Senol Utku Annual Awards

Promoting early writing of research articles among graduate students

The Senol Utku Annual Awards competition recognizes the best pre-PhD peer-reviewed journal papers. Entries are due February 2.

How to Enter Honor Roll
Senol Utku

Competition Details

  • Prepare Your Entry
    1. Four (4) copies of a pre-PhD peer-reviewed journal paper that has been published or accepted for publication between Jan. 31 of the past year and Jan. 31 of the current year
    2. A dated letter of acceptance from the journal
    3. A recommendation letter from your faculty advisor assessing the:
      • Contribution of the student to the paper
      • Predicted impact of the paper and its originality
      • Quality of the journal
    Submit Your Entry

    Send it, before 5:00 pm ET February 2, to the Duke CEE Director of Graduate Studies at cee-dgs@duke.edu.

  • The review committee is an ad hoc Senol Utku Awards Committee of three (3) faculty selected each year at a faculty meeting after the submission of papers is known, to avoid conflicts of interest.

    The committee at its discretion may decide different monetary awards distribution, or award none.

    • Highest Distinction: $500
    • High Distinction: $300

    Winners present their papers at Duke CEE graduate student seminars.

About Senol Utku

Senol Utku was an inspirational researcher and teacher who valued sharing the spark of new ideas and prioritized student learning above everything.

A research engineer trained at Istanbul Technical University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he joined the Duke Department of Civil Engineering in 1970. He was a Duke Engineering professor for more than 30 years.

His work focused on solving problems related to pre-loaded structures and investigating new ways to design resilient structural systems. He died in 2022 at the age of 90.

Honor Roll

2024

HIGHEST DISTINCTION
  • Josh Prince — “Heterogenous biofilm mass-transport model replicates periphery sequestration of antibiotics in Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 microcolonies.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 120(47), p.e2312995120. (2023): 100052. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2312995120 Advisor: A.-Andrew Jones
HIGH DISTINCTION
  • Zach Calhoun — “Estimating the effects of vegetation and increased albedo on the urban heat island effect with spatial causal inference.” Scientific Reports, 14(1), p.540. (2022): 922-925. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-50981-w Advisor; David Carlson and Mike Bergin
  • Celine Robinson — “Remotely sensed above-ground storage tank dataset for object detection and infrastructure assessment.” Scientific Data, 11(1), p.67. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-023-02780-1 Advisor: Mark Borsuk
  • Yash Shah — “Balancing functional properties and environmental impact of graphitic carbon nitride: a case study on boron doping syntheses.” Environmental Science: Nano, 11(1), pp.78-90. https://doi.org/10.1039/D3EN00633F Advisor: Leanne Gilbertson

2023

HIGHEST DISTINCTION
  • Ziyang (Gary) Jiang — “Improving spatial variation of ground-level PM2. 5 prediction with contrastive learning from satellite imagery.” Science of Remote Sensing 5 (2022): 100052. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.srs.2022.100052 Advisors: Mike Bergin and David Carlson
HIGH DISTINCTION
  • Boyang Zhang — “Decentralized control of multiagent navigation systems.” IEEE/CAA Journal of Automatica Sinica 9, no. 5 (2022): 922-925.  https://doi.org/10.1109/JAS.2022.105569 Advisor: Henri Gavin
  • Mochi Liao — “Toward optimal rainfall–Hydrologic QPE correction in headwater basins.” Remote Sensing of Environment 279 (2022): 113107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2022.113107 Advisor: Ana P. Barros

2022

HIGHEST DISTINCTION
  • Joanna Sipe—“From Bottle to Microplastics: Can We Estimate How Our Plastic Products Are Breaking Down?” Science of The Total Environment 814 (2022): 152460; Advisor: Mark Wiesner
HIGH DISTINCTION
  • Natalia Neal-Walthall—“Utility of Diffusive Gradient in Thin-Film Passive Samplers for Predicting Mercury Methylation Potential and Bioaccumulation in Freshwater Wetlands” Environmental Science & Technology  56 (2022): 1743–1752; Advisor: Heileen Hsu-Kim
  • Hao Zhang—“Stochastic Modeling of Geometrical Uncertainties on Complex Domains, with Application to Additive Manufacturing and Brain Interface Geometries” Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering 385 (2021): 114014; Advisor: Johann Guilleminot

2021

HIGHEST DISTINCTION
  • Boyang Zhang—“Gauss’s Principle with Inequality Constraints for Multi-agent Navigation and Control” IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, VoL. 67, No. 2, February 2022; Advisor: Henri P. Gavin
  • Hanna Varga—“Effect of Dust Composition on the Reversibility of Photovoltaic Panel Soiling” Environmental Science & Technology. dx.doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.0c06196; Advisor: Mark R. Wiesner
HIGH DISTINCTION
  • Mohammadreza Momenifar—“Local Analysis of the Clustering, Velocities, and Accelerations of Particles Settling in Turbulence” Physical Review Fluids 5, 034306 (2020); Advisor: Andrew D. Bragg
  • Alexander McCumber—“The Environment Shapes Swine Lung Bacterial Communities” Science of the Total Environment 758 (2021) 143623; Advisor: Claudia Gunsch
  • Tongshu Zheng—“Estimating Ground-Level Pm2.5 Using Micro-Satellite Images by a Convolutional Neural Network and Random Forest Approach” Atmospheric Environment 230 (2020) 117451; Advisor: David E. Carlson

2020

HIGHEST DISTINCTION
HIGH DISTINCTION
  • Shanshan Chu—“Stochastic Multiscale Modeling with Random Fields of Material Properties Defined on Nonconvex Domains” Mechanics Research Communications Journal 2019, Volume 97, pg. 39
  • Nabil Atallah—“Analysis of the Shifted Boundary Method for the Stokes Problem” Computer Methods in Applied Mechanics and Engineering, Volume: 358, January 2020

2019

HIGHEST DISTINCTION
HIGH DISTINCTION

2018

HIGHEST DISTINCTION
  • Sara Bonetti—“On the Dynamic Smoothing of Mountains” Geophys. Res. Lett., 44, DOI: 10.1002/2017GL073095; Adviser: Amilcare Porporato
HIGH DISTINCTION
  • Malar Arulraj—“Shallow Precipitation Detection and Classification Using Multifrequency Radar Observations and Model Simulations” J. Atmos. Ocean. Tech., DOI: 10.1175/JTECH-D-17-0060.1; Adviser: Ana Barros
  • Trisha Dupnock—“High-Performance Biogas Upgrading Using a Biotrickling Filter and Hydrogenotrophic Methanogens” Applied Biochemistry and Biotechnology, 183:488-502. DOI: 10.1007/s12010-017-2569-2; Adviser: Marc Deshusses

2016-2017

HIGHEST DISTINCTION
  • Lauren Lowman (adviser Ana Barros): “Interplay of Drought and Tropical Cyclone Activity in SE U.S. Gross Primary Productivity.” Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences
  • Andrew Stershic (adviser John Dolbow, with N. Moes): “The Thick Level-Set Model for Dynamic Fragmentation.” Engineering Fracture Mechanics. 172, 39-60. (2017)
  • Ross Taggart (co-authors Ross K. Taggart, James C. Hower, Gary S. Dwyer, and Heileen Hsu-Kim): “Trends in the Rare Earth Element Content of U.S.-Based Coal Combustion Fly Ashes.”

2015

HIGHEST DISTINCTION
  • Osman Karatum (adviser Desiree Plata) “Flexible, Mechanically Durable Aerogel Composites for Oil Capture and Recovery.” Applied Materials and Interfaces.
  • Norman Pelak (adviser Amilcare Porporato) “Bistable Plant-Soil Dynamics and Biogenic Controls on the Soil Production Function.” Earth Surface Processes and Landforms.

2014

HIGHEST DISTINCTION
  • Charles-Francois de Lannoy   (advisor Mark Wiesner) “Aquatic Biofouling Prevention by Electrically Charged Nanocomposite Polymer Thin Film Membranes.”  Environmental Science and Technology, in press 
  • Gerard-Philippe Zehil  (advisor Henri P. Gavin) “Rolling Resistance of a Rigid Sphere with Viscoelastic Coatings.”  International Journal of Solids and Structures 51 (2014) 822-838

2013

HIGHEST DISTINCTION
  • Chandrasekhar Annavarapu (adviser John Dolbow, with M. Hautefeuille), for  “A Robust Nitsche’s Formulation for Interface Problems.”  Computational Methods Applied Mechanical Engineering. 225-228, 44-54. (2012)
  • Xue Feng (adviser Amilcare Porporato, with G. Vico), for “On the Effects of Seasonality on Water Balance and Plant Growth.”  Water Resources Research, 48, 1-12 (2012)

2012

HIGHEST DISTINCTION
  • Ian Cassidy (advisor Jeff Scruggs) “Design and experimental characterization of an electromagnetic transducer for large-scale vibratory energy harvesting applications.” Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures, 22(7) (2011):2009-2024.
HIGH DISTINCTION
  • Tong Zhang (advisor Helen Hsu-Kim)
  • Andreas Gondikas (advisor Helen Hsu-Kim)

2011

HIGHEST DISTINCTION
  • Tong Zhang (with Helen Hsu-Kim) for “Photolytic degradation of Methylmercury Enhanced by Binding to Natural Organic Ligands”  Nature Geoscience, 3(7), 473-476
HIGH DISTINCTION
  • David Jassby (with Mark Wiesner), for “Characterization of ZnS Nanoparticle Aggregation Using Photoluminescence,” Langmuir, in press.

2010

HIGHEST DISTINCTION
  • Jing Huang (adviser John Albertson) for “Analysis of Coherent Structures within the Atmospheric Boundary Layer”
HIGH DISTINCTION
  • Amrika Deonarine (adviser Helen Hsu-Kim) for “Precipitation of Mercuric Sulfide Nanoparticles in NOM-Containing Water:  Implications for the Natural  Environment”
  • Rawad Saleh (adviser Andrey Khlystov) for “Determination of Evaporation Coefficients of Semi-Volatile Organic Aerosols Using an Integrated Volume-Tandem Differential Mobility Analysis Method”

2009

HIGHEST DISTINCTION
  • James Rigby and A. Porporato: “Spring Frost Risk in a Changing Climate,” journal – Geophysical Research Letters (May 2, 2008) 
HIGH DISTINCTION
  • Zachary Hendren J. Brant and M. Wiesner: “Surface Modification of Nanostructured Ceramic Membranes for Direct Contact Membrane Distillation”, Journal of Membrane Science (November 2008) JMS-081126R1
  • Jessica Sanders  J. Dolbow and T. Laursen: “On Methods for Stabilizing Constraints over Enriched Interfaces in Elasticity” International Journal for Numerical Methods in Engineering (2008) NME 2514

2008

HIGHEST DISTINCTION
  • Liangbo Hu and T. Hueckel: “Coupled Chemo-Mechanics- of Intergranular Contact: Towards a Three Scale Model,” Computers and Geotechnics (2007) 34, 4, 306-327
HIGH DISTINCTION
  • Stefano Manzoni A. Porporato and J.P. Schimel: “Soil Heterogeneity in Lumped Mineralization-Immobilization Models”, Soil Biology & Biochemistry (2008) 40, 5, 1137 – 1148
  • Shuyi Wang R.M. Holzem and C. Gunsch: “Effects of Pharmaceutically Active Compounds on a Mixed Microbial Community Originating from Wastewater Treatment Plant” Environmental Science and Technology (2008) 42(4); 1091-1095

2007

  • Stefano Manzoni & Amilcare Porporato for “A theoretical analysis of nonlinearities and feedbacks in soil carbon and nitrogen cycles” in the Journal of Soil Biology & Biochemistry
  • Gil Bohrer, M. Wolosin, R. Brady & R. Avissar for “A virtual canopy generator (V-CaGe) for modeling complex heterogeneous forest canopies at high resolution” in Tellus
  • Darren Drewry & J. Albertson for “Diagnosing model error in canopy-atmosphere exchange using empirical orthogonal function analysis” in Water Resources Research