Asian-American Engineer of the Year (AAEOY) Awards

Two Sandia engineers were recognized during the 2015 AAEOY Awards Gala held in late February:

• Somuri Prasad (in Sandia’s Materials Mechanics &Tribology Dept.) received his AAEOY Award for pioneering contributions to the science/applications of tribology (interacting surfaces in relative motion) and mentorship of graduate students, postdoctoral associates, and early-career staff.
• Patrick Feng (in Sandia’s Rad/Nuc Detection Materials and Analysis Dept.) received the Asian-American Most Promising Engineer Award for groundbreaking contributions to organic-based radiation-detection materials and exemplary technical leadership in collaborative new program development.

Somuri Prasad has been a leader and valuable team member at Sandia, said Duane Dimos, director of the labs’ Pulsed Power Sciences Center. “He has repeatedly broken new ground in our understanding of friction and wear in materials and made substantial contributions to national security programs,” Dimos said. (Photo by Randy Montoya)

Prasad and Feng are the 15th and 16th Sandia labs researchers honored with an AAEOY award, Prasad as Engineer of the Year and Feng as Most Promising Engineer. The prestigious recognition program was started in 2001 by the Chinese Institute of Engineers-USA to honor outstanding Asian-American professionals in science and engineering for their leadership, technical achievement and public service.

Prasad graduated in metallurgical engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Warangal, and earned a master’s degree, also in metallurgy, from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. In 1977, he earned a doctorate in materials science from the University of Sussex, England, mentored by famed metallurgist Robert Cahn. Prasad returned to India and worked 12 years as a scientist and assistant director in the Indian Council of Scientific & Industrial Research Labs. “I was inspired by Robert to go back to my roots,” Prasad said. “I didn’t initially set my goals to pursue a career in the United States until I paid my dues to India.”

See Sandia’s and Lockheed Martin’s news releases.