Awards & other Honors
In recognition of the hard work and extraordinary contributions to research carried out within the engineering community, GPPS has made a series of annual awards designed to recognize excellence and achievement in both specific and general fields of Power and Propulsion.
Every year, the GPPS Awards Committee, chaired by Dr. Vladimir Navrotsky, evaluates nominations and announces winners in the categories of “Lifetime Achievement”, “Innovation”, and “Early Career”. If you would like to nominate your colleague for one of our awards, please use our official nomination award submission form.
Awards will be presented at the Energy & Aviation Forum27, hosted at ETH Zurich in Switzerland on January 13–14, 2027.
All awardees will receive a 50% discount for the two-day event.
GPPS Awards 2025
During the GPPS Forum26, held on January 14th – 15th in Zurich, Dr. Vladimir Navorsky (Award Committee, Chairman) presented the 2025 award winners.
Lifetime Achievement Award
We are pleased to announce that Professor He, L. was awarded the Global Power & Propulsion Society 2025, Lifetime Achievement Award. The award was presented by Dr. Vladimir Navrotsky (Chair GPPS Awards Committee), for contributions through sustained and long term professional service to the global power and propulsion industry.
Innovation Award
We are pleased to announce that Dr. Ghenadie Bulat, Head of New Technologies for Gas Services at Siemens Energy, was awarded the Global Power & Propulsion Society 20254, Innovation Award. The award was presented by Dr. Vladimir Navrotsky (Chairman GPPS Awards Committee), for contributions of exceptional innovation to the global power and propulsion industry.
Early Career Award
We are pleased to announce that Dr. Min Yao was awarded the GPPS 2025 Early Career Award at the Forum26 in Zurich. Dr. Yao is an Associate Professor at Tsinghua University.
GPPS Awards 2024
During the GPPS Forum25, held on January 15th – 16th in Zurich, Dr. Vladimir Navorsky (Award Committee, Chairman) presented the 2024 award winners.
Lifetime Achievement Award
We are pleased to announce that Prof. Piero Colonna was awarded the Global Power & Propulsion Society 2024, Lifetime Achievement Award. The award was presented by Dr. Vladimir Navrotsky (Chair GPPS Awards Committee), for contributions through sustained and long term professional service to the global power and propulsion industry.
Innovation Award
We are pleased to announce that Åsa Lyckström, Head of Sustainability & Executive Board Member at Siemens Energy AB, Sweden, was awarded the Global Power & Propulsion Society 2024, Innovation Award. The award was presented by Dr. Vladimir Navrotsky (Chairman GPPS Awards Committee), for contributions of exceptional innovation to the global power and propulsion industry.
GPPS Service Award
Dr. Vladimir Navrotsky, Chair of the GPPS Awards Committee, and Bernhard Winkelman, GPPS Chairman, had the honor of presenting Prof. Ioannis Nikolos with the prestigious GPPS Service Award. This award recognizes Prof. Nikolos’s outstanding dedication and contributions to the past two GPPS Technical Conferences in Crete, Greece.
Early Career Award
We are pleased to announce that Dr. Xiao He was awarded the GPPS 2024 Early Career Award remotely at the Forum25 in Zurich. Dr. He is an Associate Professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University. His research interest is data-enabled design and analysis of next-gen turbomachinery.
GPPS Awards 2023
During the GPPS Forum24, held on January 17th – 18th in Zurich, Dr. Stefan Florjancic presented the 2023 award winners.
Lifetime Achievement Award
We are pleased to announce that Prof. Reza Abhari was awarded the Global Power & Propulsion Society 2023, Lifetime Achievement Award. The award was presented by Dr. Stefan Florjancic (Chair GPPS Awards Committee), for contributions through sustained and long term professional service to the global power and propulsion industry.
Innovation Award
We are pleased to announce that Dr. Shailendra Naik, Chief Engineer in Gas Turbine Aerothermal Design at Ansaldo Energia Switzerland, was awarded the Global Power & Propulsion Society 2023, Innovation Award. The award was presented by Dr. Stefan Florjancic (Chairman GPPS Awards Committee), for contributions of exceptional innovation to the global power and propulsion industry.
GPPS Service Award
Bernhard Winkelmann, the Chairman of GPPS, took pleasure in honoring Dr. Stefan Florjancic with the prestigious GPPS Service Award. This recognition underscored Dr. Florjancic’s dedication and contributions during his tenure as Chairman of the GPPS Awards Committee from 2020 to 2023. This award symbolizes our appreciation and admiration for Dr. Florjancic’s exemplary service.
Early Career Award
We are pleased to announce that Dr. Jieun Song, was awarded the GPPS 2023, Early Career Award via Zoom at the Forum24 in Zurich. Dr. Song received her Ph.D. degree in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Seoul National University and served as a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute of Thermal Turbomachinery (ITS) at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany.
Best Paper: Hong Kong23
We are pleased to announce the co-winner of the Best Paper Award 2023 for the Hong Kong Technical Conference 2023, for the paper entitled “An Efficient Multi-Fidelity Simulation Approach for Performance Prediction of Adaptive Cycle Engines”. The authors were: Wangzhi Zou, Zhaoyun Song, Baotong Wang, Mengyang Wen & Xinqian Zheng.
The award was presented to Wangzhi Zou (Tsinghua University, China): by Dr. Vladimir Navrotsky (Chair GPPS Awards Committee), during the GPPS Chania24 Technical Conference.
Best Paper: Hong Kong23
We are pleased to announce the co-winner of the Best Paper Award 2023 for the Hong Kong Technical Conference 2023, for the paper entitled “Decarbonisation of High-Temperature Endothermic Chemical Reaction Processes Using a Novel Turbomachine: Robustness of the Concept to Feed Variability”. The authors were: Dylan Rubini, Nikolas Karefyllidis, Budimir Rosic, Liping Xu & Elina Nauha.
The award was presented to Dylan Rubini (University of Oxford, UK) by Dr. Vladimir Navrotsky (Chair GPPS Awards Committee), during the GPPS Chania24 Technical Conference.
Best Paper: Hong Kong23
We are pleased to announce the co-winner of the Best Paper Award 2023 for the Hong Kong Technical Conference 2023, for the paper entitled “Investigation of Unsteady Cavitating Flow Around a Hydrofoil Using Gas Method”. The authors were: Nan Xie, Yumeng Tang, Jiexuan Hou, & Yangwei Liu.
Guangyu Wang accepts best paper award on behalf of Yangwei Liu (Beihang University, China)
Best Paper: Hong Kong23
We are pleased to announce the co-winner of the Best Paper Award 2023 for the Hong Kong Technical Conference 2023, for the paper entitled “Comparison of Non-Premixed and Premixed Flamelets for Ultra Wet Aero Engine Combustion Conditions”. The authors were: Marian Hiestermann, Matthias Haeringer, Marcel Désor,
& Wolfgang Polifke.
GPPS Awards 2022
During the GPPS Forum23, held on February 15th – 16th in Zurich, Dr. Stefan Florjancic presented the 2022 award winners.
Lifetime Achievement Award
We are pleased to announce that Dr. Rainer Kurz, was awarded the Global Power & Propulsion Society 2022, Lifetime Achievement Award. The award was presented by Dr. Stefan Florjancic (Chair GPPS Awards Committee), for contributions through sustained and long term professional service to the global power and propulsion industry.
Innovation Award
We are pleased to announce that Dr. Khawar Syed in affiliation with Infosys Limited, was awarded the Global Power & Propulsion Society 2022, Innovation Award. The award was presented by Dr. Stefan Florjancic (Chairman GPPS Awards Committee), for contributions of exceptional innovation to the global power and propulsion industry.
Early Career Award
We are pleased to announce that Dr. Nicola Bailey, Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) at University of Bath was awarded the Global Power & Propulsion Society 2022, Early Career Award. The award was presented by Dr. Stefan Florjancic (Chair GPPS Awards Committee), to acknowledge outstanding technology innovation and professional service to the global power and propulsion community.
GPPS Awards 2021
During the GPPS Forum22, held on June 22nd – 23rd in Zurich, Dr. Stefan Florjancic presented the 2021 award winners.
Lifetime Achievement Award
We are pleased to announce that Prof. Robert E. Kielb in affiliation with Duke University, was awarded the Global Power & Propulsion Society 2021, Lifetime Achievement Award. The award was presented by Dr. Stefan Florjancic (Chair GPPS Awards Committee), for contributions through sustained and long term professional service to the global power and propulsion industry.
Innovation Award
We are pleased to announce that Dr. Vladimir Navrotsky in affiliation with Siemens Energy, was awarded the Global Power & Propulsion Society 2021, Innovation Award. The award was presented by Dr. Stefan Florjancic (Chairman GPPS Awards Committee), for contributions of exceptional innovation to the global power and propulsion industry.
Early Career Award
We are pleased to announce that Prof. Keun Ryu in affiliation with Hanyang University in South Korea was awarded the Global Power & Propulsion Society 2021, Early Career Award. The award was presented by Dr. Stefan Florjancic (Chair GPPS Awards Committee), to acknowledge outstanding technology innovation and professional service to the global power and propulsion community.
Service Award
We are pleased to award Prof. Dingxi Wang the GPPS Service Award in recognition of his exceptional contributions during the Xi’an21 technical conference. Prof. Wang was Local Managing Co-Director and was instrumental in the success of the event. With repeated postponements due to Covid19, Prof. Wang helped in multiple aspects of the conference over an extended duration.
GPPS Awards 2020
During the GPPS Xi’an21 Technical Conference, held in April 2022 as a virtual conference, Dr. Stefan Florjancic presented the Best Paper Awards for both Power and Propulsion.
Best Paper Award: Power
We are pleased to announce the winner of the Best Paper Award 2020 for the Power category, for the paper entitled “Experimental evaluation of using silica aerogels as the thermal insulator for combustor liners”. The authors were: Yeongmin Pyo, Taylor Robertson, Dr. Sean Yun & Dr. Zekai Hong.
The award was presented to Zekai Hong by Dr. Stefan Florjancic (Chair GPPS Awards Committee), during the GPPS Xi’an21 virtual technical conference.
Best Paper Award: Propulsion
We are pleased to announce the winner of the Best Paper Award for the Propulsion category, for the paper entitled “Low pressure ratio transonic fan stall with radial distortion”. The authors were: Dr. Tim Williams, Prof. Cesare Hall & Dr. Mark Wilson.
The award was presented to Dr. Tim Williams by Dr. Stefan Florjancic (Chair GPPS Awards Committee), during the GPPS Xi’an21 virtual technical conference.
GPPS Awards 2019
During the GPPS Forum20 held in January 2020 in Zurich, Switzerland, Dr. Stefan Florjancic presented the Early Career Award, The Innovation Award, The Lifetime Achievement Award, and the GPPS Service Award.
During the GPPS Chania20, held virtually in September 2020, Dr. Stefan Florjancic Awarded two Best Paper Awards for publications in Power and Propulsion.
Early Career Award
We are pleased to announce that Prof. Hyungrok Do in affiliation with Seoul National University, was awarded the Global Power & Propulsion Society 2019, Early Career Award. The award was presented by Dr. Stefan Florjancic (Chair GPPS Awards Committee), to acknowledge outstanding technology innovation and professional service to the global power and propulsion community.
Innovation Award
We are pleased to announce that Dr. Ulrich Waltke in affiliation with Siemens, Germany, was awarded the Global Power & Propulsion Society 2019, Innovation Award. The award was presented by Dr. Stefan Florjancic (Chairman GPPS Awards Committee), for contributions of exceptional innovation to the global power and propulsion industry.
Lifetime Award
Best Paper Award: Power
We are pleased to announce the winner of the Best Paper Award 2019 for the Power category, for the paper entitled “Superior fuel and operational flexibility of sequential combustion in Ansaldo Energia gas turbines”. The authors were: Andrea Ciani, Mirko R. Bothien, Birute Bunkute, John P. Wood and Gerhard Früchtel.
The award was presented to Andrea Ciani by Dr. Stefan Florjancic (Chair GPPS Awards Committee), during the GPPS Chania20 virtual technical conference.
Best Paper Award: Propulsion
We are pleased to announce the winner of the Best Paper Award for the Propulsion category, for the paper entitled “Planar LIF/MIE ratio droplet sizing using structured
laser sheet imaging at elevated ambient pressures”. The authors were: Andrew Corber, Wajid Ali Chishty and Patrizio Vena.
The award was presented to Andrew Corber by Dr. Stefan Florjancic (Chair GPPS Awards Committee), during the GPPS Chania20 virtual technical conference.
GPPS Service Award
GPPS Awards 2018
Lifetime Achievement
We are pleased to announce that Prof. Howard Hodson in affiliation with University of Cambridge, was awarded the Global Power & Propulsion Society 2018, Lifetime Achievement Award. The award was presented by Prof. Seung Jin Song (Member GPPS EC, Seoul National University), for contributions through sustained and long term professional service to the global power and propulsion industry
Innovation Award
Early Career Award
Best Paper Award
We are pleased to announce the winner of the Best Paper Award for the paper entitled “Effects of stator platform geometry features on blade row performance”. The authors were: Derek J Taylor & Dr. John P Longley.
The award was presented to Derek J Taylor by Dr Klaus Brun at the GPPS Zurich19 Technical Conference.
Best Paper Award
We are pleased to announce the winner of the Best Paper Award for the paper entitled “Aeroelastic assessment of a highly loaded high pressure compressor exposed to pressure gain combustion disturbances”. The authors were: Victor Bicalho Civinelli de Almeida & Prof. Dieter Peitsch.
The award was presented to Prof. Dieter Peitsch by Dr Klaus Brun at the GPPS Zurich19 Technical Conference.
GPPS Awards 2017
Best Paper
Dr. Klaus Brun Awards Best Paper Award to Valentina Zaccaria, for the paper entitled “Gas turbine advanced power systems to improve SOFC economic viability” Authored by: Valentina Zaccaria, David Tucker and Alberto Traverso
Best Paper
Early Career Award
Innovation Award
