2024 Dean’s Early Career Fellowships awarded

Three College of Engineering faculty members have been awarded the Dean’s Early Career Fellowship in recognition of their exceptional contributions to their respective fields. This year’s recipients are Mechanical Engineering’s Eni Halilaj, Chemical Engineering’s Coty Jen, and Carnegie Mellon University Africa’s George Okeyo.

Dean’s Early Career Fellowships are awarded to untenured faculty members who have been nominated by their department heads and selected to receive the award upon review by the Engineering Review Committee. Fellows receive discretionary funds for a three-year period, or until such time when they have been promoted to full professor.

Eni Halilaj

Eni Halilaj (left in photo) is an associate professor of mechanical engineering, as well as an adjunct faculty member in Orthopedic Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. She directs the multidisciplinary CMU Musculoskeletal Biomechanics Lab, which uses both experimental and computational data to develop rehabilitation strategies that preserve pain-free mobility throughout the human lifespan. Halilaj is the recipient of the George Tallman Ladd Research Award, National Science Foundation CAREER Award, and the American Society of Biomechanics Young Scientist Award.

Coty Jen

Coty Jen (middle) is an associate professor of chemical engineering and a member of the Center for Atmospheric Particle Studies at CMU. Her lab aims to develop a holistic understanding of atmospheric particle interactions and elucidate the effects of aerosol particles on air quality and climate. Jen specializes in designing instruments to measure previously undetected compounds in hard-to-reach regions of the planet. She was recently awarded a Department of Energy Small Business Innovation Research grant in collaboration with Aerosol Dynamics, Inc. for the commercialization of an instrument that measures ambient sulfuric acid levels at a smaller size and lower cost than preexisting tools.

George Okeyo

George Okeyo (right) is an associate teaching professor and director of academics at CMU-Africa. He strives to apply semantic computing techniques in the realms of agriculture, health, and climate adaptation, as well as develop a self-assessment framework to facilitate employment of responsible research and innovation (RRI) principles. Okeyo’s current projects aim to bolster RRI in the Global South and strengthen the agri-food value chain for stakeholders in the input, consumer, producer, and distributor domains.