Department of Bioengineering Holds Inaugural Graduate Awards Ceremony

The Department of Bioengineering at The Grainger College of Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, held its first graduate awards ceremony on Wednesday, April 22^nd. The event will be held annually to recognize the extraordinary work their graduate students do every day.

Professor Wawrzyniec Dobrucki, Associate Head of Graduate Programs, presided over the event. "A good graduate student is like a four-leaf clover,” said professor Dobrucki. “Rare, remarkable, and a little bit magical. This ceremony reminded us just how fortunate we are to have so many of them. The graduate student awards are a reflection of everything our program stands for, and I couldn't be more proud of what our students are achieving."

See a full list of the awards, winners, and honorable mentions here.

The awards were divided into four categories: research, teaching, leadership, and scholarship. Twenty-seven awards were given out in total, recognizing students for their outstanding contributions to the department. Dhanush Gandavadi, winner of the Graduate Student Research Award, remarked on the personal significance of his recognition. “Winning this award means a great deal to me: it’s both a recognition of the work so far and motivation to keep pushing further. I would like to thank my PI [professor Xing Wang] and my lab members for their constant support; this would not have been possible without them.”

Students traveled from across the state to attend the ceremony. Bala Ramaraju, an online M.Eng. in Bioengineering  student based in Springfield, said the ceremony was well worth the trip. “As an online student, I was more than happy to make the trip back to campus to be there in person.” Ramaraju received the M.Eng. in Bioengineering Graduate Student Leadership Award, an honor given to a student who has demonstrated outstanding leadership and initiative. “This recognition really means a lot,” said Ramaraju. “Not just for what it represents, but for the people and experiences behind it. To me, leadership is about how you show up for others in the everyday moments, creating spaces where people feel supported, valued, and empowered to grow.”

Katie Koprowski, recipient of the McGinnis Medical Innovation Fellowship and the Graduate Senior Leadership Award, credits her success to her experience with Bioengineering, saying “I am so grateful to learn from and to contribute to such an innovative, collaborative, interdisciplinary, and impactful department here at Illinois.” Katie wasn’t the only Koprowski at the event —her mother, Nancy Koprowski, made the trip to see her daughter at the ceremony. “It was inspiring to witness not only their achievements, but also the remarkable professors and mentors behind them,” said Nancy. “These distinguished educators at the highest levels of academia have built legacies that will endure through these young thought leaders stepping forward to carry the torch.”

The inaugural Graduate Awards Ceremony was a milestone for Bioengineering at Illinois. The department’s graduate students do the impossible every day, addressing the grand challenges facing science and medicine. As they continue to do exceptional work, Bioengineering at Illinois will continue to provide support and recognize their accomplishments. “The Bioengineering department has played a pivotal role in my professional development, from symposiums to seminars,” said Ari Belotserkovsky, recipient of Best Research Poster at BIOE Days. “To be recognized by my colleagues and faculty who have all done outstanding work is incredibly meaningful.”