The University of Dayton School of Engineering Vision Awards recognize the innovation, creativity, entrepreneurial thinking and outstanding performance of our faculty and staff for their work as it relates to our School's values of community, innovation, excellence, and engagement and service. Four Vision Awards are presented annually: Community, Innovation, Scholarship and Engagement and Service.
This year’s Vision Award winners were recognized during the Dean’s Welcome Back Meeting on Aug. 19.
Vision Award for Excellence in Community — Gerica Brown
Dr. Gerica Brown serves as the assistant dean for inclusive excellence strategic initiatives. She is integral to building an inclusive environment for all in the School of Engineering.
Dr. Brown has contributed to recruiting and supporting underrepresented groups in engineering, fostering an inclusive academic community, mentoring and inspiring the next generation of engineers and spearheading initiatives that increase representation and belonging. Her expertise empowers her to bridge gaps between engineering education, leadership and student advocacy.
Dr. Brown has contributed to the long-term HERS Equity Minded Leadership cohort experience by offering university level professional development sessions, serving as a National Association of Multicultural Engineering Program Advocates board member, leading the School of Engineering’s successful effort to become a NACME institution, successful grant writing to obtain funding for engineering student scholarships and student success programs and partnering with Dayton Public Schools, Sinclair College and the DO STEM Ecosystem Council to advance STEM education in the Dayton region.
One nominator noted that “her passion for equity, collaborative spirit and impactful initiatives have made the School of Engineering a more inclusive environment for all faculty, staff and students.”
Vision Award for Excellence in Engagement and Service — Michelle Strunks
Michelle Strunks serves as the assistant dean for student success and manager of the Office of Student Success (OSS), where she oversees our team of holistic academic advisors. OSS plays an integral part in helping students succeed and find their engineering vocation.
Michelle continually demonstrates servant leadership within the School of Engineering, university and community through her daily advocacy of our students and their success. She has been a strong leader across UD in the discussions and changes to four-year holistic advising and the new student orientation experience.
She is an active participant in prospective student events and has stepped up as a leader through special Dean’s Office projects and critical school processes, such as ABET accreditation. Michelle also serves as a commencement marshal, helping the event run smoothly.
A nominator said, "Michelle’s servant leadership is evidenced in how she works to strengthen the bonds within the university community and creates a culture of teamwork and shared purpose.”
Vision Award for Excellence in Engagement and Service — Bryan Kyle
Bryan Kyle serves as an administrative assistant for the Department of Electro-Optics and Photonics and Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.
Bryan demonstrates servant leadership within the School of Engineering, university and community. He has become the go-to person for many School of Engineering administrative matters, while selflessly serving two departments with a high level of excellence.
With a positive attitude, Bryan voluntarily assisted new administrative assistant hires and assisted several School of Engineering administrators. He efficiently resolves challenges that allow faculty, students and researchers to focus on their core objectives of education and research without unnecessary frustration.
One nominator stated that “he remains calm, friendly, open-minded and optimistic in every situation, working seamlessly with faculty, students and staff across research, technical and administrative areas.”
Vision Award for Excellence in Innovation — Sean Cahill
Sean Cahill is a faculty member in the Department of Engineering Management, Systems and Technology.
Sean brings 20+ years of applied experience in manufacturing, automation and product development to the School of Engineering. He is recognized for his contributions to experiential learning, teaching innovations and curriculum development, fostering the development of an entrepreneurial mindset in students and his ability to inspire and challenge students.
He elevated the Germany engineering study abroad program by integrating company visits that led to sustained industry partnerships such as capstone project sponsorship, student cross-cultural exchange and networking. He was awarded multiple Experiential Learning Innovation Fund for Faculty (ELIFF) grants and secured over $200k worth of industrial equipment donations from companies resulting in an expansion of critical learning tools that transform the hands-on learning experiences of engineering students.
He also serves as a faculty advisor and mentor for Sigma Sigma Epsilon Professional Engineering Sales Fraternity and SAE Baja, both of which have achieved strong success in national competitions.
A nominator said “His exceptional leadership in curriculum improvement cultivates agile, inquisitive problem solvers who are ready to tackle the challenges of modern industry.”
Vision Award for Excellence in Scholarship — Russ Hardie
Dr. Hardie is a faculty member in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and is the director of the Signal and Image Processing Lab. Dr. Hardie's research interests include a wide range of topics in the area of digital signal and image processing. His focus has been in the area of signal and image restoration and enhancement.
His research has resulted in over 8,000 citations, and Elsevier lists him as a top-cited scientist based on a career-long composite indicator. Dr. Hardie is currently serving as PI for a highly competitive National Institutes of Health (NIH) R03 research grant, which “was ranked in the top 13th percentile within an internationally competitive pool of applicants.”
Research from this grant will generate needed AI algorithms to revolutionize the detection of metastatic lung disease in pediatric patients by identifying lung nodules in CT scans. The integration of AI into the radiologists review process has been shown to dramatically enhance accuracy, but existing AI algorithms based on adults are not validated and perform poorly in pediatric patients.
A nominator noted that “he has a long-time record of outstanding scholarship and student mentoring.”
Main photo: Winners from left to right - Russ Hardie, Michelle Strunks, Bryan Kyle, Gerica Brown, Sean Cahill.