Steven J. Fenves Award for Systems Research

The "Steven J. Fenves Award for Systems Research" is presented annually to individuals for their contributions to systems research in areas that are relevant to the College of Engineering and ICES. The Fenves Award consists of a plaque and a gold medal or $1500, and is given individually to all awardees in the event that there is more than one award in any year. The award is presented annually (if appropriate), but no less than once every two years.

Eligibility
All teaching and research faculty, and research staff who have at least a courtesy appointment in CIT and who are involved in a CIT related research agenda. For purposes of this award, a nominee will be considered to have a courtesy appointment in CIT if he/she has a courtesy appointment in the Institute for Complex Engineered Systems (ICES) or in any one of the academic departments within CIT (Biomedical Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Engineering and Public Policy, Material Science and Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering).

Criteria
The basis for selection is the degree to which the nominee has made a significant contribution to systems research in areas relevant to ICES, as evidenced by one or more of the following:

  • furthering the goal of interconnecting people, physical, and information;
  • development and demonstration of an engineered system;
  • enhancing education in systems through the development of courses, publishing textbooks (paper or electronic), or a body of knowledge that is of pedagogical importance; and
  • causing a paradigm shift in systems research.

Procedures
Any Carnegie Mellon faculty member may nominate qualified individuals for this award. Nominations for the award can be submitted to the Director of ICES at the beginning of the fall semester of each year. The deadline for nominations will be usually in the last week of November, but a specific date will be announced each fall. Documentation to support the nomination should include:

  • A citation of less than 100 words,
  • One page justification of the nomination,
  • Current copy of the nominee's resume,
  • Letters of reference from at least 2 but no more than 5 people
  • Other optional material that the nominator may consider appropriate This is a CIT award that is administered through ICES. The selection committee consists of the following individuals: Dean of Engineering, Director of ICES, and at least two other senior faculty members identified by the Dean and ICES Director and appointed annually. All CIT awards will be announced at the Annual CIT Awards Banquet.



Recipients of the Steven J. Fenves Award for Systems Research

Lee Weiss photo. Lee Weiss | ICES | 2007-2008 Recipient
Lee Weiss is a research professor in the Robotics Institute and holds courtesy appointments in the Biomedical Engineering Department, Materials Science and Engineering Department, and the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine. He received the Fenves Award for his significant contributions to system engineering research in shape deposition manufacturing, micromechanical Velcro, inkjet printing technologies for biomedical applications and the establishment of tissue engineering at Carnegie Mellon.


Jim Garrett photo. James Garrett | CEE | 2006-2007 Recipient
James Garrett is the head of and a professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department. He received the Fenves Award for his pioneering work in formal representation of standards and automated standards processing in infrastructure systems and for his contributions in knowledge-based decision support systems, mobile hardware and software systems for use at field sites, and use of sensor systems for infrastructure monitoring.


Susan Finger photo. Susan Finger | CEE | 2005-2006 Recipient
Susan Finger is the head of the Engineering Design Research Center and a professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department. Susan was awarded the Fenves Award for her pioneering contributions in engineering design, both in education and research.

Eswaran Subrahmanian photo. Eswaran “Sub” Subrahmanian | ICES | 2005-2006 Recipient
Eswaren “Sub” Subrahmanian is a research professor in ICES. Sub received the Fenves for his significant contributions in the design of information systems that support the social processes that are integral to design.


Larry Biegler photo. Lorenz Biegler | ChemE | 2004-2005 Recipient
Lorenz Biegler is the Bayer Professor of chemical engineering. Larry received the Fenves Award for his significant and pioneering contributions in the design of complex reactor systems and to the conception, development, and application of optimization algorithms based on sequential quadratic programming and interior point methods. In addition, he has shown dedication in disseminating optimization codes throughout academia, government and industry.


Asim Smailagic photo. Asim Smailagic | ICES | 2003-2004 Recipient
Asim Smailagic is the director of LINCS (Laboratory for Interactive Computer Systems) and a research professor in ICES. Asim was awarded the Fenves for interconnecting people, physical and information spaces, and developing wearable computers, mobile computing and pervasive computing that enhance human performance, increase productivity and create a safer, healthier environment.


Sarosh Talukdar photo. Sarosh Talukdar | ECE | 2002-2003 Recipient
Sarosh Talukdar is a professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. Sarosh received the Fenves Award for his pioneering work on the introduction, analysis and use of autonomous asynchronous teams of computer agents (A-teams) to solve complex engineering problems, especially for the distributed control of power systems. He also received the award for his truly interdisciplinary leadership in engineering design - as director of DRC, the PI of NSF funding for EDRC, founding co-director of EDRC, director of the EDRC systems lab and participant in numerous ICES interdisciplinary research projects.


Chris Hendrickson photo. Chris Hendrickson | CEE | 2001-2002 Recipient
Chris Hendrickson is the Duquesne Light Company professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department and co-director of the Green Design Institute.

Ulrich Flemming photo. Ulrich Flemming | Architecture | 2001-2002 Recipient
Ulrich Flemming is a university professor emeritus in the Architecture Department.


Ignacio Grossman photo. Ignacio Grossmann | ChemE | 2000-2001 Recipient
Ignacio Grossmann is the Rudolph R. and Florence Dean university professor in the Chemical Engineering Department and director of the Enterprise-wide Optimization (EWO) project.


Dan Siewiorek photo. Daniel Siewiorek | ECE | 1999-2000 Recipient
Daniel Siewiorek is the Buhl university professor of electrical and computer science and the director of the Human-Computer Interaction Institute.


Art Westerberg photo. A. Westerberg | ChemE | 1998-1999 Recipient
Art Westerberg is a university professor emeritus in the Chemical Engineering Department.