Dean Suvranu De, Sc.D., (left) and Tristan Driscoll, Ph.D., pose together at the 2026 Engineering Employee & Faculty Awards banquet held in the Carriage House at Goodwood Museum & Gardens in Tallahassee, Florida on April 23, 2026. Driscoll won the Rising Star Faculty Award. (Scott Holstein/FAMU-FSU College of Engineering)
On Thursday, April 23, 2026, the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering gathered at Goodwood Museum & Gardens to celebrate excellence across the college community.
The annual Engineering Awards Night recognized the outstanding contributions of faculty and staff members who have demonstrated exceptional commitment to education, research, student support and service. This year, 17 staff members were nominated for recognition, colleagues seen and lifted up by the people around them. One faculty award was presented; the awards committee intentionally decided not to present awards in two faculty categories where nominations were insufficient to meet the program’s high standards.
Here are the winners for 2026:
Rising Star Faculty Award
Tristan Driscoll, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Chemical & Biomedical Engineering
Driscoll joined the college in 2020 and has since mentored seven Ph.D. students, three master’s students and 23 undergraduates. He has published 20 peer-reviewed journal articles, delivered 13 invited presentations and secured more than $2.2 million in external funding, including a prestigious NIH Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award as sole principal investigator. His research focuses on how cells sense and respond to the mechanical properties of tissue, with implications for the treatment of fibrotic disease. Across 354 student evaluations, he carries an instructor rating of 4.75 out of 5.
Administrative Staff Member of the Year
Subashini Iyer, Ph.D., Director of Assessment and Academic Support
For three years, Iyer has guided faculty through the complexities of SACS graduate program assessments, not as a compliance exercise, but as a meaningful opportunity to understand and strengthen program effectiveness. She meets colleagues where they are, patiently navigating difficult procedures and helping them see the bigger picture. She manages course change requests with precision and follow-through across multiple departments, and her colleagues describe her as the glue that holds many of the college’s core processes together. Her approach is defined by a simple but powerful conviction: that any challenge can be figured out together.
Technical Staff Member of the Year
Tamara Verheyen, IT/LMS Supervisor - LMS Specialist
Verheyen’s work touches nearly every corner of the college’s instructional environment. This past year, she led the college through major technological transitions, including accessibility compliance initiatives, migration to Zoom Phone and implementation of new syllabus software, all while continuing to manage the semester-by-semester work that keeps the Canvas learning environment running for faculty and students across two universities. She administers a growing suite of integrated tools, including Kaltura, UDOIT, Ally and Respondus, learning each one deeply enough to then support the instructors who depend on them. She shows up nights and weekends when needs arise, volunteers for college events and mentors those she supervises. As one nominator put it, without her, the college would be significantly behind in several key areas.
Student-Centered Employee of the Year
Willy Leparulo, Advising Coordinator
Leparulo understands that great advising is about far more than course selection. It is about meeting students where they are and helping them see a clear path forward. He stays late, works through holidays and ensures that no student’s question goes unanswered. His deep command of institutional regulations across both FAMU and FSU means every student receives accurate, timely guidance that directly supports their ability to graduate on time. Beyond individual advising appointments, Leparulo has worked to build a unified advising culture that reflects the college’s One College mission, serving as a trusted bridge between faculty, staff and administration at both universities and creating an advising environment that is inclusive, responsive and built around student success.
The evening was a reminder that the work of this college is carried forward by people who go above and beyond, often without recognition. To every nominee: your work matters—and someone noticed.
Nominations for the 2027 awards will open in spring 2027. The college encourages every member of the community to think broadly about who deserves to be seen and to put their name forward when nominations open.
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