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Anna Stefanopoulou at Manly
Beach, Sydney, Australia - 3rd IFAC Symposium on Mechatronics |
ME Associate Professor Anna Stefanopoulou has earned the 2005 Henry Russel Award. This coveted award has been bestowed by the University of Michigan since 1926 and is conferred annually in recognition of "distinguished scholarship and conspicuous ability as a teacher." The award is one of the highest honors the University grants to faculty with less than six years' tenure. The distinction carries with it a financial award of $1,200.
The Henry Russel Award and the Henry Russel Lectureship were established with a bequest from the late Henry Russel, a Detroit native, U-M alumnus and former vice president of the now-defunct Michigan Central Railroad.
Stefanopoulou's work focuses on automotive powertrain control systems and architectures, vehicle and transportation control, the control of advanced automotive engines, fuel cell power and hydrogen reforming, control of breathing through valves, vanes, and membranes and development of modular controller architectures.
She has earned numerous honors, including the Society of Automotive Engineers’ 2002 Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award, which recognizes engineering educators for their contributions to teaching and curriculum and professional development. She is the recipient of four Ford Innovation awards and was named one of the 'World's Top 100 Young Innovators' by MIT Technology Review. She has eight patents.
Upon learning that she was a Henry Russel Award recipient, Stefanopoulou said she "felt indebted to all of the colleagues who worked hard to gather the material necessary for the award nomination. During the award ceremony I looked at the list of former recipients with awe and realized the tremendous competition for such a recognition."
For her, the greatest reward remains the interaction with students and "their transformation into confident, curious researchers and well-respected engineers and educators at top academic institutions. My group is small, and my graduate students are diverse in their backgrounds--currently my PhD students represent the electrical, mechanical, environmental and naval engineering departments--and their career aspirations. I am also proud of the network I've established with international visiting students and scholars who constantly come to work in our lab."
According to colleagues and students, Stefanopoulou is a natural teacher. Her teaching is intuitive, and she said she doesn't rely on any specific or elaborate strategies. "I see what motivates students and how they best learn--I play it by ear.”