On Aug. 31, 2022, two members of the MSOE faculty were recognized for their commitment to excellence during the university’s annual Kick-off Celebration.  

Dr. Prabhakar Venkateswaran was awarded the 2022 Regal Rexnord Educator of the Year Award. This award is presented annually to a full-time member of the MSOE faculty with less than seven years of experience at the university and is a testament to exemplary dedication and performance. Venkateswaran is an assistant professor in the Mechanical Engineering Department.  

Students and faculty who nominated him for this award frequently cited his attention to detail and personalized attention. They said, “Dr. Venkateswaran is an excellent professor. His lectures are very detailed and clear. After a concept is taught to the class, he will stop and answer the questions with no hesitation.”  

And, “Prabhakar exemplifies himself in his consistent assessment methodology and reasons with the students for doing so in as transparent of a way as possible. The result is a student who will learn the subject in-depth. This requires more work from Prabhakar, but he gladly accepts this as the student’s mastery of the subject and benefit outweigh the cost.”  

Dr. RJ Nowling, assistant professor in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department, received the 2022 Karl O. Werwath Applied Research Award. Karl O. Werwath was an innovator in engineering education and the application of technology, and believed that teaching effectiveness was enhanced through applied research and consulting. He felt that MSOE should make an effort to contribute to the advancement of technical knowledge for the benefit of business and industry for the good of the community and the nation. This award was initiated to recognize the vision of Karl O. Werwath and the contribution of MSOE faculty and staff who have fostered the advancement of applied scientific knowledge. The award recipient is chosen based on criteria including his or her contribution to engineering, scientific research, consulting, the engineering profession and scholarship, promoting research at MSOE, patentable concepts and publications.  

Recipients of this award are nominated by MSOE faculty and staff members, alumni, Regents and Corporation members. In their nomination letters for Nowling it was noted that, “Dr. RJ Nowling is a scholar who is both dedicated to teaching and to fundamental research. He actively encourages other faculty members in the development of their own research programs in addition to seriously pursuing his own research in analysis of mosquito DNA. He brings this research into MSOE’S AI‐focused CS curriculum both at the undergraduate and now at the graduate level.”  

The nomination went on to say, “With industrial experience, Dr. Nowling has conducted cutting-edge research since he joined MSOE in 2018. His research lies at the intersection of machine learning and genomics. He also collaborates with faculty members inside and outside MSOE and obtained multiple external grants as a PI or co-PI, resulting in eight journal/conference publications.”