Palais Award

palais outstanding doctoral student award

Professor Joseph Palais, graduate program chair, and his wife Sandra established the Palais Outstanding Doctoral Student Award. The award is presented annually to the best graduating doctoral student in the electrical engineering program. Candidates must have a minimum 3.75 GPA and at least one journal or conference publication. Faculty members nominate students within the program each year. The recipient receives $1000 and a commemorative plaque.

2011-2012: Elizabeth Steenbergen

Dr. Elizabeth Steenbergen is the recipient of the 2011-2012 Palais Award. Her mentor is professor Yong-Hang Zhang. She is one of the top in her class with a 4.0 GPA that she has maintained since her undergraduate study. Steenbergen has several publications and has received many awards for her outstanding contributions to the field. She is currently working as an intern at the Air Force Research Lab with the career aspiration to work at a DOD or national laboratory to advance the country in technological applications and to teach young engineering students at a university.

2010-2011: Asaad Said

Dr. Asaad Said received the Palais Award 2010-2011. His mentor is professor Lina Karam. His PhD research resulted in outstanding contributions in the field of automated image analysis and classification, cancer detection and diagnosis and industrial automation for semiconductor manufacturing. Asaad is a Research Scientist at Intel Corporation in Chandler, AZ.

2009-2010: Qingfei Chen

Dr. Qingfei Chen is the recipient of the 2009-2010 Palais Award. This is the 8th year of the award. His mentor is professor Ying-Cheng Lai.  Qingfei was the best of 36 electrical engineering graduating doctoral students. Chen earned a perfect 4.0 GPA and produced an outstanding publication record of 17 journal papers, all published in first rate refereed publications such as Applied Physics Letters, Physical Review, and Chaos.

2008-2009: Liang Huang

Dr. Liang Huang received the the Palais Award 2008-2009.  Liang is currently working as a post-doctoral student for Professor Ying-Cheng Lai.

2007-2008: Visar Berisha

The Palais Award 2007-2008 goes to Dr. Visar Berisha. Berisha, who is currently working fulltime at MIT Lincoln Labs, was advised by Professor Andreas Spanias.

2006-2007: Xiulan Li

    Dr. Xiulan Li received the Palais Award for 2006-2007. She was advised by Professor Nongjian Tao. Li works as a senior scientist at Polestar Technologies Inc. She leads research in nano-chemical sensors and biosensors.

2005-2006: Jiangbo Wang and Shuiqing Yu

Dr. Jiangbo Wang was a co-recipient of the Palais Award for 2005-2006. He was advised by Professor Yong-Hang Zhang. Following graduation, Wang is continuing to work with Dr. Zhang. He is a postdoctoral research associate in the MBE Optoelectronics Research Group.

Dr. Shuiqing Yu shared the 2005-2006 Palais Award. Yu was advised by Professor Yong-Hang Zhang. Currently, Yu is working to develop optical cooling devices in Dr. Zhang's postdoctoral research group.

2004-2005: Irena Knezevic

Dr. Irena Knezevic received the Palais Award for 2004-2005. She was advised by Professor David Ferry. After graduation she accepted a position as an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Her research program focuses on quantum electronic transport, quantum information, and semiconductor device simulation.

2003-2004: Elias Kyriakides

Dr. Elias Kyriakides received the Palais Award for 2003-2004. He was advised by Professor Gerald Heydt, and is currently working with Dr. Heydt on parameter identification of synchronous generators as a faculty research associate. Dr. Kyriakides' goal is to pursue a career in academia and develop a successful independent research program in electrical engineering with a concentration in power systems.

2002-2003: Lucian Shifren

Dr. Lucian Shifren received the Palais Award for 2002-2003. Lucian is the inaugural recipient of the award, which was presented at the spring graduation ceremonies. He was advised by Professor David Ferry and is currently employed by Intel as a senior CAD designer working in transport and device modeling.