The recipient of the 2021 Vision Award for Excellence in Engagement and Service is Stephanie McChesney. This award recognizes faculty and staff who have demonstrated excellence as servant leaders. The recipient of this award demonstrates a commitment to engaging in activities that have made a significant contribution to the common good within the School of Engineering, the University, or in the local or global community. These activities should reflect the manifestations of Marianist charism: people of community, discipleship of equals and leaders in mission. McChesney’s nomination letter specifically called out several key achievements that reflect those of a servant leader. In particular, her efforts to propose ideas and implement protocol to ensure a safer environment for our community during COVID-19, and her efforts to minimize the disruption to student learning, faculty research, and the work of all is to be commended. She additionally made many efforts to help with numerous on campus events, such as COVID testing and student check-in.

Congratulations on this recognition Stephanie McChesney, and thank you for your contributions to the School of Engineering!

The recipient of the 2021 Vision Award for Excellence in Innovation is Julie Motz. This award recognizes faculty and staff who have made significant contributions to the education of our students through innovative teaching strategies, providing unique experiential learning experiences for students, and continuing to demonstrate success in the classroom. Motz was selected for this award because of the numerous contributions she has made to the experiential learning of our students since coming to the University. Among these contributions is the way in which she helped identify laboratory skill gaps in our students and work to address these through innovative approaches to teaching. Her work to foster interdepartmental faculty collaborations to enhance experiential learning of UD’s students is also noteworthy. In particular, Julie’s innovative approach by ideating and assembling kits for eight different lab courses ensured that our students had hands-on experiences while learning remotely.

Congratulations on this recognition Julie, and thank you for your contributions to the School of Engineering!

The recipient of the 2021 Vision Award for Excellence in Scholarship is Joshua Heyne. This award recognizes faculty and staff who have made a significant contribution in the area of scholarship. This could include traditional research or other forms of knowledge generation or a demonstrated commitment to lifelong learning. Heyne received several nominations for this award, including nominations from research collaborators. One nominator described Heyne as being in the top 1 percent of the most talented young researchers they had ever worked with in their 55-year career. Heyne was also identified as a top expert in the design and optimization of alternative and sustainable jet fuels. His work has been recognized internationally and has resulted in numerous publications and over $3.7M in external funding. Aside from all this, Heyne has served as an excellent mentor to students and a great supporter of the research efforts of community partners through ETHOS. 

Congratulations on this recognition Joshua Heyne, and thank you for contributions to the School of Engineering!