Boyd receives ASME Lakshmi Singh Early Career Leadership Award

The award recognizes leadership in the society

Beth Miller 
Emily Boyd

Emily Boyd, teaching professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science in the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis, has been selected to receive the 2023 American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Lakshmi Singh Early Career Leadership Award. 

The award honors her for taking continuous leadership positions in the society as an early career engineer, particularly for creating the Volunteer Leadership Pathway, for chairing the Committee on Organization and Rules, and for serving as faculty adviser for the university’s ASME student group.

In June, Boyd received the Dedicated Service Award from the ASME at its annual meeting. The award honors unusual dedicated voluntary service to the society marked by outstanding performance, demonstrated effective leadership, prolonged and committed service, devotion, enthusiasm and faithfulness and to those who have served the organization for at least 10 years. In 2002, Boyd was elected a Fellow of the ASME, joining an elite group of fewer than 3,500 Fellows out of more than 79,000 society members. 

Boyd joined Washington University in St. Louis in 2015. She specializes in thermofluids sciences, teaching courses in fluid dynamics and heat transfer. She also is director of undergraduate studies for the Department of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science and coordinates the Washington University Summer Engineering Fellowship (WUSEF) program, which provides research experience for undergraduate students. She also is principal investigator of the NSF-funded Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Site program in thermal management. From 2016-2021, she directed McKelvey Engineering’s Women in Engineering Center and the Women in Engineering Leadership Society.

She has received numerous awards and honors, including the Emerson Excellence in Teaching award, which recognizes area educators for their achievements and dedication to the field of education, in 2019; the Chair’s Award for Outstanding Teaching from the Department of Mechanical Engineering & Materials Science in 2021; the Faculty Award for Extraordinary Service from McKelvey Engineering in 2021; and two awards from the University of Texas at Austin in 2022, including the Mechanical Engineering Academy of Distinguished Alumni Member and the Outstanding Young Mechanical Engineering Award.

Boyd has researched methods for increasing the efficiency of gas turbine engines, focusing on film cooling. She conducted proprietary experimental research for gas turbine engine manufacturers such as Pratt & Whitney, G.E. Energy, G.E. Aviation and Siemens.

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