(Press-News.org) Groundbreaking electrical engineer Bilal Akin, Ph.D., Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at The University of Texas at Dallas, is the recipient of the 2026 Edith and Peter O’Donnell Award in Engineering from TAMEST. He was chosen for his cutting-edge advancement of sustainable and high-efficiency energy conversion systems for electric vehicles (EVs) and industrial automation.
Dr. Akin’s research focuses on making power electronics systems more efficient, reliable and sustainable, with major impacts on EVs, factories and energy infrastructure. He has developed significant and innovative contributions to the field of power electronics diagnostics and failure monitoring, developing novel approaches that enable early warnings and enhance system safety – methods now adopted worldwide.
He has collaborated with major industry leaders such as Texas Instruments (semiconductors), SLB (oil & gas) and Nexteer (automotive) on more than 40 research projects, translating innovative ideas into real-world technologies. For example, his tools for oil well applications have been deployed at hundreds of sites and have earned five technology awards. His work continues to shape the future of energy and transportation.
“Dr. Akin’s unique ability to translate high-level research into solutions with global industrial relevance is what sets him apart,” said nominator Inga H. Musselman, Ph.D., Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost at The University of Texas at Dallas. “His interdisciplinary work has helped to create safer, smarter and more energy-efficient technologies across multiple sectors and he is helping to move the needle forward on the prevalence of EV options around the world.”
Dr. Akin is one of five Texas-based researchers receiving the TAMEST 2026 Edith and Peter O’Donnell Awards. Each is chosen for their individual contributions addressing the essential role that science and technology play in society, and whose work meets the highest standards of exemplary professional performance, creativity and resourcefulness.
Since the inception of the O'Donnell Awards in 2006, nearly $2.2 million has been awarded to more than 85 recipients in the categories of medicine, engineering, biological sciences, physical sciences and technology innovation. Eighteen past recipients have gone on to be elected to the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, including six elected to more than one National Academy.
“The Edith and Peter O’Donnell Awards have shone a spotlight on Texas’ brightest emerging researchers who are pushing the boundaries of science and technology for the past 20 years,” said Edith and Peter O’Donnell Awards Committee Chair Margaret A. Goodell, Ph.D. (NAM, NAS), Baylor College of Medicine, who herself received the O’Donnell Award in Medicine in 2011. “Each year, these awards celebrate not only exceptional individual achievement but also the profound impact that innovative research has on communities, industries and our future. It is inspiring to witness the next generation of trailblazers making Texas a global leader in transformative discovery.”
Dr. Akin will be honored at the 20th Anniversary Edith and Peter O’Donnell Awards Dinner and Ceremony on Tuesday, February 3, 2026, and will present his research at the TAMEST 2026 Annual Conference: Pioneering Climate Innovations, taking place at the Kimpton Santo Hotel in San Antonio, Texas.
All are welcome to register to attend the ceremony and the conference. Nominations for the 2027 Edith and Peter O’Donnell Awards will open Tuesday, January 20, 2026, and close Monday, March 30, 2026, at 6 p.m. CT.
Interview opportunities with Dr. Akin are available. Please contact:
Katherine Morales
Associate Vice President of Media Relations
The University of Texas at Dallas
Phone: 972-883-4321
Email: kmorales@utdallas.edu
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Pioneering theoretical physicist Fan Zhang, Ph.D., Professor in the Department of Physics at The University of Texas at Dallas, is the recipient of the 2026 Edith and Peter O’Donnell Award in Physical Sciences from TAMEST. He was chosen for his transformational research exploring new topological quantum matter, which has changed how we think about physics.
Dr. Zhang studies how millions of electrons in atomically thin materials interact to produce collective quantum effects such as magnetic, superconducting and topological phases. His ...
Artificial Intelligence (AI) innovator Yue Hu, Ph.D., AI Specialist – Production Technology at bp, is the recipient of the 2026 Edith and Peter O’Donnell Award in Technology Innovation from TAMEST. She was chosen for her cutting-edge work applying AI to optimize real-time industrial processes in the energy sector.
Dr. Hu specializes in reinforcement learning (RL), an AI approach that learns by trial and error. While RL has proven powerful in fields like robotics and gaming, it had rarely been applied successfully to high-stakes oilfield operations. By combining AI with bp’s powerful computing systems, Dr. Hu has successfully applied RL ...
People who lean politically to the right are more likely to fall for conspiracy theories than those on the left – but not for other types of false or misleading information. And regardless of ideology, we tend to accept political claims that align with our own beliefs. This is shown in a doctoral thesis from Linköping University, Sweden.
“Conspiracy theories can have a very strong mobilising force, as seen during the storming of the Capitol. Several of those who took part believe in conspiracy ...
Insilico Medicine has developed a new class of small molecule inhibitors targeting diacylglycerol kinase alpha (DGKα) designed to restore T cell function and overcome resistance to immune checkpoint blockades in solid cancers. The latest results from this program have just been published in the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, describing the discovery and comprehensive preclinical evaluation of Compound 10, a novel, potent, selective and orally administered DGKα inhibitor. The compound exhibits a differentiated pharmacokinetic and safety profile and ...
Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest malignancies, with survival rates remaining dismally low despite major advances in oncology. One of the key reasons lies in the disease’s unique fibrotic microenvironment—a dense, collagen-rich tissue that acts as a physical and biochemical barrier, preventing drugs from reaching tumor cells effectively.
Now, a research team from Okayama University and Tohoku University has uncovered a promising new way to breach this barrier. Led by Assistant Professor Hiroyoshi Y. Tanaka from the Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Okayama University, the group demonstrated that blocking ...
Vienna, Austria – 11 December 2025: Valvular heart disease, identified through cardiovascular imaging, is common in cancer patients. Interventions to treat valvular heart disease significantly improved survival.1 These findings were presented today at EACVI 2025, the flagship congress of the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging (EACVI), a branch of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).
Treatment advances have led to improved survival for patients with cancer. As patients live longer, they are at an increased risk of developing valvular heart disease after successful cancer therapy. Furthermore, it is now well recognised that certain cancer treatments can cause ...
Socially responsible investors (SRIs) often see themselves as agents of social or environmental progress. They buy into polluting or “dirty” companies believing that their capital can nudge a business toward a cleaner path. Their intention is straightforward: to invest in the bad to make it good.
But a new study by finance professors at the University of Rochester, Johns Hopkins University, and the Stockholm School of Economics argues that this logic can backfire. Instead of accelerating environmental reforms, SRIs may unintentionally create incentives for firms to ...
Statement Highlights:
Over the past decade, the number and type of cuffless devices to measure blood pressure, such as smartwatches, rings, patches and fingertip monitors, have increased significantly.
However, many personal wearable devices have not been proven to be accurate or reliable for real world use, such as during exercise, sleep or daily activity or after taking medication that affects blood pressure. In addition, variables like arm position, skin color and how recently the device was calibrated, can also affect results and contribute to inaccurate blood pressure measurements.
More research and standardized validation protocols are needed before cuffless blood pressure technologies ...
Vienna, Austria – 11 December 2025: Reduced coronary blood flow, measured with an artificial intelligence-based imaging tool, predicted future cardiovascular events in patients with suspected stable coronary artery disease.1 These findings were presented today at EACVI 2025, the flagship congress of the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging (EACVI), a branch of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).
Stable coronary artery disease (CAD) refers to the common syndrome of recurrent, transient episodes of chest symptoms, often manifesting as angina. Coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) is a non-invasive heart scan that is used as the ...
A team of researchers at the Institute for Neurosciences (IN), a joint center of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH), has reconstructed for the first time how the cerebellum establishes its connections with the rest of the brain during the earliest stages of life. The work, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), describes in detail the phases in which these neural connections emerge, expand, and are refined, offering the first comprehensive map of the development of cerebellar projections across the mouse brain.
Although the cerebellum ...
