Alexander Richter, a graduate student in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, won a $15,000 Lemelson-MIT Student Prize for work to improve agricultural pest control that could strengthen the global food supply.

Jay Baliga, Distinguished University Professor and director of the Power Semiconductor Research Center, received the Global Energy Prize at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

Ruben Carbonell, director of the William R. Kenan Jr. Institute for Engineering, Technology and Science, and J. Michael Ramsey, a member of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and NC State Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering, were elected to the National Academy of Engineering.

Joseph DeSimone, the William R. Kenan Jr. Distinguished Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, was elected to the Institute of Medicine.

Behnam Pourdeyhimi, William A. Klopman Distinguished Professor of Textile Materials and executive director of the Nonwovens Institute, won the O. Max Gardner Award, the UNC system’s highest faculty honor, for his contributions to health and human safety.

Jay Narayan, John C.C. Fan Family Distinguished Chair Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, won the 2014 North Carolina Award in Science.

Five faculty members received the prestigious National Science Foundation Early Career Award: Chase Beisel, chemical and biomolecular engineering; Kristy Boyer, computer science; Joshua Pierce, chemistry; Rosangela Sozzani, plant and microbial biology; and Ana-Maria Staicu, statistics.

Two students — William Crumpler and Catie McVey — received the prestigious Goldwater Scholarship awarded to outstanding undergraduates preparing for careers as mathematicians, scientists and engineers.

Mia de los Reyes won an Astronaut Scholarship, the largest monetary award given in the United States to undergraduate STEM students based solely on merit.

Chemistry major Karli Moore received a Udall Scholarship based on leadership potential, academic achievement and commitment to a career related to the environment, tribal public policy or Native American health care.

Lisa Guion Jones, professor and assistant dean for diversity, outreach and engagement in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, was named an ACE Fellow by the American Council on Education.

Elizabeth Parry, a partnership coordinator in the College of Engineering, was one of 14 people selected to receive the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring.