The Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME) at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University held its second annual spring celebration of community on the 4th floor of the Whitaker building on May 17th. This event recognizes peer nominated faculty and staff members at each BME department campus location for the GLUE award and the BME Mission Award.

According to Susan Margulies, chair of the Coulter department, the GLUE Award is intended to recognize a staff member who persistently demonstrates the following characteristics:

•   Motivates or influences co-workers to achieve professional and departmental goals.

•   Inspires change or productivity in the workplace.

•   Has a positive impact or influence on co-workers/peers.

This year’s winner from Emory University went to Elizabeth Caudle. In the award recommendation letter provided by faculty member Sun Jin Park, he said “Elizabeth demonstrates excellent productivity and responsibilities, as well as time management skills, effective communication and is one of the greatest assets to his group.”

The GLUE award at the Georgia Institute of Technology went to Christy Kelley. Christy was praised for “always putting staff first and keeping an open door policy.” Her award nomination  stated that “Christy is always a quick phone call away if someone has questions, is always willing to step in if a staff member is out of the office, and encourages staff professional development such as assisting an admin in her acceptance to graduate school.”

The entire BME information technology team was also recognized with a GLUE award. The award winners were Steven Marzec, Jesus Mata-Acosta, Amy Tozer, and Vickie Okrzesik. According to Paul Fincannon in the BME academic office, “they all do an outstanding job … their turnaround time is impressive and they always have a great attitude.”

The next awards given were the BME Mission Awards. The BME Mission Award is intended to recognize a faculty member who persistently demonstrates the following characteristics:

•   Significantly impacts health care and embodies the mission of education and leadership.

•   Inspires productivity and innovative thinking in students and colleagues.

•   Extends effort and leadership across multiple departments/units

This year’s BME Mission Award winner from Emory University was Professor Lena Ting. “Dr. Ting has continually worked to lead research and teaching across multiple departments across Georgia Tech and Emory,” said Margulies. “She co-founded the GT Neural Engineering center in 2014, awarding seed grants, providing student fellowships, and helping to launch seminars, retreats, and other initiatives that span the GT Colleges of Engineering and Sciences, the Emory School of Medicine, and Emory College of Arts and Sciences.”

The BME Mission Award winner on the Georgia Tech campus was Professor Garrett Stanley. “Garrett has been a driver of the neuroengineering effort within BME, that has grown and expanded into a vibrant effort across multiple Schools and Colleges at GT,” said Margulies. “Overall, Stanley has worked tirelessly and selflessly within and outside of BME to promote research, education, and innovation at the intersection of neuroscience and neurotechnology.”