Student Awards and Honors

2026

• Yuzhen Zhang: 1st Place, Berthiaume Center for Entrepreneurship Innovation Challenge.

• Bezalel Adainoo: NEIFT Scholarship.

• Murphy Carroll:

  • 1st Place, Department Hultin Scholarship Competition.

  • 3rd Place, Phi Tau Sigma Three-Minute Research Competition.

  • Manley Scholarship.

• Rongrong Fan: Winner, Department Francis Scholarship Competition.

• Qingqing Fang: Winner, Department Francis Scholarship Competition.

• Jose Ittan: NEIFT Scholarship.

• Xuetao Wu: Peter K. Hepler Research Scholarship.

• Mai Le: 2nd Place, Department Undergraduate Research Competition.

• Alice Chen: 3rd Place, Department Undergraduate Research Competition.

2025

• Adam Forbes: 1st Place, Department Francis Scholarship Competition.

• Bezalel Adainoo:

  • UMass CNS Equity Fellow, Spring 2025.

  • 1st Place, UMass Food Science and Technology: Innovate for Tomorrow Challenge—Advanced Phase. Paradis / Nawar Award—Closest to Commercialization.

• Yuzhen Zhang:

  • IAFP Travel Scholarship.

  • Manley Scholarship.

2024

• Yuzhen Zhang:

  • Health Tech for the People (HT4P) Fellowship.

  • 1st Place, UMass Food Science and Technology: Innovate for Tomorrow Challenge—Advanced Phase.

  • Finalist, Western Massachusetts Health Tech Challenge.

• Prarthanaa Sankaranarayanan:

  • 1st Place, Phi Tau Sigma “Speedy Science” Three-Minute Thesis Competition.

  • 1st Place, IFT Toxicology and Safety Evaluation Division Oral Competition.

• Janvi Patel: 1st Place, AOAC Poster Competition.

• Bezalel Adainoo:

  • 2nd Place, Department Hultin Scholarship Competition.

  • 1st Place, UMass Entrepreneurial Biotech Bootcamp Final Pitch Competition, December 2024.

2023

• Adam Forbes:

  • UMass Rising Researcher.

  • 1st Place, IFT Undergraduate Research Competition.

• Yuzhen Zhang: Runner-up, Department Hultin Scholarship Competition.

2022

• Helen Lin: 2nd Place, Department Francis Scholarship Competition.

2021

• Haochen Dai: 1st Place, Department Hultin Scholarship Competition.

2020

• Helen Lin: NSF Research Traineeship (NRT) Graduate Fellowship, 2020–2021.

• Haochen Dai: Finalist, IFT Graduate Research Video Competition.

2019

• Tianxi Yang: Silk Road International Distinguished Young Scholar, China.

• Michael Hickey: 2nd Place, Innovation Challenge Seed Pitch Competition, Isenberg School of Management.

• Joshua Gukowsky: 3rd Place, IFT Food Microbiology Division Graduate Research Poster Competition.

• Janam Pandya: IFT Feeding Tomorrow Graduate Scholarship.

• Xiaoyan Tan: Finalist, IFT Undergraduate Research Competition.

2018

• Tianxi Yang:

  • 3rd Place, BASF Science Competition, North America.

  • Scientific Teaching Fellow, Yale Center for Teaching and Learning.

  • Phi Tau Sigma Student Achievement Scholarship.

  • 3rd Place, ACS Agricultural and Food Chemistry Division Withycombe–Charalambous Award.

• Michael Hickey:

  • 3rd Place, BASF Science Competition.

  • Finalist, Coca-Cola HeroX Competition, “Feeding 9 Billion” Category.

  • Runner-up, Department Francis Scholarship Competition.

  • NSF Research Traineeship (NRT) Graduate Fellowship, 2018–2019.

• Yanqi Qu:

  • Global Millipore Sigma Food & Beverage Safety Award.

  • Runner-up, Department Hultin Scholarship Competition.

• Joshua Gukowsky: 1st Place, Department Francis Scholarship Competition.

• Alex Mills: NSF Research Traineeship (NRT) Graduate Fellowship, 2018–2019.

• Adam Salhaney: 1st Place, IFT Undergraduate Research Competition.

2017

• Tianxi Yang:

  • Oral Presentation Winner, 7th Life Science Graduate Research Symposium, UMass Amherst.

  • National IFT Feeding Tomorrow Graduate Scholarship.

  • Northeast Section IFT Graduate Scholarship.

  • Phi Tau Sigma Founders’ Award.

  • Sustainable Nanotechnology Organization Student Travel Award.

  • UMass Amherst Graduate School Travel Grant.

• Zhiyun Zhang:

  • Sustainable Nanotechnology Organization Student Travel Award.

  • NIEHS PhytoScholars International Travel Award.

• Haoxin Chen: North American Chemical Residue Workshop (NACRW) Travel Award.

• Michael Hickey: NIEHS PhytoScholars International Travel Award.

• Alex Mills: Finalist, IFT Undergraduate Research Competition.

• Joshua Gukowsky:

  • Global Undergraduate Alltech Young Scientist Award, including full PhD support for research on antibiotic resistance.

  • CS-CVS Undergraduate Travel Grant.

2016

• Tianxi Yang:

  • NIH–NIEHS Scholarship.

  • International Phytotechnologies Scholar.

  • ACS Agricultural and Food Chemistry Division Travel Award.

  • 2nd Place, Francis Strategic Research Alliance Competition, UMass Amherst.

  • IFT Tanner Award for the most-cited paper in the Journal of Food Science’s Toxicology and Chemical Food Safety section in 2016.

• Zhiyun Zhang:

  • Fall ACS–AGFD International Student Symposium Travel Grant.

  • NIEHS PhytoScholars International Travel Award.

• Hua Zhang: Experimental Biology Meeting Travel Grant.

• Siyue Gao: Fall ACS–AGFD International Student Symposium Travel Grant.

• Michael Hickey: NIEHS PhytoScholars International Travel Award.

2015

• Shintaro Pang: 2nd Place, IFT Global Student Innovation Challenge.

• Michael Driver: 2nd Place, Department Francis Scholarship Competition.

2014

• Shintaro Pang: Northeast Section IFT Graduate Student Scholarship.

• Paula Feldmar:

  • 1st Place, IFT Undergraduate Research Competition.

  • NEIFT Undergraduate Student Scholarship.

2013

• Shintaro Pang:

  • 1st Place, Department Hultin Scholarship Competition.

  • 1st Place, IFT International Food Nanoscience Conference Poster Competition.

  • 1st Place, IFT Toxicology & Safety Evaluation Division Graduate Student Research Paper Competition.

  • 1st Place, Society of Laboratory Automation and Screening (SLAS) Poster Competition.

• Wisiani Wijaya: 1st Place, IFT Undergraduate Research Competition.