Awards & Scientific Recognition
Celebrating national and international honors, best paper awards, and scientific distinctions earned by ClusterDEM researchers.
International Innovation & Invention Honors
🥇 Gold Medal · E-NNOVATE 2025
June 2025
Gold Medal – International Innovation & Invention Summit (E-NNOVATE 2025)
- Awardees / Inventors: Mohammadmahdi Abdollahzadehsangroudi, José Carlos Páscoa Marques, Frederico Miguel Freire Rodrigues
- Location: Krakow, Poland
- Innovation Title: “Ice detection/protection and flow control system based on dielectric barrier discharge sliding plasma actuators”
- Organizing Authority: E-NNOVATE, Ministry of Economic Development and Technology (Poland) & NCBR
🏆 Special Innovation Award
June 2025
Special Award Certificate for Innovation – E-NNOVATE 2025 Summit
- Awardees / Inventors: Mohammadmahdi Abdollahzadehsangroudi, José Carlos Páscoa Marques, Frederico Miguel Freire Rodrigues
- Location: Krakow, Poland
- Innovation Title: “Ice detection/protection and flow control system based on dielectric barrier discharge sliding plasma actuators”
- Signatories: Edyta Wołczyk & Raman Teja Venigalla (Directors, E-NNOVATE)
🎖️ Special University Honor
June 2025
Special Prize for Scientific Creativity and Originality
- Awardees: Mohammadmahdi Abdollahzadehsangroudi, José Carlos Páscoa Marques, Frederico Miguel Freire Rodrigues
- Awarding Institution: “Lucian Blaga” University of Sibiu (Romania) & PATLIB Centre Sibiu
- Recognized Innovation: “Ice detection/protection and flow control system based on dielectric barrier discharge sliding plasma actuators”
- Signatories: Prof. Sorin Radu, Ph.D. (Rector) & Prof. Aurel Mihail Tîțu (Manager, PATLIB Centre)
💡 Innovation Contest Winner
June 2018
Winner of “Hackathon, Hack the Planet 2018” (Prize: €500)
- Awardees: Dr. Frederico Rodrigues & Mehdi Habibnia Rami
- Organizing Entity: UBIMedical / Building Global Innovators (BGI), Portugal
- Institution: Universidade da Beira Interior, Portugal
- Citation: Awarded 1st place prize for breakthrough technological concept development in clean energy and planetary sustainability.
Institutional & Academic Distinctions
🏆 Young Researcher Award (Prémio Jovem Investigador UBI)
2023 (2ª Edição)
Winning Project: PLASMUS – Plasma-Enhanced Carbon Free Ammonia Sustainable Combustion Technology
- Awardee: Dr. Mohammadmahdi Abdollahzadehsangroudi
- Awarding Body: Universidade da Beira Interior (UBI)
- Signatories: Mário Raposo (Rector, UBI), Sílvia Socorro (Vice-Rector for Research)
- Citation: Recognized for research leadership and breakthrough contributions in carbon-free plasma-assisted combustion technologies.
🎓 Best Doctoral Thesis Award (Mecânica Aplicada e Computacional)
September 2022
APMTAC Best Doctoral Thesis Award 2021 (Prémio Melhor Tese de Doutoramento 2021)
- Awardee: Mohammad-Reza Pendar
- Thesis Title: “Numerical modelling of complex flows with sprays including electrostatic effects”
- Awarding Body: Associação Portuguesa de Mecânica Teórica, Aplicada e Computacional (APMTAC), Lisboa, Portugal
- Signatories: José M. A. César de Sá (Presidente) & Carlos Alberto de Brito Pina (Secretário-Geral)
🇪🇺 European Thesis Award Finalist
June 2022
Finalist for the 2021 ECCOMAS PhD Award
- Finalist: Mohammad-Reza Pendar
- Thesis Title: “Numerical modelling of complex flows with sprays including electrostatic effects”
- Nominating Body: Associação Portuguesa de Mecânica Teórica, Aplicada e Computacional (APMTAC)
- Awarding Body: European Community on Computational Methods in Applied Sciences (ECCOMAS), Oslo, Norway
- Signatories: Harald van Brummelen (Secretary) & Ferdinando Auricchio (President)
🏅 Pedagogical Merit Award
2012
Prémio de Mérito Pedagógico Caixa Geral de Depósitos – Engenharia
- Awardee: Prof. José Carlos Páscoa Marques
- Awarding Body: Caixa Geral de Depósitos (CGD) & Universidade da Beira Interior (UBI), Portugal
- Domain: Engineering Faculty / Higher Education Pedagogy
- Citation: Awarded in recognition of exceptional teaching quality, pedagogical innovation, and academic contribution to the Engineering department at UBI.
Best Paper & Presentation Awards
🏆 ASME Best Paper Award (1st Place)
2022
ASME Fluids Engineering Division Summer Meeting (FEDSM 2022)
- Awardee: Dr. Mohammadreza Pendar
- Technical Track: Computational Fluid Dynamics Technical Committee (CFDTC) Area
- Awarding Body: The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), USA
🏆 ASME Best Paper Award
July 2025
2025 Robert T. Knapp Award – ASME Fluids Engineering Division
- Authors: Frederico Rodrigues, Leonardo Mbanguine, José C. Páscoa
- Awarding Body: The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Executive Committee
- Conference: Fluids Engineering Summer Meeting (FEDSM 2025), Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
- Paper Title: “Experimental Investigation of New Electro-Active Polymers-Based Plasma Actuators for Flow Control and Ice Mitigation Applications”
🎥 ASME 1st Place Video Award
November 2021
First Place Best Presentation Award – 10th International Symposium on Fluid Applications in Aerospace (FEDSM 2021)
- Awardee: Frederico Rodrigues
- Paper Title: “Influence of Exposed Electrode Thickness on Plasma Actuators Performance for Coupled Deicing and Flow Control Applications”
- Event: International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE 2021)
- Awarding Body: ASME Fluids Engineering Division (Zhongquan Zheng, Division Chair)
🏅 International Best Paper Award
June 2026
13th International Conference of Fluid Flow, Heat and Mass Transfer (FFHMT 2026)
- Awardee: Dr. Mohammadmahdi Abdollahzadehsangroudi
- Location: Barcelona, Spain
- Paper Title: “Numerical Analysis of Tesla Turbine Performance with Circumferential Non-Uniform Casing Clearance”
- Organizing Body: International ASET & Avestia Publishing
🏅 International Best Paper Award
June 2026
13th International Conference of Fluid Flow, Heat and Mass Transfer (FFHMT 2026)
- Awardee: Fatemeh Bagherighajari
- Location: Barcelona, Spain
- Paper Title: “Comparative Analysis of Thermal, Chemical, and Aerodynamic Pathways in DBD Plasma-Assisted Bluff-Body Flames”
- Organizing Body: International ASET & Avestia Publishing
🏅 International Best Paper Award
April 2025
10th World Congress on Momentum, Heat and Mass Transfer (MHMT 2025)
- Awardee: Fatemeh Bagherighajari
- Location: Barcelona, Spain
- Paper Title: “Computational Analysis of Non-Reacting Flow in a Non-Premixed Burner Featuring a Plasma-Enhanced Bluff-Body Swirler”
- Organizing Body: International ASET & Avestia Publishing
🏆 Journal Best Paper Award
2023
Ceramics (MDPI Open Access Journal)
- Authors: Kateryna O. Shvydyuk, João Nunes-Pereira, Frederico F. Rodrigues, Abílio P. Silva
- Paper Title: “Review of Ceramic Composites in Aeronautics and Aerospace: A Multifunctional Approach for TPS, TBC and DBD Applications”
- Journal Reference: Ceramics 2023, 6(1), 195–230
- DOI: 10.3390/ceramics6010012 ↗
Peer Review Excellence Awards
🌟 Outstanding Reviewer Award
2022
IOP Publishing Peer Review Excellence
- Awardee: Dr. Frederico Rodrigues
- Journal Domain: Plasma Science and Technology
- Awarding Body: IOP Publishing
🌟 Outstanding Reviewer Award
2021
IOP Publishing Peer Review Excellence
- Awardee: Dr. Mohammadmahdi Abdollahzadehsangroudi
- Journal Domain: Plasma Science and Technology
- Awarding Body: IOP Publishing
