Professor Kiana Aran to Receive Rutgers Engineering Alumni Distinguished Engineer Award

Keck Graduate Institute (KGI) Associate Professor Dr. Kiana Aran has been selected as a Rutgers University School of Engineering Medal of Excellence awardee for 2022, receiving the Engineering Alumni Distinguished Engineer Award.

The Medal of Excellence Awards, established in 2006, recognizes graduates of Rutgers University School of Engineering who have distinguished themselves professionally since graduation in industry, academia, government, research, and business while raising scholarship funds to support success.

Honorees will be celebrated at a networking dinner event on Thursday, October 27, 2022, at 6 p.m. in Somerset, NJ. The event will be attended by Rutgers alumni, faculty, and students, as well as an impressive representation of local industry members and other distinguished guests.

Aran is recognized for her research achievements in the field of bio-integrated electronics and her contribution to advancing the biomedical engineering field through her academic research at KGI, and her successful commercialization efforts that have brought her science and innovations to market.

“I am deeply honored to receive this reputable award from Rutgers University, and I want to express my heartfelt appreciation to the many people that have helped me become the researcher I am today,” Aran stated.

“I want to pay it forward as my way of showing my gratitude, and I will do that via our Aran Nebula Foundation, where we help elevate other Excellent Female Scientists in the making.”

Aran received her PhD in biomedical engineering at Rutgers and continued her postdoctoral studies in bioengineering at UC Berkeley. She is a recipient of the National Institutes of Health postdoctoral training fellowship at the Buck Institute for Age Research and is a consultant for the Gates Foundation.

Her efforts have also been recognized within the scientific community by the National Science Foundation’s early career award, Clinical OMICs 10 under 40 Award, Athena Pinnacle Award in Life Sciences, and the prestigious Nature Research Awards for Inspiring Women in Science. Aran is also the recipient of numerous government grants to develop the next generation of electronic biosensors.

The Distinguished Engineer award was established in 1960 and presented annually by the Rutgers Engineering Society to a fellow School of Engineering graduate who has made significant technical contributions in their career. Aran is only the second woman ever to win this award.