Fani Boukouvala, assistant professor in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and faculty member of the Renewable Bioproducts Institute, is the first recipient of the Institution of Chemical Engineers' Junior Sargent Medal, which honors an early-career individual who has made a significant recent contribution to research into computer-aided product and process engineering.

The award recognizes Boukouvala's development of novel computational tools for design and optimization of multi-scale, complex systems using both data-driven concepts and traditional chemical engineering fundamentals.