DPE Annual Awards 2023

Diversity programs in engineering annual awards banner

Diversity Programs in Engineering (DPE) recognizes the outstanding undergraduate and graduate students, student organizations, faculty, and staff through our Annual Awards. Additionally, with support from our industry partners, DPE presents corporate awards and scholarships to students. The dinner was held on Thursday, May 4, 2023 at the Statler Hotel Carrier Ballroom and co-hosted by student emcees, Dominic Diaz, Applied Math PhD student, and Safiyyah Franklin ’24, Civil Engineering.

See photos on Flickr.

Student emcees, Dominic and Safiyyah stand at a podium. They're smiling and dressed up.
Dominic Diaz (l) and Safiyyah Franklin, student emcees

Signature Awards

Signature award recipients are selected by the number of nominations received in conjunction with qualitative examples of their deeds and efforts. These awards include a monetary prize to recognize the outstanding contributions of the award recipients.

Student of the Year Awards

  • Freshman of the Year – Priya Abiram ’26, (Unaffiliated) Engineering
  • Undergraduate Student of the Year – Chukwuemeka Emmanuel Adebi ‘24, Electrical and Computer Engineering
  • First Year Graduate Student of the Year – Joshua Almonte, Chemical Engineering, MS Student
  • Graduate Student of the Year – Cátia Dombaxe , Biomedical Engineering, PhD Student

Read more about the awardees: Student of the Year Awards

Commitment to Diversity Awards

  • Zellman Warhaft Undergraduate Student Awardee: Oluwatise Alatise ’23, Computer Science
  • Zellman Warhaft Graduate Student Awardee: Gustavo Alvarez, Mechanical Engineering PhD Student
  • Zellman Warhaft Faculty Commitment to Diversity Award: Julia Dshemuchadse, Assistant Professor, Materials Science & Engineering

Read more about the awardees: Commitment to Diversity Awards

Mentorship Awards

  • CU Empower Outstanding Peer Protégé – Ryan Issa ’26, (Unaffiliated) Engineering
  • CU Empower Outstanding Peer Mentor Awards – Jakobi Davis ’25, Civil Engineering
  • Ephrahim Garcia Graduate Excellence in Mentoring Awards – Cecilio Tamarit Camarero, Electrical and Computer Engineering, PhD Student

Read more about the awardees: Mentorship Awards

Leadership and Service Awards

  • Undergraduate Excellence in Leadership Award – Peter Thais ‘25, Biological Engineering
  • Undergraduate Distinguished Service Award – Arianna Curillo ‘23, Computer Science
  • The Robert Mozia Graduate Distinguished Service Award – Mayleen Cortez-Rodriguez, Applied Math, PhD Student
  • Graduate Excellence in Leadership Award – Natalia Lopez-Barbosa, Chemical Engineering, PhD Candidate

Read more about the awardees: Leadership and Service Awards

Corporate Awards & Scholarships

Seven of eight DPE Scholar awardees at the 2022 banquet. Awardees of mixed races and genders, all holding certificates
DPE Scholarship Recipients

Visit the corporate award and scholarship page for photos.

Society of American Military Engineers (SAME)

  • Kiley Espineira ’24, Environmental Engineering
  • Ave Kludze ’23, Biomedical Engineering
  • Efrain Muñoz ’23, Computer Science

Capital One

  • Sophie Alber ’25, Computer Science
  • Oluwasola Ogundare ’26, (Unaffiliated) Engineering

Ford Motor Company

  • Tanvi Athavale ’23, Information Science, Systems, and Technology
  • Jesse Leal ’23, Mechanical Engineering 

Intel Foundation

  • Anna Lin ’23, Materials Science and Engineering
  • Samuel Rodriguez ’23 and ’24, Computer Science

Diversity Scholar Awards

  • Eleanor Anderson-Zych ’24, Mechanical Engineering
  • Kaitlyn Beiler ’23, Biomedical Engineering
  • MacKenzie Fountain ’26, (Unaffiliated) Engineering
  • Julianne Klurfled ’24, Chemical Engineering
  • Renan Laurore ’23, Biomedical Engineering
  • Josue Ortiz-Ordoñez ’26, (Unaffiliated) Engineering
  • Jamison Taylor Jr ’26, (Unaffiliated) Engineering
  • Nina Williams ’26, (Unaffiliated) Engineering

Read about winners from 2022 or 2021.