Engineering Distinguished Researcher Award
The Engineering Distinguished Researcher Award recognizes sustained and consistent research excellence by a full-time full professor within the college. The award was established in 2016 to recognize significant achievements over a person’s research career, and awardees receive a $3,000 cash prize. The selection committee uses the following criteria for this award:
Sustained and consistent research activities including most of the following:
- External funding support and expenditures
- Refereed publications and citations
- Intellectual products including patents and disclosures
- National and international research awards
- Research mentoring and team building including collaborative funding
- Graduate program accomplishments including Ph.D. student mentoring
- Outstanding impact of work on his/her profession and K-State
Current recipient
Bala Natarajan
This year’s recipient is Bala Natarajan, university distinguished professor in the Mike Wiegers Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
Over 23 years, Natarajan has participated in 50 funded projects totaling nearly $40 million, including 25 projects as lead PI totaling approximately $15 million.
His research has pioneered approaches to smart-grid state estimation and the resilience of interconnected energy, water and transportation systems, resulting in patents and multiple NSF- and DOE-supported projects.