This award recognizes and rewards outstanding engineering faculty who have achieved distinction in engineering practice, along with effective teaching.

Submit nominations to Carrie Zitzman (carriez@utk.edu).

Eligibility:

• Full-time UT faculty member with a professional rank (i.e., not an instructor, lecturer, Distinguished Scientist, Governors Chair, etc.), who has not received the award in the last five years.

Evaluation criteria:

• Effectiveness in teaching based on student, peer, and administrative evaluation.
• Distinction in an area of engineering practice as demonstrated by the application of the engineering expertise of the nominee to community and/or societal problems and issues, patents, designs, regional or national professional service, and professional outreach activities.

The nomination package should include:

1. A departmental nomination letter (maximum of two pages) that explicitly addresses both teaching effectiveness and the nominee’s distinctive work with respect to engineering practice;
2. Nominee’s resume for the past five years only and organized to emphasize information for the two award criteria; and
3. Evidence of teaching quality and quantity, including a summary of student teaching evaluations for the last five years (course numbers, ratings, and class sizes) only, peer review reports, and teaching awards.

This award recognizes and rewards faculty with a distinguished record of research and teaching as well as a record of contributions to the advancement of technology in the local community through local public engagement in the professional discipline.

Submit nominations to Carrie Zitzman (carriez@utk.edu).

Eligibility:

• Full- or part-time UT faculty member in the college who has not received the award in the last five years.

Evaluation criteria:

• Distinguished record of research and teaching as related to the advancement of technology.
• A solid record of participation in the affairs of the greater Knoxville and Oak Ridge communities with respect to bringing together the technical talent of the community and the public for solving civic problems, as this goal is a founding Objective of the Knoxville Technical Society.
• Note: this award is primarily a local public engagement and/or outreach award; funded research collaborations with regional institutions and/or industry are outside the scope of this award.

Nomination package should include:

1. A departmental nomination letter (maximum of two pages) that explicitly addresses the public engagement and/or outreach criteria, as well as the nominee’s record of research and teaching as related to the advancement of technology, and
2. Nominee’s resume for only the last five years organized to emphasize information with respect to the two key criteria.

While it is the work of the entire college to promote diversity and equity and sustain an inclusive climate in the college, the TCE Outstanding Contribution to DEI Award recognizes and rewards the truly exceptional commitments of faculty members to further the DEI goals of the college.  

Submit nominations to Carrie Zitzman (carriez@utk.edu).

Eligibility:

• All full-time non-administrative UTK faculty members in TCE (tenure line, research, and instructional faculty, including Governor’s Chairs and Distinguished Scientists) who have not received the Outstanding Contribution to DEI award in the last five years.

Evaluation criterion: 

• Demonstrated excellence in promoting diversity and equality and creating and sustaining an inclusive climate in TCE.
• The nomination should clearly identify the exceptional nature of the contribution. While contributions to the greater campus community are further evidence of excellence, the focus of the award is on excellence in promoting DEI in the college.

Nomination package should include:

1. A departmental nomination letter (maximum of two pages) emphasizing the nominee’s exceptional contribution to DEI in the college over the last five years
2. the nominee’s CV covering the past 5 years, highlighting contributions to DEI in TCE.

The Leon and Nancy Cole Teaching Fellow Award and the TCE Teaching Fellow Awards

These awards recognize and reward superior teaching in the college. All of these awards will be judged based on the same criteria, with one nominee selected to receive the Cole Award.

Submit nominations to Carrie Zitzman (carriez@utk.edu).

Eligibility:

• Full-time UTK faculty member(s) teaching in the college, including tenure-line faculty members, Governor’s Chairs, Distinguished Scientists, full-time lecturers, and professors of practice who have not received the award in the last five years, who have at least four years of teaching experience in the college, and who are currently active with teaching responsibilities.
• TCE Teaching Fellow Awards may be awarded to teaching teams. If awarded to a team, each team member will bear the title of TCE Teaching Fellow, and the award amount will be equally divided among the team members.

Evaluation criteria:

• Exceptional record of undergraduate and/or graduate teaching, as appropriate,
• Outstanding teaching skills, including clear communication with students, subject knowledge, a sincere concern for students and the learning process, and an ability to positively motivate students,
• Strong performance in teaching-related service activities, and
• Efforts that clearly contribute to the overall teaching mission of the college.

Nomination package should include (for the last five years only):

1. A departmental nomination letter (maximum of two pages) addressing teaching accomplishments for the award,
2. Summary of courses taught, including class name and number, class size, and student end-of-course evaluation scores,
3. Summary of teaching-related service activities, publications that focus on teaching/education educational teaming efforts, and/or other teaching-relevant information (such as evidence of positive impact of teaching),
4. All peer teaching reviews,
5. Department head narratives from the annual reviews for the overall teaching evaluation, and
6. Nominee’s resume, beginning with teaching-related activities, and covering the scope of all of the nominee’s job responsibilities.

Up to six awards will be made annually (Cole and up to five additional TCE Teaching Fellows). Because of the differing numbers of faculty members across the departments, the maximum number of nominations from each department is:

• Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: 1
• Civil and Environmental Engineering: 2
• Electrical Engineering and Computer Science: 3
• Industrial and Systems Engineering: 1
• Materials Science and Engineering: 2
• Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering: 2
• Nuclear Engineering: 1
• Freshman programs: 1

These awards recognize and reward superior service to, and engagement with, important constituents. There are three distinct faculty service award categories:

1) Outstanding Service in Outreach and Engagement, and
2) Outstanding Service to the College,

Submit nominations to Carrie Zitzman (carriez@utk.edu).

Eligibility:

• All full-time, non-administrative UT faculty members in the college (tenure line, research, and instructional faculty, including Governor’s Chairs and Distinguished Scientists) who have not received the service award in the same category in the last five years, and who have a solid record in all other elements of their appointment (research and/or teaching).

Evaluation criteria:

• Exceptional record of service to the appropriate constituent.
• The nomination should clearly identify one category only for which the nominee is to be considered. If the nominee’s appointment requires service as part of the expected job responsibility, the nomination should state how the service is above that expected. The two categories are:
  • Outstanding Service in Outreach and Engagement (this award is distinct from the Ferris award in that service outside of Knoxville and the Oakridge community is considered and that excellence in teaching and research are not criteria), and
  • Outstanding Service to the College (college-level service and leadership in TCE)

Nomination package should include:

1. A departmental nomination letter (maximum of two pages) emphasizing the nominee’s exceptional record of service to the identified constituent over the last five years, and
2. The nominee’s resume for only the last five years to provide evidence of exceptional service as well as evidence of solid performance in research and teaching.

Each department may nominate a maximum of one faculty member per service award category.

This award recognizes a faculty member or group of individuals whose research has achieved societal benefit through the development of intellectual property via licensing agreements, patents, and/or business startups.

Submit nominations to Morgan Kramer (mkramer9@utk.edu).

Eligibility:

• Nominee(s) may be either a single faculty member or a group of persons involving one or more faculty members plus postdocs, staff and/or students.
• Tenured, tenure-track, and research faculty members in TCE (UT and UTSI) who have not received the award in the last five years.

Nomination package should include:

1. A departmental nomination letter that explicitly addresses the contribution of the individual or group to developing the intellectual property of their research through licensing agreements, patents, and/or business startups, and
2. Nominee’s resume for only the last five years.

These awards recognize tenured or tenure-track faculty members at the assistant or associate professor rank who have received national and/or international recognition in their fields and show professional promise in their research. These awards are to encourage excellence in research and creative achievement, to emphasize the critical role of research in the professional development of our faculty, and to reinforce that faculty research is integral to the mission of the college.

Submit nominations to Morgan Kramer (mkramer9@utk.edu).

Eligibility:

• Limited to tenured or tenure-track faculty members at the assistant or associate professor rank who, by the end of 2023-2024, have ten or less years as a tenure-line faculty member.
• Nominees must have a minimum of three years of service as a UT/UTSI tenure-line faculty member.
• Nominees may not have received this award in the last five years.

The nomination package should include:

• A narrative summary of accomplishments (maximum of two pages). This summary is provided by the department and describes the nominee’s accomplishments focusing on the last five years (or less in the case of some nominations for Professional Promise Award) and should consider achievements such as funding levels, quality of research, graduate/undergraduate student research support, mentoring and placement, publications, teaming efforts, patents, licensing agreements and other relevant information.
• A curriculum vita for the nominee for only the last five years. The vita should include a detailed list of research contracts/grants that specifies whether the faculty member is PI or Co-PI and states the prorated funding share for each entry, refereed journal articles, refereed proceedings, refereed book chapters, authored books, edited books, invited presentations, patents, license agreements, and students with degree and graduation year for which the nominee served as major professor plus a list of MS and PhD students currently being supervised. IMPORTANT NOTE: The CV should only contain these items and they should be placed in this order.
• A separate resume reporting on teaching and university and professional service for the last five years only.

Up to four awards will be made annually. Because of the differing number of faculty members between departments, the maximum number of nominations from each department is:

• Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: 1
• Civil and Environmental Engineering: 2
• Electrical Engineering and Computer Science: 3
• Industrial and Systems Engineering: 1
• Materials Science and Engineering: 2
• Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering: 2
• Nuclear Engineering: 1

The purpose of these awards is to recognize tenured faculty members who have received national and/or international recognition in their field, to stimulate research and creative achievement, and to emphasize that faculty research is integral to the mission of the college.

Submit nominations to Morgan Kramer (mkramer9@utk.edu).

Eligibility:

• Only tenured faculty members who, by the end of 2023-2024, have more than 10 years of as a tenure-line faculty member are eligible. 
• Nominees must have a minimum of three years of service as a tenure-line faculty member in the college (UT or UTSI).
• If applicable, a nominee may not have received the Tickle College of Engineering Professional Promise in Research Award or the Tickle College of Engineering Research Achievement Award in the last five years
• Note: Governors Chairs and Distinguished Scientists are not eligible.

The nomination package should include the same items as the package for the Professional Promise in Research Award (see above).

Up to four awards will be made annually.  Because of the differing number of faculty members between departments, the maximum number of nominations from each department is:

Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: 1
Civil and Environmental Engineering: 2
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science: 3
Industrial and Systems Engineering: 1
Materials Science and Engineering: 2
Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering: 2
Nuclear Engineering: 1