MCS Professors and Student Win 2017 Carnegie Science Awards
By Emily Payne
The Carnegie Science Center will honor two professors and one doctoral student from Mellon College of Science with Carnegie Science Awards at this year’s banquet on May 12 at the Carnegie Music Hall in Oakland.
Presented annually since 1997, the Carnegie Science Awards recognize and promote outstanding science and technology achievements in western Pennsylvania. Now in its 21st year, the Awards have celebrated the accomplishments and contributions of more than 500 individuals and organizations in the fields of science, technology and education for their impact on the region’s industrial, academic and environmental vitality.
Award Winners
Leonard Kisslinger, Leadership in STEM Education Award
Physics Professor Leonard Kisslinger is being honored for his dedicated STEM outreach efforts to students in underserved schools and from disadvantaged families in the Pittsburgh area. In 1998, Kisslinger started Carnegie Mellon’s Physics Concepts Outreach Program, now the CMU/Colfax Physics Concepts Outreach Program. The program has successfully reached more than 500 students, teaching them science by carrying out hands-on projects and improving their self-confidence.
Genoa Warner, University/Post-Secondary Student Award
Genoa Warner is a doctoral student in the Department of Chemistry. She is a researcher in Theresa Heinz Professor of Green Chemistry Terry Collins’s research lab where she applies her aptitude for scientific research to her passion for sustainability and environmental protection. She is currently producing a new series of oxidation catalysts that will remove pollutants from water and can be used in water treatment plants. She is also the chair of the Environmental Group of the Pittsburgh section of the American Chemical Society, participates in the Center for Nucleic Acids Science and Technology’s DNAZone outreach program and oversees a community supported agriculture drop site at the Mellon Institute to bring fresh, local produce to the Carnegie Mellon community.
Neil Donahue, Environmental Award
Neil Donahue is the Thomas Lord Professor of Chemistry and professor of chemical engineering and engineering and public policy. He is also director of the Steinbrenner Institute for Environmental Education and Research and a member and founding director of the Center for Atmospheric Particle Studies. He will receive the Environmental Award for his “outstanding achievements in the fields of environmental protection and restoration that benefit the economy, health and quality of life in the Pittsburgh region.” Donahue, a leading expert in atmospheric chemistry, is working to address air quality issues on a local and national scale.
Other members of the Carnegie Mellon community will be honored at this year’s awards, including:
Kathryn Whitehead, assistant professor of chemical engineering, Emerging Female Scientist Award
Jessica Trybus, alumna and special faculty in the Entertainment Technology Center (ETC), Corporate Innovation Award
Conrad Zapanta, professor and associate department head of biomedical engineering, University/Post-Secondary Education (Honorable Mention)
Alexandra To, Ph.D. student in computer science, University/Post-Secondary Student (Honorable Mention)
Neil Carleton, undergraduate student in mechanical engineering, University/Post-Secondary Student (Honorable Mention)
Originally published: https://www.cmu.edu/mcs/news-events/2017/0315-Carnegie-Science-Awards-2017.html