Ieee Recognitions Elevate Two U.S. Engineering Educators — Lee Wins Environmental and Safety Medal; Uluagac Honored for Teaching
The Institute’s recent honors highlight advances in electrical safety, renewable integration and cybersecurity education. The announcements underscore the professional and institutional impacts of long-term academic leadership in engineering and public-safety technology.
Ieee recognition and award details
On Feb. 24, 2026, Wei-Jen Lee, professor and chair of the Department of Electrical Engineering at The University of Texas at Arlington, received the IEEE Medal for Environmental and Safety Technologies for his work advancing electrical safety in the workplace and integrating renewable energy with grid modernization for climate change mitigation. Lee, director of UTA’s Energy Systems Research Center, was cited for contributions spanning intelligent transportation systems, sensor networks, wireless communications and control systems.
Separately, Selcuk Uluagac, FIU’s Eminent Scholar Chaired Associate Professor who directs the Cyber-Physical Systems Security Lab and CIERTA, was named recipient of the IEEE Region 3 Joseph M. Biedenbach Outstanding Engineering Educator Award for his sustained contributions to electrotechnology education and student mentorship.
Development details
Lee’s medal recognizes applied-technology accomplishments that improve the environment and public safety; the citation explicitly credits his work on electrical-safety practices and on marrying renewable power with modernized grids. Lee has been on the UTA faculty since 1985, initially joining as a visiting assistant professor, and served as president of the IEEE Industry Applications Society from 2021 to 2022. He is a Fellow of IEEE, a member of the National Academy of Inventors and a registered Professional Engineer in Texas. He is also one of five U. S. university faculty invited to serve on the United Nations Council of Engineers for the Energy Transition.
Uluagac’s educator award recognizes outstanding contributions to students across Region 3, which encompasses the southeastern United States and Jamaica. Uluagac has mentored more than 80 students at postdoctoral, Ph. D., master’s, undergraduate and high-school levels; 22 of those mentees have won prestigious awards. His lab’s graduates hold positions at organizations including Google, Amazon Smart Home, HBO, MIT Lincoln Laboratory, The MITRE Corporation, the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI. Uluagac joined his university in 2014 and has built workforce initiatives and scholarships that have trained hundreds in cybersecurity competencies.
Immediate impact
The honors have immediate institutional and professional effects. At UTA, the medal reinforces the university’s research profile and its Energy Systems Research Center leadership, complementing a campus community of more than 42, 700 students and an alumni base of roughly 280, 000 that together contribute a documented annual economic impact for the state. Lee’s recognition also amplifies ongoing workplace-safety practices and technology efforts aimed at climate mitigation through smarter grid design.
At FIU, the educator award brings renewed attention to cybersecurity instruction and pipeline development. Uluagac’s programs and CIERTA serve as hubs for interdisciplinary research and training; the scale of his mentorship—more than 80 mentees and hundreds trained through educational initiatives—provides measurable workforce development outcomes for critical infrastructure and smart-technology security.
Forward outlook
The IEEE Medal was announced on Feb. 24, 2026, formalizing Lee’s recognition; his continuing roles—chair of his department and director of the Energy Systems Research Center—position him to carry the award’s focus into ongoing work on grid modernization and electrical-safety practices. Uluagac remains director of the Cyber-Physical Systems Security Lab and of CIERTA, sustaining the educational and research activities that underpinned his Region 3 educator honor. The IEEE’s global membership, exceeding 486, 000, frames these honors within a broad professional community that values both technical innovation and the development of future engineers.
What makes this notable is the intersection of applied technology and pedagogy: Lee’s engineering innovations have direct workplace- and environmental-safety implications while Uluagac’s mentorship channels those technical advances into a trained workforce capable of protecting smart systems and infrastructure.
University leaders emphasized the significance of each award: Dean-level statements praised the recipients’ decades of leadership and the demonstrable impacts of their work on students, safety practices and research agendas. Both honorees retain active leadership and editorial roles that will sustain their influence on engineering education and practice.
