CLEMSON – Please join us in recognizing this spring’s recipients of the 2022 department-wide graduate student awards which have been given annually for 37 years in recognition of outstanding accomplishment in the preceding year by a current Electrical and Computer Engineering graduate student in the areas of laboratory teaching and research.
Pralad Paniyil is the recipient of the Award for the Outstanding Graduate Laboratory Teaching Assistant in 2022 based on evaluations by undergraduates enrolled in ECE laboratory courses and assessment by the faculty supervisors of the laboratories. Pralad joined Clemson as a Master’s student in 2016, and is currently pursuing the PhD degree in electrical engineering under the direction of Dr. Rajendra Singh.
Pralad has been the Teaching Assistant for many of the department’s fundamental electrical engineering labs. In these positions, he has consistently received positive feedback from both students and faculty, and is known for his knowledge and hard work. Students’ evaluations of his lab sections remark on his teaching skills as well as his ability to help students succeed.
Kunjian Dai is the recipient of the Harris Award for the Outstanding Graduate Researcher in 2022 based on the recommendation of a faculty member and evaluation by a committee of ECE faculty, which found his record of research productivity and scholarship outstanding.
Kunjian is a PhD student in Electrical Engineering focusing his research and scholarly activity in Orbital Angular Momentum (OAM) for sensing and communications related applications. Kunjian has been a research assistant under the direction of his advisor, Prof. Eric Johnson, since enrolling at Clemson in 2018. His preliminary work in OAM was also a factor in Clemson being selected to lead a MURI effort in this area. Kunjian holds a Master’s degree in Electrical Science and Technology and a bachelor’s degree in Optical Information Science and Technology, both from the Beijing Institute of Technology.
While a graduate student at Clemson, Kunjian has published more than fifteen research articles in refereed journals, and he was the lead author on seven of these publications. In fact, his most recent publication: “Fractional orbital angular momentum conversion in second-harmonic generation with an asymmetric perfect vortex beam,” was the number one downloaded paper in Optics Letters last July (2021). Kunjian is recognized not only for his high level of scholarly research, but also for his dedication and ability to work as a team member.
___
