Cornell Minesweeper, a student team that is developing a low-cost, humanitarian landmine-detection robot, won the Albert R. George Student Team Award from the Cornell Engineering Alumni Association (CEAA) at its awards banquet during its annual conference March 28.

The award honors George, the J.F. Carr Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Cornell, as the Cornell Formula SAE team's longtime adviser who has guided the team to nine championships in 20 years -- the best record of any university. Members of the CEAA are raising an endowment to support the award so it can provide a portion of the winning team's funding.

Other awards given at the meeting were:

• The Undergraduate Student Organization Award, which was shared by the Cornell chapters of the National Society of Black Engineers and the Institute of Biological Engineering.
• The Undergraduate Research Award, for the best individual research project, which went to Ryan Walter '09. Walter has been researching vinyl chloride in drinking water with Ruth Richardson, civil and environmental engineering assistant professor.
• The Academic Achievement Award, which went to Petru Petrina, a senior research associate in theoretical and applied mechanics and civil and environmental engineering. This award recognizes non-tenured staff and lecturers who go beyond their job duties for advising, teaching and general help to students.
• The Tau Beta Pi Professor of the Year award, which went to T. Michael Duncan, associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, who received the same honor in 1997. More recently, he was named the 2007 New York Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation and the Council for the Support and Advancement of Education.

Two student groups also received special mentions: the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), which was awarded Most Outstanding Collegiate Section at the 2007 SWE National Conference; and the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE), which was awarded the Outstanding Small Chapter of the Year at the 2007 SHPE conference.

Robert Emro is a communications specialist with the College of Engineering.