Four engineering professors earn campus faculty fellowships

College of Engineering professors Jamie Schauer, Xudong Wang, Paul Campagnola and David Lynn are among the recipients across campus of University of Wisconsin-Madison faculty fellowships for 2020-21.

Schauer landed a Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation named professorship. Wang received an H.I. Romnes Faculty Fellowship, while Campagnola and Lynn earned Kellett Mid-Career Awards.

Schauer, William C. Boyle Professor of Environmental Engineering, is a professor of civil and environmental engineering and director of the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene. His research focuses on development and application of measurement techniques to understand the sources and impacts of air pollution. Schauer’s research has contributed to numerous efforts around the world to mitigate air pollution and identify how controlling air pollution sources can reduce the effects of air pollution of human health.

WARF named professorships, which come with $100,000, honor faculty who have made major contributions to the advancement of knowledge, primarily through their research endeavors, but also as a result of their teaching and service activities. Award recipients—there are 11 this year—choose the names associated with their professorships.

Wang, professor of materials science and engineering, studies the growth and assembly of nanostructures. He also works on the development of flexible electronic and biomedical devices that harvest mechanical energy from human activities and the environment. Wang also leads a nanogenerator that enables self-powering function in bioelectronics.

Romnes fellowships recognize faculty within their first six years from promotion to a tenured position. The award, which also went to 11 faculty members this year, is named for the late WARF trustees president H.I. Romnes and comes with $60,000 that may be spent over five years.

Campagnola, professor of biomedical engineering and medical physics, studies changes in the extracellular matrix—a collection of molecules that surrounds the cells in tissues and organs—in various forms of cancer, fibrosis and connective tissue disorders. He applies 3D imaging and microfabrication techniques to examine structural features and create models to study these diseases.

Lynn, professor of chemical and biological engineering, chemistry and materials science, designs and synthesizes new types of “soft” organic materials, including polymers and surfactants. Lynn and his research group have developed new materials with potential applications in advanced drug delivery and environmental sensing, as well as new approaches to control or prevent the fouling of surfaces by microorganisms.

Kellett awards, which went to 10 faculty this year, support those who are seven to 20 years past their first promotion to a tenured position. The award was created to provide support and encouragement to faculty at a critical stage of their careers. The honor, named for the late William R. Kellett, a former president of the WARF board of trustees and president of Kimberly-Clark Corporation, comes with $75,000 that may be spent over five years.

Additionally, Mark Eriksson, professor of physics and an affiliate of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, received a WARF named professorship. Eriksson, who studies quantum computing, semiconductor quantum dots and nanoscience, will serve as the John Bardeen Professor of Physics.

All the awards are made possible because of the research efforts of UW–Madison faculty and staff. Technology that arises from these efforts is licensed by WARF and the income from successful licenses is returned to the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education. It’s used to fund research activities throughout the divisions on campus, including these awards.

“During these difficult times, it is a pleasure to be able to recognize our outstanding faculty who every day support the research, teaching, outreach and public service missions of the university,” says Steve Ackerman, vice chancellor for research and graduate education.