UCLA Engineering celebrates students, faculty, alumni at annual awards dinner

Feb 28, 2017

By UCLA Samueli Newsroom

The UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science celebrated the accomplishments of students, faculty and alumni at its annual Awards Dinner Saturday.

Joanne Maguire MS ’78, a longtime aerospace and defense industry leader who capped her stellar career as executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Space Systems  Company, was honored as the 2017 Alumna of the Year. At Lockheed Martin, Maguire oversaw an $8-billion portfolio, including programs for human space flight systems, satellites, defense systems, space observatories and interplanetary space craft, before retiring in 2013.

Lawrence E. Tannas, Jr. ’59, MS ’16 was recognized for his numerous achievements, from early part of the U.S. Space Program, to the birth of the information display industry. Tannas and his wife Carol are longtime supporters of UCLA Engineering.

Jayathi Murthy, the Ronald and Valerie Sugar Dean of UCLA Engineering, welcomed more than 400 attendees to the gala, which was held at the new Renee & Meyer Luskin Conference Center on the UCLA campus. Krisztina ‘Z’ Holly, who hosts “The Art of Manufacturing” podcast and the founder of MAKE IT IN LA, was the program’s emcee.

The night’s honorees also included:

  • Portonovo Ayyaswamy PhD ’71, the Asa Whitney Professor of Dynamical Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania, who received the Alumni Professional Achievement Award.
  • Emily Guglielmo ’03, an associate with the structural engineering firm Martin/Martin, Inc. and manager of its San Francisco Bay Area office, who received the Rising Alumna Professional Achievement Award.
  • Daniel Kamei, professor of bioengineering, who received the Lockheed Martin Excellence in Teaching Award.
  • Jonathan B. Hopkins, assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, who received the Northrop Grumman Excellence in Teaching Award
  • Mona Jarrahi, professor of electrical engineering, who received the Watanabe Excellence in Research Award.
  • Ajit Mal, distinguished professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, who received the University Service Award.
  • Haik Kalantarian MS ’13, PhD ’16, an engineer at Apple who received the Edward K. Rice Outstanding Doctoral Student Award
  • Allison Yip ’14, MS ’16, a medical student at Case Western Reserve University who received the Edward K. Rice Outstanding Master’s Student Award.
  • Michael Wu ’16, a graduate student at UC Berkeley, who received the Edward K. Rice Outstanding Bachelor’s Student Award.

The evening also saw the debut of a new video, featuring current engineering and computer science students sharing their enthusiasm for UCLA. The dinner was made possible by 14 sponsors.

Dean’s Reception Sponsor
Northrop Grumman

Platinum Sponsor
Ralph Crump ’50

Silver Sponsors
Northrop Grumman, Symantec; Raytheon; CTS Cement Manufacturing Corporation; Lockheed Martin, the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA; UCLA Health.

Blue Sponsors
Joanne Maguire MS ’78; TMX Engineering and Manufacturing; The Aerospace Corporation; the Rand Corporation; the Samueli Foundation

Joanne Maguire accepts the Alumna of the Year Award from Dean Jayathi Murthy

Larry Tannas, Lifetime Contribution Award Winner

Associate Dean Jia-Ming Liu presents the Professional Achievement Award to Portonovo Ayyaswamy

Emily Guglielmo, Rising Alumna Professional Achievement Award Winner

Associate Dean Hal Monbouquette presents the University Service Award to Professor Ajit Mal

Dean Monbouquette presents the Watanabe Excellence in Research Award to Professor Mona Jarrahi

Dean Monbouquette presents the Lockheed Martin Excellence in Teaching Award to Professor Daniel Kamei

Dean Monbouquette presents the Northrop Grumman Excellence in Teaching Award to Professor Jonathan B. Hopkins

Professor Dwight Streit with the Edward K. Rice Outstanding Students: Michael Wu, Haik Kalantarian, and Allison Yip

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