SSoE Outstanding Graduate Student Awards – Engineering Graduate and Professional Studies

The Samueli School of Engineering is pleased to announce the establishment of new school-level awards to recognize our graduate students for excellence in research and/or leadership. Additional information can be found here.

SSoE Outstanding Ph.D. Student Research Award

This award recognizes one outstanding Ph.D. student per SSoE department/program, who demonstrates excellence in PhD student research and a strong record of academic achievement.

SSoE Outstanding Graduate Student Leadership Award

This award recognizes one outstanding (PhD, state or professional MS) graduate student in SSoE, who demonstrates qualities of leadership and/or have made outstanding service contributions to the department, school and/or university.

2024-25 AY Winners

The first cohort was selected in June 2025 and recognized during our inaugural award ceremony on June 6th, attended by students, their Ph.D. Advisors, Graduate Advisors, and other SSoE representatives to celebrate and honor their achievements. Each recipient was awarded a certificate and a one-time $500 stipend.

Shravan Thaploo, BME Ph.D. Research Award

“…for contributions to biomedical device technologies to advance stroke recovery.“

Yuyao Kuang, CBE Ph.D. Research Award

“…for fundamental understanding and developing biomaterial-based platforms that probe and modulate cardiac tissue behavior.”

Nazak Rouzegari, CEE Ph.D. Research Award

“…for significant contributions to remote sensing of precipitation.”

Google Scholar

Yuhang Yao, EECS Ph.D. Research Award

“…for fundamental contributions to the theory of quantum information theory.”

Google Scholar

Zahra Zanjani Foumani, MAE Ph.D. Research Award

“…for innovative contributions to cost-aware multi-fidelity Bayesian optimization frameworks.”

Google Scholar

Huiming Guo, MSE Ph.D. Research Award

“… for innovative contributions to functional oxides to advance clean energy and decarbonization technologies.”

Google Scholar

Dain Kim, SSoE Graduate Student Leadership Award

“…for exceptional leadership in advancing student engagement, fostering a spirit of service, and demonstrating outstanding initiative in the organization of scientific conferences.“

2024-25 AY Honorable Mentions

The following students received honorable mentions for their achievements in leadership and research in the AY 2024-25 SSoE Awards.

Name	Award	Citation
Salla Kim	BME Outstanding Ph.D. Research	“…for contributions to multiscale computational models to improve cardiac conditions.”
Jack Lang	CBE Outstanding Ph.D. Research	“…for advances in meeting Proton exchange membrane water electrolyzers (PEMWEs) more sustainable in renewable hydrogen generation.“
Jialin Dong	CEE Outstanding Ph.D. Research	“…for significant contributions to advancing the understanding of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) impacts on California’s water systems.“
Oyku Deniz Kose	EECS Outstanding Ph.D. Research	“…for the seminal development of fairness-aware machine learning algorithms.”
Min-Wan Seo	MAE Outstanding Ph.D. Research	“…for fundamental contributions to explainable and active uncertainty quantification in robotics and AI systems.”
Esther Hessong	MSE Outstanding Ph.D. Research	“…for fundamental contributions to amorphous grain boundaries advancing nanocrystalline alloy designs.”
Trisha Mendoza	BME Graduate Student Leadership	“…for leadership, mentorship, and service in organizations building a more inclusive future of STEM.”
Christopher Liu	CBE Graduate Student Leadership	“…for outstanding leadership in establishing the Electrochemical Society Student Chapter at UCI, and organizing SoCal Electrochemistry Conferences to connect peers among multiple campuses.”
Mohamed Benomar El Kati	EECS Graduate Student Leadership	“…for sustained efforts to organize and educate both graduate and undergraduate EECS students.”
Alex Nguyen	MAE Graduate Student Leadership	“…for active outreach, mentorship, and leadership in student organizations.”
Esther Hessong	MSE Graduate Student Leadership	“…for outstanding leadership in STEM outreach, mentorship, and inclusive community building across student organizations, academia, and national laboratories.”