Young Professional Emerging Leadership Awards Are you an exceptional young professional in the field of materials science and process engineering? The SAMPE North America Young Professional Emerging Leadership Award recognizes the outstanding achievements of rising stars who have graduated from any post-secondary educational program and are also 35 years old or younger at the time applying , who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and/or achieved notable success as early career professionals in the field of material and process engineering. This prestigious honor provides an unparalleled opportunity to accelerate your professional growth and expand your industry network. Award finalists receive:
Complimentary airfare, accommodations, and registration to attend the SAMPE Spring Conference & Exhibition Immersive experience, to deepen your materials and process engineering expertise, and n etworking opportunities with peers and industry leaders Exclusive invitation to attend and be recognized at the SAMPE North America Awards Breakfast & Keynote
The top finalist will be crowned SAMPE Young Professional of the Year and earn the opportunity to attend an additional future SAMPE Conference.
Don't miss this chance to have your remarkable talents recognized on an international stage. Elevate your career trajectory and unlock a world of possibilities with the Young Professional Emerging Leadership Award!
For eligibility requirements and evaluation criteria, please review the North America Practice (NAP) 5.5 .
Annual Nomination Deadline: February 15th
Award Criteria
Apply Now
Questions? Contact SAMPE Awards at awards@sampe.org or by phone at (626) 542-9460.
2024 Young Professional Emerging Leadership Award Winners:
Eduardo Barocio Vaca, Ph.D. , Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering, Composites Manufacturing and Simulation Center, Purdue University Sagar M. Doshi, Ph.D. , Associate Scientist, Center for Composite Materials, University of Delaware (Young Professional of the Year) Cecile Grubb , Ph.D. Fellow, Volkswagen Group of America Nadim S. Hmeidat, Ph.D. , Materials Scientist, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Eileen Miller-Francis, M.S. , Material and Process Engineer, The Boeing Company
Rita Taitano Johnson Olander, M.S. , Materials & Process Engineer, Composites & Adhesives, The Boeing Company Sai Aditya Pradeep, Ph.D. , Research and Development Engineer, Center for Composite Materials, University of Delaware Dr. David Sundquist , MP&P Engineer, The Boeing Company
2023 Young Professional Emerging Leadership Award Winners:
Joshua Degraff, Ph.D. , Postdoctoral Scholar, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering William C. Guzman, Graduate Student Researcher, University of Southern Mississippi Rebecca Tron Haber , Research Chemist, Hexcel Corporation Spencer A. Hawkins, Ph.D. , Composites R&D Engineer, Texas Research Institute Austin, Inc. Matt Jacobs, Engineer Planning Analyst, Northrop Grumman
Zhe Liu, Ph.D. , Materials and Process Engineer, Maxar TechnologiesZhe Qiang , Ph.D. ,(Young Professional of the Year) Mitchell L. Rencheck, Ph.D. , Environmental Aspects of Renewable Energy Researcher/Scientist III, Electrical Power Research Institute Davis Tran , Materials and Process Engineer, The Boeing Company
Katelyn Virga , Manager, Sustainability Technology Enablers BCA, The Boeing Company
2022 Young Professional Emerging Leadership Award Winners:
Philip R. Barnett, PhD , National Research Council Postdoctoral Research Associate, Air Force Research LaboratoryYourri-Samuel Dessureault, PhD , Manufacturing Research & Development Engineer, Virgin GalacticMuthu Ram Prabhu Elenchezhian, PhD , Postdoctoral Research Assistant, Purdue University-Composites Manufacturing & Simulation CenterOliver Hulme , Design Engineer & Program Manager, HyPerComp Engineering Inc.Jeffrey Hutton , Senior Research Scientist, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company Mark Kaufman , Design Engineer Lead, The Boeing Company (Young Professional of the Year) Vidya Kishore , PhD, R&D Associate Staff Member, Oak Ridge National Laboratory Brian Lisco , Structural Analyst/Materials & Processes Engineer, Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc. Kenan Song, PhD , Assistant Professor, Arizona State University (Young Professional of the Year) Rebekah Sweat, PhD , Assistant Professor, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering Pritesh Yeole , PhD, Researcher, University of Tennessee Knoxville
2021 Young Professional Emerging Leadership Award Winners:
Christopher H. Childers, PhD, Composite Material and Process Engineer, The Boeing CompanyMichael Goodrick, Principal Engineer, Northrop GrummanKelsi M. Hays , Materials, Processes & Physics Engineer, The Boeing CompanyKevin Keith , Chief Technology Officer, MITO Material SolutionsDr. Vipin Kumar , R&D Associate Staff Member, Oak Ridge National LaboratoryHieu Truong McElroy, PhD , Associate Research Scientist, Dow Chemical CompanyDr. Saja Modher Nabat Al-Ajrash , Postdoctoral Researcher, University of DaytonEric D. Schmid, PhD , Product Development Engineer, Raven Industries Engineered Films (Young Professional of the Year)
2020 Young Professional Emerging Leadership Award Winners:
Sana Elyas , R&D Program Manager, Arris CompositesChanel Flores, Aerospace and IT Industry Director, State of Utah Governor's Office of Economic DevelopmentProf. Kun Fu, Assistant Professor, University of DelawareProf. Lessa Grunenfelder, Senior Lecturer, University of Southern California (Young Professional of the Year) Melissa Jaime, Plastics Technologist, VertellusProf. Bo Jin, Research Scientist, University of Southern California, M.C. Gill Composites CenterJustin Massey, Composites & Corrosion Division Head, Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR)Dr. Jeremy Moskowitz, Research Scientist, SolvayDr. Krishnan Veluswamy, Senior Research Engineer, CAPE Lab, South Dakota School of MinesDr. Danning Zhang, Sr. Materials and Process Engineer, Wisk AeroThomas Zimmerman, Stress Analyst Lead, The Boeing Company
2019 Young Professional Emerging Leadership Award Winners:
Filippo Cellini, Ph.D. , Research Scientist, New York University Timotei Centea, Ph.D ., Research Assistant Professor, University of Southern California (Young Professional of the Year) Ryan Curry, Program Manager, Swift Engineering Konstantine Fetfatsidis, Ph.D., Founder & CEO, Make Composites, Inc. (Young Professional of the Year) Alice Havill, Chief Operating Officer, Vartega Inc.Alison Lake, Lead Materials Application Engineer, GE AviationMaggie McKenney, Business Development Engineer, BostikRassel Raihan, Ph.D., Research Scientist III, University of Texas at ArlingtonFurkan Ismail Ulu, Research Assistant, North Carolina A&T State UniversityHao Wu, Ph.D., Senior Research Scientist, KAI, LLC
2018 Young Professional Emerging Leadership Award Winners:
Andrew C. Becnel, Ph.D., Professional Faculty, Department of Aerospace Engineering, University of Maryland Rodrigo Cesar Berardine, Strategic Business Development Manager Latin America, Owens Corning John J. Gangloff Jr., Ph.D., Senior Research Engineer, Advanced Materials, United Technologies Research CenterAyou Hao, Ph.D., Research Faculty, Florida State UniversityJohn Misasi, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Western Washington UniversityIan Swentek, Ph.D., PEng, Applications Development Engineer, HexionAshley Tracey, Ph.D., Engineer, The Boeing Company (Young Professional of the Year)
