Tufts Faculty Recognized by Engineering Faculty Research Awards Committee

Faculty in the School of Engineering are some of the foremost researchers at Tufts University. The Engineering Faculty Research Awards Committee (EFRAC) recognizes innovative scholarship and research in the School of Engineering. This year, three outstanding faculty members were recognized by EFRAC at the first faculty meeting of the 2026-27 academic year. The committee is composed of members of the Engineering Dean's Council and is chaired by Matthew Panzer, E Ink Professor and Dean of Research for the School of Engineering.

Professor Sergio Fantini of the Department of Biomedical Engineering was chosen for the Bright Light Award. Presented every other year, the Bright Light Award recognizes the sustained and distinguished research and scholarly accomplishments of one faculty member over the past five to ten years.

Fantini’s research activities are focused on non-invasive optical techniques for functional imaging of the brain, cerebral hemodynamics assessment, measurements of hemoglobin concentration and saturation in skeletal muscles, and quantitative tissue oximetry. Fantini's research has resulted in thirteen patents and approximately 140 publications. He is highly respected among his peers and has been named a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), Optica, and the International Society for Optics and Photonics (SPIE). 

Associate Professor Jon Lamontagne of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering was recognized with the inaugural Lam Family Research Fund Award. All full-time faculty and professors of the practice are eligible for this new award, which recognizes innovative research in any discipline in honor of Professor Sau-Hai “Harvey” Lam P82, a distinguished theoretician in fluid mechanics and a lifelong educator.

Lamontagne joined Tufts in 2017 and currently holds the Edgerton Faculty Fellowship. His research group aims to improve decision-making for multisector systems confronting uncertainty, including climate change, population growth, and technological innovation. Recent projects include developing a novel method for projecting future drought and flood risk under climate change and exploring the potential benefits of centrally coordinated electricity grid planning in the Mercosur region of South America. Across his work, Lamontagne’s integrated, multi-sector approach captures the connections between water, energy generation, and agriculture. 

Ankur and Mari Sahu Assistant Professor Aseema Mohanty of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering was honored with the Sunrise Award, which recognizes outstanding scholarly accomplishments by a junior faculty member within their discipline. 

Mohanty’s work has wide-ranging implications, from improved efficiency and capacity for data centers and quantum computers to better technologies for understanding the brain. She develops new optical materials and device architectures that can efficiently execute optical circuits that have the potential to provide high-bandwidth parallelism, key developments for classical and quantum optical interconnects. She has received an NSF CAREER Award for her work improving photonic integrated circuits. Her research interests include nanophotonics, optical beam shaping, neuroengineering, chip-scale imaging and microscopy, and quantum information systems.

Learn more about Tufts’ EFRAC awards.