125th Anniversary Gala and Awards Banquet – a Smashing Success!
Our 125th Anniversary Gala and Awards Banquet was held on May 12, 2023 in the Grand Masonic Hall in Alexandria, VA.
The Academy presented awards for Distinguished Career in Science, Excellence in Research, and Teaching Awards to several deserving scientists, engineers and educators. A delicious catered dinner was served.

Back row: M. Taghi, D. Gundlach, A. Centron, L. Madsen, D. Wolff-Hughes, C. Schlenoff. Not shown here: P. Chan, P. Cotae, S. LaValle, A. Zhang.
Leadership and achievement awards were handed out to thirteen scientists, engineers and educators at our annual Awards Banquet on May 12, 2023. Congratulations to these deserving awardees!
Many thanks are due to our sponsors, Unconventional Concepts, Raytheon Technologies, and our banquet site host, George Washington National Masonic Memorial.
2023 Award Recipients
Archishma Marrapu receives the Student Achievement Award from Judy Staveley.
Michael Orcutt receives the Krupsaw Award for Non-Traditional Teaching on behalf of Steve LaValle from Brambaramba Kowtha.
Amy Mensch received the award for Young Investigator in Engineering Sciences.
Anqing Zhang receives the Early Career Award in Healthcare from Tien Wong.
Craig Ian Schlenoff receives the Leadership Award in Manufacturing Engineering from Kevin Jurrens.
Dana L. Wolff-Hughes receives the Leadership Award in Behavioral Sciences from Ram Sriram.
Paul Chan receives the Leadership Award in Climate Science from Paul Arveson.
David Gundlach receives the Excellence in Research Award in Electrical Engineering from Gerald Fraser.
Andrea Centrone receives the Excellence in Research Award in Physical Science from David Gundlach.
Paul Cotae receives the Excellence in Research Award in Engineering Sciences from Devdas Shetty.
Ramalingam Chellappa receives the Distinguished Career Award in Engineering from Din esh Manocha.
Mohammad Taghi Hajiaghayi receives the Distinguished Career Award in Applied Mathematics from Ming Lin.
Jeffrey M. Voas receives the Distinguished Career Award in Computer Science from Ram Sriram.
After the event, Steve LaValle received the Krupsaw Non-Traditional Teaching Award from Vijay Kowtha and the Principal of Chesapeake Math & IT Academy.
Please see many photos and videos of the event posted on our Events page!
Past Presentations
The Washington Academy of Sciences now includes on this website an archive of audio, video and slide presentations sponsored or submitted by members of the Academy. Please visit our presentations page for a list of these fascinating presentations!