Comets Earn Honors for Academic Excellence, Projects, Service

The University of Texas at Dallas is one of 43 schools that have earned the 2025 NCAA Division II Presidents’ Award for Academic Excellence.

The award recognizes Division II institutions that achieved an Academic Success Rate (ASR) — the percentage of student-athletes who graduate within six years of their initial enrollment — at or above 90%. UT Dallas, one of three schools from the Lone Star Conference to earn the honor, had an overall ASR of 91%, with three programs — men’s and women’s cross country, track and field, and women’s golf — posting perfect scores.

“Receiving such an elite award speaks to the culture of excellence we have at UT Dallas, which emphasizes academics and the importance of supporting student-athletes’ academic success,” said Angela Marin, director of athletics at UT Dallas. “I am so proud that our student-athletes are excelling both in their sport and in the classroom as well.”

Seven other UT Dallas programs had ASRs better than 90% led by women’s basketball (97%), softball (96%) and volleyball (95%). Baseball, men’s basketball, women’s soccer and women’s tennis also achieved 90% or better.

The awards tracked student-athlete progress and graduation over the last six academic years (2018-2024).

Calculation of the NCAA Division II ASR includes student-athletes who initially enroll or transfer into an institution and removes those who left the school in good academic standing. The ASR for student-athletes who entered college from 2015 to 2018 shows 77% of Division II student-athletes graduated within six years of their initial enrollment.

“The Presidents’ Award for Academic Excellence highlights what makes Division II truly distinctive — our unwavering commitment to the full success of our student-athletes,” said Dr. Colleen Perry Keith, president at Goldey-Beacom College and president of the Division II Executive Board. “Achieving a 90% Academic Success Rate is an extraordinary accomplishment, and these institutions exemplify the balance of academic achievement, competitive excellence and personal growth that defines Division II.”

UTDesign Team Places 3rd in NIH Competition

A team of student engineers won third place in a National Institutes of Health (NIH) competition for developing a device to help physicians perform successful neonatal lumbar punctures, a procedure in which spinal fluid is collected from infants to test for infections and injuries.

The UTDesign Capstone team received $10,000 in the NIH Design by Biomedical Undergraduate Teams Challenge at the Biomedical Engineering Society conference in October. The team’s project, which was sponsored by UT Southwestern Medical Center, was one of 123 entries from 67 universities in 24 states.

Team members included recent biomedical engineering graduates Varun Gunda BS’25, Justine Heckler BS’25, Snehal Mazumder BS’25, Alexander Medina BS’25 and Yash Narsian BS’25, and mechanical engineering graduate Harkanwarveer Singh Kang BS’25.

The UTDesign Capstone program gives Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science students the opportunity to work on real-world engineering projects for sponsoring companies.

Initially, the UT Dallas team was tasked by UT Southwestern pediatricians with miniaturizing existing technology that uses ultrasound as a guide for lumbar punctures in babies. But time and budget constraints led the team to take a different approach.

“Our team was able to design a completely new device from scratch using resistance sensor technology in a way that had not been used before,” Kang said.

Lumbar punctures involve inserting a needle in the fluid-filled area between two vertebrae. Performing the procedure on infants has a low success rate because of babies’ small anatomy, the difficulty of keeping them still and the fact that their vertebrae have not fully hardened into bone. Inserting the needle in the wrong spot can cause swelling and lead to failures that can delay diagnoses and treatments.

The team’s solution, a device called NeoTap, uses force probes to detect subtle changes in tissue resistance. The lightweight, handheld, portable device, demonstrated in this video, has a rechargeable battery port and screen to display commands.

Roger Hill BS’02, an engineer who served as an industry mentor to the team, said he is proud of the Comets.

“This is a team of go-getters,” said Hill, who is also a part-time lecturer in bioengineering at UT Dallas. “They were very motivated and came to the first meeting with ideas.”

The Comets said they are excited to see their hard work pay off with the NIH award.

“Being recognized nationally by such a prestigious organization like the NIH for our engineering design was incredibly rewarding for us as a team,” Gunda said. “It showed us that all of the textbook and class-based learning could be applied to the real world and improve other people’s lives.”

Center for BrainHealth Celebrates Young Scientists

A group of aspiring University of Texas at Dallas brain health scientists each won $20,000 in grant funding to design and lead their own research during the Ramona Jones Friends of BrainHealth Luncheon at the Dallas Country Club on Sept. 29.

This year’s grant recipients were:

• Cognition and neuroscience doctoral student Anna Thompson, who won the Jennifer and Peter Roberts Visionary New Scientist Award for the proposed study “Differential Impact of Neurological Cellular Integrity on Age-Related Brain Changes.”
• Computer engineering doctoral student Audrina Ebrahimi, who received the Cindy and Charlie Feld Visionary New Scientist Award for the proposed study “Using Biomarkers of Neurovascular Health to Predict Brain Health Indices.”
• Cognition and neuroscience doctoral student Maximilian Ciesla, who won the Maisie Heiken Visionary New Scientist Award for the proposed study “How the Adolescent Brain Updates Self-Esteem from Social Feedback: Toward Early Prevention of Mental Health Problems.”
• Psychology doctoral student Micaela Andreo MS’24, who received the Lyda Hill Philanthropies Visionary New Scientist Award for the proposed study “Targeting Nutrient Delivery Pathways in the Brain: A Missing Link in Alzheimer’s Therapy.”

Sandra Bond Chapman PhD’86, Center for BrainHealth chief director and the Dee Wyly Distinguished University Chair for BrainHealth in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, remarked on the growing importance of private funding for scientific research and the life-changing impact of the luncheon in “fueling the next generation of scientists in optimizing brain health.”

This was the third consecutive year Ramona Jones and her family have sponsored the event. Jones celebrated her 97th birthday at the luncheon.

Police Department Recognized for Community Leadership

The University of Texas at Dallas Police Department received the Community Leadership Award from the Asian Chamber of Texas (ACT) on Nov. 14. The department was honored for its commitment to community safety and engagement with the communities it serves.

“This is a prestigious award and a testament to the hard work of our department,” UT Dallas Police Chief Brent Tourangeau said. “It recognizes our proactive approach to outreach and education that exemplifies our spirit of service and partnership in law enforcement.”

ACT, formerly known as the Greater Dallas Asian American Chamber of Commerce, is one of the oldest Asian chambers in the nation.

Accolades is an occasional News Center feature that highlights recent accomplishments of The University of Texas at Dallas faculty, students and staff. To submit items for consideration, contact your school’s communications manager.