Month: March 2026

Maryam Mohebi Wins Departmental and People’s Choice Awards at the Annual College of Engineering Poster Competition

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A woman stands beside a research poster at a UConn engineering poster session, holding two certificates, including a People’s Choice Award. Additional posters and display boards are visible in the background of the indoor academic setting.Congratulations to Maryam Mohebi on being named the departmental winner at the 12th Annual UConn College of Engineering Poster Competition.

This event brought together graduate students from across the College of Engineering to showcase their research, highlighting the depth, innovation, and impact of their work. Maryam was also selected for the People’s Choice Award, reflecting both the quality of her research and her ability to communicate it effectively. Her work on Porous Liquid Crystalline Polymer Scaffolds for 3D Cell Culture, conducted under the guidance of Prof. Kelly Burke, was a standout among the presentations.

Organized by the College of Engineering Graduate Programs Office, the competition provides a valuable platform for students to present complex ideas in an accessible format while strengthening their professional communication skills. Participants shared their work with judges and attendees from academia and industry.

We congratulate Maryam on this recognition and look forward to seeing where her future research leads.

Read more on UConn Today.

Laurencin Ranked Number One in Orthopaedic Surgery in the U.S. by ScholarGPS

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Portrait of a man wearing a blue suit jacket, white shirt, and patterned bow tie, standing with arms crossed against a neutral gray background. He is smiling slightly and wearing several lapel pins and a pocket square.Professor Sir Cato T. Laurencin, MD, Ph.D., K.C.S.L., has been ranked number 1 in the U.S. in the Orthopaedic Surgery category for 2025 by ScholarGPS over the past 5 years! ScholarGPS ranks scholars based upon a rigorous quantitative assessment of contributions across multiple scientific layers. He is also ranked number 8 in the world.

Dr. Laurencin is the first to receive 4 of the principal honors in orthopaedic surgery in the U.S. He received the American Orthopaedic Association (AOA) Distinguished Contributions to Orthopaedics Award with induction into the AOA Awards Hall of Fame, the Nicolas Andry Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons, the Kappa Delta Award from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and the Marshall Urist Award from the Orthopaedic Research Society. He is also the first surgeon in history elected to all four of the U.S. national academies. He is also the first surgeon elected to all four U.S. national academies—the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Medicine, and the National Academy of Inventors.

We congratulate Dr. Laurencin on this remarkable recognition and celebrate the continued impact of his work.

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McCutcheon Awarded $3M from DOE ARPA-E RECOVER Program for Wastewater Research

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A man in a suit and safety glasses stands near a window, holding small mechanical components while speaking to a small group of people. The audience, also wearing safety glasses, is seen from behind and appears to be listening attentively. The setting resembles a laboratory or demonstration space with a countertop and equipment visible in the background.We’re thrilled to announce that Professor Jeffrey McCutcheon will receive $3M in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)‘s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) RECOVER program to lead a groundbreaking project to recover critical minerals from wastewater—addressing both national security and sustainability challenges!

Together with Professor George Bollas from our department and Professor Baikun Li from UConn School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, the team will develop the Intensified Anaerobic Digestion with Resource Recovery (IADRR) process. This innovative system will combine ceramic vacuum membrane distillation to extract ammonia and bipolar membrane electrodialysis to capture phosphorus as phosphoric acid.

Congratulations to Professor McCutcheon and the entire team on this achievement!

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Azeem Sarwar and Faheem Hassan Wins the Clean Energy and Sustainability Innovation Program Award

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Three people stand at a wooden podium labeled “UCONN EVERSOURCE” during a presentation. A woman in a blue dress holds a microphone and looks toward two men beside her. One man stands behind the podium, and the other, wearing glasses and a dark jacket, speaks into a microphone while gesturing with his hand. A table with water bottles is visible to the side against a plain beige conference room wall.Congratulations to our PhD students, Azeem Sarwar and Muhammad Faheem Hassan, for receiving the Clean Energy and Sustainability Innovation Program (CESIP) Award presented by University of Connecticut and Eversource Energy!

Together with their teammate Maham Liaqat from the UConn Chemistry Department, the team presented “Wastewater to Bioenergy: Integrated Chlorella Cultivation and Pyrolysis” at the North American Power Symposium (NAPS) this past fall. Their project integrates wastewater treatment with microalgae cultivation and thermochemical conversion, demonstrating a systems-level approach to bioenergy production. The CESIP challenge brings together interdisciplinary student teams to address urgent energy and environmental challenges, and this recognition reflects both the technical rigor and collaborative strength of their work. We are proud of their accomplishment and looking forward to seeing this work continue to evolve.

Read more on UConn Today.