On Thursday, April 23rd, 2026, the Ohio State Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering (FABE) held its annual Student Scholarship and Awards Banquet. The banquet, held at the Nationwide 4-H Center on campus, honors faculty, staff, students and alumni for contributing to the department's advancement in 2025-2026.
The keynote speaker was Maggie Daiber, 2026 CFAES Distinguished Senior in the Construction Systems Management program. She shared her experiences that led her to Ohio State and those who have contributed to her success in the program. After that, department chair Dr. Scott Shearer gave his unit updates for the academic year, and then the awards ceremony commenced. This year, there were several incredible award and scholarship recipients:
IPAG DISTINGUISHED ALUMNI AWARD
Paul Chester
IPAG OUTSTANDING SERVICE AWARD
Dr. Asmita Murumkar
IPAG OUTSTANDING STAFF TEACHER AWARD
Philip Sutton
GRADUATE TEACHING AWARD
Sandeep Dhakal
FABE GRADUATE LEADERSHIP AND SERVICE AWARD
Sandeep Dhakal
graduate research award
Sushma Katari - PhD
Ella Nichols - Master's
THE REVEREND PAVLOS T. TAIGANIDES-DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR/ROBERT E. STEWARD MEMORIAL AWARD
Luke Waltz
IAC Construction Systems Management Student Leadership Award
Ernest Smoot
FABE OUTSTANDING SENIORS
Heather Brickman, Jack Carson, Kennedy Macerollo, Justine Prete, William Stieber
CFAES DISTINGUISHED SENIORs
Maggie Daiber, Johnathan Dorsten, Elise Horton
Several student scholarships were also given out. In 2026-2027 the department will award $152,000+ to 70+ students in scholarships.
Finally, the FABE, ASM, and Gloal Capstone Design awards were given out.
ASM OUTSTANDING COMMUNICATOR AWARD
Flex Acre Automation & Controlled Environment
FABE OUTSTANDING COMMUNICATOR AWARD
Fork Farms – Hydroponics Systems
FABE OUTSTANDING INNOVATOR AWARD
NASA Substrate Team
Global Capstone OUTSTANDING COMMUNICATOR AWARD
Guatemala Rainwater Harvesting School
global capstone Impact AWARD
AguaClara (Dosing)
Thank you to all who came to the 2026 FABE Student Scholarship and Awards Banquet, and congratulations to all of the winners!