Awards honor staff contributions to Michigan Engineering

Congratulations to the winners of the 2023 Personnel Excellence Awards, Judith A. Pitney Workers Services Job Award and Staff-School Partnership Award!

Award recipients are picked dependent on their exemplary do the job or special achievements. Individual winners obtain a funds award of $3,000, and teams obtain a dollars award of $2,000 for every single workforce member. 

Winners are regarded at the yearly Michigan Engineering Staff members Excellence Awards Application ceremony and reception, to be held this yr on Could 25.

“Simply place, our staff members are the glue that holds everything with each other throughout our institution,” reported Alec D. Gallimore, the Robert J. Vlasic Dean of Engineering, the Richard F. and Eleanor A. Towner Professor, an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, and a professor of aerospace engineering. “Staff generally work at the rear of the scenes, and these awards are a welcome option to shine a highlight on their critical contributions.”

Staff members Excellence Award

Michelle Chapman
Investigation Administration Senior Manager, Electrical and Personal computer Engineering

Chapman is a prolonged-standing member of Electrical and Computer system Engineering (ECE), with over 30 several years of support to the division. As a Study Supervisor she presents sturdy constituent support, meticulous focus to compliance procedures, and inclusive and empathetic management with team. She assisted in creating University-broad procedures and techniques in the exploration arena, preserving the ECE division and Michigan Engineering tens of thousands of pounds. Chapman also serves as Economical Administrator of the Engineering Education and learning Study (EER) program. Underneath her guidance the EER program is flourishing and commonly revered among Michigan Engineering associates.

Brian Eby
Direct Technician, College of Michigan Transportation Investigate Institute – Biosciences Team

Eby has 33 years of support in the Biosciences group at the College of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI) and has experienced a hand in setting up and/or developing all the customized fixtures and equipment made use of in their study labs now. His major role is the guide technician in the equipment store, in which he serves as an expert with all resources in the store and has wonderful persistence when educating other individuals suitable use and security. Eby is resourceful and can develop anything that meets investigate needs with minimal route, time, and spending plan, reusing resources or producing use of scrap resources in-residence. His numerous abilities have enabled the team to keep on being aggressive when seeking new and ongoing research funding. 

Kate Kusiak Galvin
Challenge Senior Supervisor, Civil and Environmental Engineering

Kusiak-Galvin presents management leadership for several multifaceted assignments in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE), where she has not only innovative collective study and teaching initiatives, but has finished so by embracing Michigan Engineering’s people today-first mission and in the provider of modern society. Kusiak-Galvin’s technological know-how and job management skills are unmatched, and she has a established keep track of history of guiding exploration assignments to completion on time, within spending plan and to a substantial typical. In the summer of 2022, she oversaw a huge deployment of stormwater sensors across the condition, working with community stakeholders to allow, scope and deploy sensors that now underpin selection making similar to flooding and water high-quality. She is also qualified at bringing people today jointly and fostering a feeling of group, specifically among the learners. 

Dan Newman
Communications Specialist, Robotics

Newman has been important to the successful start of the latest section at the University and important to some of their most crucial initiatives. He was instrumental in producing foundational documents laying out the inspiration, great importance and possible effect of a Robotics Section to the faculty through Michigan Engineering and developed one of a kind 360 diploma videos and audio excursions of the Robotics Creating. Newman has also been a leader in Robotics’ outreach initiatives, building and web hosting GitHub websites for new undergraduate courses that are obtainable to both U-M college students and companions at Morehouse and Spelman Schools, two Traditionally Black Faculties or Universities (HBCUs) in Atlanta, Georgia. This has been a significant step ahead in the department’s initiatives to broaden obtain to robotics education and investigation.

Melanie Ordway
Recruiting Coordinator, Engineering Vocation Useful resource Heart/Workplace of College student Affairs

Ordway’s do the job at the Engineering Profession Source Heart (ECRC) supports pupils and companies to successfully interact in campus recruitment functions. She displays excellent initiative and continuously goes higher than and outside of anticipations with the high quality of assistance furnished to pupils and businesses. Ordway served put into action new procedures when recruitment actions improved to happen remotely, and each semester she creates in-depth guides to support all customers properly navigate recruitment occasions. She was an integral section of the ECRC’s transition to a new occupation companies platform in 2022, and she continues to exhibit creativity by way of figuring out strategies to make improvements to the procedure.

Julie Tashjian
Undergraduate Advising Workplace Supervisor, Laptop Science and Engineering

Tashjian is a leader in modify management: all through her first yr as Undergraduate Advising Business office Supervisor, she constantly determined procedures that could be revised, revamped or taken off solely. She created new methods all over a variety of complicated administrative responsibilities to streamline and simplify perform and created additional infrastructure all-around enrollment—a unique problem in a division that contains around 3,000 learners majoring in Laptop or computer Science, Details Science, and Computer Engineering. Tashjian also introduced the thought of drop-in advising to CSE, which has been perfectly-been given by college students who enjoy the skill to fall in and inquire a fast dilemma as a substitute of ready for a extended formal appointment.

Workforce Award: Robotics Undergraduate Plan Staff

Kayla Dombrowski, Undergraduate Coordinator

Denise Edmund, Graduate Coordinator

Christina Hollis, Government Secretary

Virginia Neal, Scholar Expert services Administrative Assistant

Dombrowski, Edmund, Hollis and Neal ended up instrumental in the creation of the new Robotics Undergraduate Method, developing an undergraduate system from the ground up and finding options where by no past templates existed.

Every crew member built considerable contributions to the project and supported just one another in their endeavours:

• Dombrowski brought the temporary data in the proposal to lifestyle by working with the Undergraduate Chair and creating serious treatments whilst connecting the group with the vital resources and resources, this kind of as a scheduler and advising file. 
• Edmund served with the preliminary study course set up and scheduling, and delivered advice on the composition of the program to assure it was in alignment with recognized values. 
• Hollis flexed to fill source gaps and assisted with overrides and permissions, aided timetable critical conferences and done preliminary obtaining required to run first classes. 
• Neal played a significant role in relocating the proposal from draft to final, such as very last-minute revisions, to safe its acceptance from University and regulatory bodies.

The generation of the very first robotics undergraduate software amongst top rated 10 engineering colleges was a big accomplishment and has positioned the Higher education at the forefront of this new and enjoyable industry.

Judith A. Pitney Team Assistance Career Award

The Judith A. Pitney Personnel Services Profession Award recognizes the significant contributions of a solitary Michigan Engineering workers member with a minimum of 10 decades of services at Michigan Engineering. The award honors Judith Pitney, who served as government director of Source Preparing and Management from 1992 to 2006, in acknowledgement of the exceedingly higher requirements she engendered across the School.

Rebekah Smith
Director, Finance Operations, Useful resource Setting up and Management

Smith is a chief with a 17-year profession at Michigan Engineering. She has worked in finance, investigate administration, department administration, and management roles through her tenure. She seeks to strengthen the work life and, by extension, individual life of all those who operate with and for her by generating collaborative options to administrative and operational difficulties and promoting an inclusive and modern community of services. Smith has built an influence by means of her capacity to see an operation as a result of a lens that makes it possible for for improved effectiveness and improved inside controls. Her accomplishments in the course of her tenure include producing the Personal computer Science and Engineering division’s money construction from the ground up, co-acquiring and top the Michigan Engineering Staff members Telecommuting and Related Sources (STARR) program, and redesigning the monetary system of the Engineering Administration units.

Workers-School Partnership Award

In guidance of the College’s values, the Team-School Partnership Award honors faculty who collaborate with staff to help foster a society of daring, management and inclusivity. 

Michael P. Flynn
Professor, Fawwaz T Ulaby Collegiate Professor of Electrical and Personal computer Engineering and Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, EECS – Electrical and Computer Engineering Division

Flynn has served as Associate Chair for Graduate Education, College Lookup Chair, a member of the Govt Committee and as a school member at substantial in the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) division. He is recognized for his collaboration and will typically spouse with personnel to make certain the plans of the department are being satisfied, and that he is making a diverse, equitable and inclusive room for the pupils he advises. As a member of the ECE Local weather Strategic Task Force, Flynn was a dependable advocate for staff, striving to make certain that there was an knowing in between faculty and employees on workload, function daily life harmony and deadlines, and advocating for better specialist enhancement for staff members. As Faculty Lookup Chair, Flynn suggested a way to contain workers in school lookups for the initially time. Candidates have been grateful for the data staff members provide, and personnel value that their feedback on the candidates is in fact taken into thought in making presents.