Each year the Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois internally recognizes a select group of faculty with with College Faculty Awards, honoring their achievements as innovators and their pioneering approaches to teaching and world-renowned research.
This year, Grainger College Executive Associate Dean Philippe Geubelle recognized three Civil and Environmental Engineering professors as recipients of the 2025 College Awards.
2025 Dean's Award for Excellence in Research for Assistant Professor
Nishant Garg was selected to receive the Dean's Award for Excellence in Research for Assistant Professor. The award honors faculty members annually for outstanding research in two categories: to assistant professors based on one (1) year of research accomplishments; and to associate professors based on five (5) years of research accomplishments.
Garg is an Assistant Professor in CEE, working on the chemistry and characterization of construction materials. He was previously a Lecturer and Postdoctoral Researcher at Princeton University where he applied X-ray and neutron scattering to characterize novel and sustainable cements. He obtained his Ph.D. in Nanoscience at Aarhus University, Denmark in 2015 where he used solid-state NMR to study cements and clay minerals. With his multi-disciplinary background in chemistry, materials science, and civil engineering he has spent his research career in developing a fundamental understanding of sustainable, durable, and environment-friendly cement-based materials.
2025 College Award for Excellence in Translational Research
Mani Golparvar-Fard has been recognized for Excellence in Translational Research, honoring faculty or staff researchers for special achievement in translational research. Examples of translational research include, but are not limited to: entrepreneurial activities related to research outcomes, technology transfer of research through licensing of intellectual property, and research leading directly to products/outcomes with notable societal impact.
A Professor of Civil Engineering, Computer Science, & Technology Entrepreneurship, Faculty Entrepreneurial Fellow, Excellence Faculty Fellow, Golparvar-Fard is also the director of the Real-time and Automated Monitoring and Control (RAAMAC) lab at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC). He received his Ph.D. degree in Civil Engineering and MS degree in Computer Science from UIUC in 2010, MASc in Civil Engineering from the University of British Columbia in 2006, and MS and BS in Civil Engineering from Iran University of Science and Technology in 2005 and 2002 respectively.
Golparvar-Fard has worked with many national and international construction companies and most extensively with Turner Construction. He has several patents and is currently involved with Reconstruct Inc., an early-stage technology company with $28 million in venture capital funding that was founded based on the outcomes of his ongoing research projects>
2025 Collins Award for Innovative Teaching
Jeffery R. Roesler has been named recipient of the 2025 Collins Award for Innovative Teaching. W. Leighton Collins was a former faculty member (1929-1965) and former Executive Director of ASEE (1955-1971). He was a pioneer and leader of ASEE and through his subsequent consulting he has helped shape engineering instruction in the United States. The recipient of this award is to be selected for recognition based on outstanding development and/or use of new and innovative teaching methods.
On the faculty of CEE at Illinois since 2000, Roesler holds B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Civil Engineering from the Grainger Engineering at Illinois. Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Illinois, Dr. Roesler was a Visiting Post-Doctoral Researcher at the University of California at Berkeley. He has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in pavement and materials engineering, transportation engineering, geometric design of roadways, project-based intro to CEE, and CEE professional practice.
Roesler is an active participant in the Transportation Research Board (TRB), and past President of the International Society of Concrete Pavements (2020-2022). He is a registered Professional Engineer in the state of California.
Awards will be presented at the Annual Engineering Awards Convocation on Monday, April 28, 2025, at 6pm at the Campus Instructional Facility.