merit, that will provide a source of strong motivation to students working toward graduate degrees in the College of Engineering. The generous support of more than 300 donors has made this award possible.

Nature and number of awards

A minimum of one award will be presented each year. The award is based on merit and may be used by the recipient for any purpose. The amount of the award is based on the selection committee’s recommendation.

Criteria

The objective of the fellowship is to encourage the recipient to become engaged in a broadening intellectual pursuit which may or may not be of direct application to the recipient’s chosen field of study.

Eligibility

First-year, Full-time, graduate student in the College of Engineering and who expect to continue in the program during the ensuing year are eligible. A minimum GPA of 3.0 is required.

Nominations procedure

Candidates submit a dossier to their department chair. The dossier includes a short description of themselves, their accomplishments, and their plans for the future.  Candidates are required to sign release forms to allow access to records and information necessary for the selection process. The heart of the selection process will be personal contact between award candidates and the selection committee. The selection committee consists of members representing the College of Engineering, the University, for Laird Fellows and the family of George W. Laird. In its evaluations, the committee stresses balanced excellence, combining demonstrated intellectual capability with a strong emphasis placed on human qualities such as character, maturity, sense of humor, creativity, ingenuity, and imagination, coupled with practical skills, perseverance and the common sense necessary to execute ideas.

Selection procedures

The dossiers will be reviewed by a committee of former Laird Fellows.  This committee ranks the candidates and forwards their recommendations to the Dean’s Office.  The Dean’s Office communicates the rankings to the selection committee for consideration and final selection.  A number of candidates will be selected to advance to the second phase of the review process including a reception and formal interview with the selection committee. A Fellowship winner is announced following the interview process.

Submission deadline

Typically, early February. 

COE Award for Graduate Student Excellence in Research recognizes a graduate student who has completed original, innovative and significant scholarship during their career at UD. The awards are designed to recognize student research with potential for significant impact on the field or society. One award will be given each year. The winner receives $1,500 (paid via S-contract) and a certificate.

Nominees are expected to demonstrate excellence in originality, innovation, and significance of research. Evidence may include:

• External recognition (e.g., peer-reviewed papers published, presentations, awards, recognition by professional associations)
• Internal recognition (e.g., UD awards, GPA)
• Impact on the field (e.g., citations, h-index)

COE Award for Graduate Student Excellence in Teaching recognize a graduate student who has demonstrated exemplary teaching. The award is intended to foster a culture of teaching excellence among graduate teaching assistants. One award will be given each year. The winner receives $1,500 (paid via S-contract) and a certificate.

Nominees are expected to demonstrate excellence in teaching. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• Outstanding teaching in the classroom
• Creation or use of new and innovative teaching methods and course materials
• Effectiveness in grading/feedback, review sessions, or one-on-one instruction
• Creation of challenging and innovative courses

COE Graduate Student Service Award recognizes a graduate student who is committed to improving the world around them by making contributions to campus, local, national or global communities through either scholarship or community engagement. One award will be given each year. The winner receives $1,500 (paid via S-contract) and a certificate.

Nominees are expected to demonstrate excellence in service. Examples include, but are not limited to:

• Leadership on university, department or graduate student committees
• Leadership in student organizations or activities supporting current graduate student interests on campus or in the community
• Support of current graduate student interests on campus or in the community
• Development and/or activity with service programs
• Service with local or national organizations representing University of Delaware graduate students
• Service with local or national organizations advancing graduate student interests
• Activities advancing an inclusive climate and culture

Eligibility

• All graduate students fully matriculated in a graduate program in the College are eligible.
• The nominee for a particular graduate student award cannot have won that specific award previously.

COE Diversity and Inclusion Award recognizes a member of the College community who has demonstrated a sustained commitment to the advancement of diversity and inclusion in the College, University, and/or community at large. One award will be given each year. The winner receives $1,500 (paid via S-contract) and a certificate.

Nominees are expected to:

• Be an outstanding advocate for diversity and inclusion at the interpersonal, unit and institutional level
• Demonstrate a commitment to the advancement of diversity and inclusion in the College through research, teaching, service, or collaborative partnerships
• Demonstrate a commitment to creating a culture of inclusion within their areas of influence
• Implement initiatives which cultivate/advance/model diversity and inclusion within the College community

Eligibility 

• All faculty, staff, graduate students, and undergraduates in the College are eligible.
• The nominee cannot have won this award previously