- Z. L. Leseman (1997) 2nd Place Cutler Hammer Design Competition; designed new type of circuit breaker
- Z. L. Leseman (1999) Finalist for the student paper competition at the Society of Experimental Mechanics Conference
- Z. L. Leseman (2000) 1st Place Feasibility Plan Competition; Campus wide competition at UIUC for entrepeneurs
- Z. L. Leseman (2005) Silver Award, Materials Research Society student paper competition
- Z. L. Leseman (2006) Best Poster Award, American Society of Mechanical Engineers International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition
- D. Goettler (2007) Best Graduate Teaching Assistant Award, School of Engineering at The University of New Mexico
- D. Goettler (2007) Best Graduate Research Assistant in Center for MultiScale Mechanics and Materials Science
- K. Abbas (2008) 3rd Place in Poster Competition at Rio Grand Symposium on Advanced Materials
- N. Sanchez (2008) Finalist in Oak Ridge National Laboratory Poster Competition