The Kenneth Johnsen Graduate Student of the Month Awards recognize outstanding students who excel academically and are examples for the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering.

The awards are named for Kenneth Johnsen, a former graduate student in the department who was called the quintessential grad student. He was smart, respectful, adventurous, hard-working, funny, easy-to-get-along-with, scholarly and had a passion for learning. While pursuing his graduate studies, Ken was diagnosed with cancer and eventually succumbed to his illness. This award was established to honor his memory.​

Faculty members are encouraged to nominate students who embody the qualities Ken exemplified so well.​ Once a student is chosen, the student is recognized in the department and at the Graduate Engineering Annual Recruiting and Research Symposium banquet in March where they are presented a certificate and a small scholarship.

Shanshan Xu

Graduate Student of the Month - Shanshan Xu

Nov. 9, 2016

Shanshan Xu is a fourth year PhD student working with Prof. Y.C. Lee and Prof. Ronggui Yang in the field of thermal management of mobile and high-heat-flux electronic devices. She works on a challenging research project on flexible thermal ground planes and phase-change heat transfer. She mentors undergraduate students and...

Joanna Gordan Casey

Graduate Student of the Month - Joanna Gordan Casey

Oct. 4, 2016

Joanna is a member of the Hannigan Air Quality measurements group where she enjoys learning about our atmosphere and its interactions with ecosystems and human exploits. Her interests range from the volumes of molecules enclosed by the walls of our homes, to community and regional scale airshed dynamics and composition...

Eduard Benet Cerda

Graduate Student of the Month - Eduard Benet Cerda

Oct. 1, 2016

I come from a beautiful town in the coast of Spain called Tarragona where the combination of beaches, food and environment make it probably the best place to live in the planet. After graduating as a civil engineer in Technical University Barcelona and working a full year at a water...

Alex Yersak on the slopes.

Graduate Student of the Month - Alex Yersak

Sept. 1, 2016

Alex is a fourth year PhD student who has been investigating atomic layer deposited thin films for ultrabarriers and corrosion protection of thin metal films. He has had the opportunity to conduct his research both on campus at CU and at ALD Nanosolutions. Prior to graduate school, Alex received his...

Masoud Aghajani standing by a lake.

Graduate Student of the Month - Masoud Aghajani

July 20, 2016

Masoud has gone through a long journey before joining the PhD program in Fall 2015.

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