Profs. Kessler and DuPont win recognition for teaching

Drew Kessler, assistant professor of computer science and engineering, and John DuPont, associate professor of materials science and engineering, have received teaching awards from representatives of Lehigh’s student chapters of engineering professional societies. Kessler received the Teaching Excellence Award for teaching mainly within the department, while DuPont received the Service Teaching Excellence Award for teaching a service course for non-majors.

Kessler has taught courses in user interface systems and techniques, virtual environments, computer graphics, and programming languages.  He directs the Graphics, Interaction, and Virtual Environments (GIVE) Lab and chairs his department’s Graduate Committee. He recently served as publications co-chair and workshops co-chair at two virtual reality conferences sponsored by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE).

DuPont has taught courses in the physical metallurgy of welding, advanced solidification, the kinetics of transformations, and materials selection in mechanical design, along with Introduction to Materials Science.

DuPont has won a number of professional awards, including the National Science Foundation Presidential Early Career Award for Scientist and Engineers, which is the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on outstanding scientist and engineers. Last year, he received the American Welding Society’s Adams Memorial Award for outstanding teaching activities at the undergraduate and post-graduate level.