PAOLO A. MONTUSCHI
Inducted: Eta Chapter (2015)
Advisor: Mu Nu Chapter
Bestowed in 2025
Paolo A. Montuschi is currently a professor and Vice-Rector for Digital Transition at Politecnico di Torino, Italy, where he previously served as a Member of the Board of Governors and Department’s Director. He received his PhD in 1988 in Computer Engineering. He is an IEEE Fellow, an IEEE Computer Society Golden Core member, a life member of the Turin’s International Academy of Sciences, and a member of IEEE-HKN. He actively contributed to the foundation of Mu Nu (March 2017), the first HKN Chapter in Italy and in Europe, the first Chapter in Japan (Mu Tau, July 2018) and the first two Chapters in Spain (Nu
Alpha and Nu Beta, July 2020). He has been the Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Computers (2015-18) and of the IEEE Transactions on Emerging Topics in Computing (2019, 2021-25), and a member/(chair) of several IEEE Boards/committees, including: PSPB, Awards Board, TAB/ARC, PSPB/ARC, PRAC, PSPB SPC.
JINHUI WANG
Inducted: Gamma Tau Chapter (2016)
Advisor: Theta Lambda Chapter
Bestowed in 2025
Jinhui Wang served as the HKN Advisor for the Theta Lambda Chapter at the University of South Alabama from 2019 to 2025. During his tenure, the chapter consistently achieved recognition as a Key Chapter each year. Under his guidance and mentorship, the chapter organized numerous signature activities, and its members received prestigious awards and scholarships, including the Alabama Graduate Research Scholars Award, Alabama Space Grant Consortium (ASGC) Award, Warren Nicholson Endowed Graduate Scholarship Award, College of Engineering Student of the Year Award, and ECE Graduate Excellence Endowed Award, etc. Because of his outstanding advising contributions to HKN and beyond, Dr. Wang received the Beth and Don Davis National Alumni Association Excellence in Advising Award twice (2022 and 2023). Dr. Wang is currently a Full Professor and the Larry Drummond Endowed Chair in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa; he is leading or co-leading $15 million active federal research funding from NSF, DOE, and NOAA. He has authored more than 200 referred journal and conference papers, book chapters, and holds 31 patents in emerging semiconductor technologies. His research has been recognized with Best Paper Awards or Nominations at premier international conferences, including DATE 2021, ISVLSI 2019, ISLPED 2016, ISQED 2016, and EIT 2016.
STEVE E. WATKINS
Inducted: Gamma Theta Chapter (1982)
Advisor: Gamma Theta Chapter
Bestowed in 2025
Steve E. Watkins served as advisor to the Gamma Theta Chapter for 1992-present as a faculty member at Missouri University of Science and Technology. He was the President of IEEE-Eta Kappa Nu in 2018, Editor-in-Chief of The Bridge Magazine for 2013-17 and 2020-22, Board Member for 2004-07, and HKN Historian for several years.  He received the 2021 HKN Distinguished Service Award and the 1983 Alton B. Zerby Award. His Ph.D. is from The University of Texas at Austin (1989) and his M.S.E.E. and B.S.E.E. are from Missouri S&T (1985 and 1983, respectively). His scholarly publications are mainly related to optics, sensors, and engineering education.
WAYNE A. SHIROMA
Inducted: Delta Omega Chapter (1985)
Advisor: Delta Omega Chapter
Bestowed in 2025
Wayne A. Shiroma received the B.S. degree from the University of Hawaii (UH) at Manoa, the M.Eng. degree from Cornell University, and the Ph.D. degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder, all in electrical engineering. In 1996, he joined UH Manoa, where he is currently a Professor and the Department Chair of electrical engineering. Since 1999, Dr. Shiroma has served as the faculty advisor for the IEEE-HKN Delta Omega Chapter, which has been an annual recipient of the IEEE-HKN Outstanding Chapter Award continuously since the 2005-06 academic year. Since 2001, IEEE-HKN recognized four of his graduating seniors with the Alton B. Zerby and Carl T. Koerner Outstanding Student Award. Dr. Shiroma was the General Chair of the 2007 and 2017 IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society (MTT-S) International Microwave Symposiums, and received the IEEE MTT-S Distinguished Service Award in 2019. He was a recipient of the 2015 UH Peter V. Garrod Outstanding Graduate Mentoring Award and 2003 UH Regents’ Medal for Excellence in Teaching, the ten-campus UH System’s most prestigious teaching award.
MAHESH K. BANAVAR
Inducted: Epsilon Beta Chapter (2007)
Advisor: Gamma Gamma Chapter
Bestowed in 2025
Mahesh Banavar is a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Clarkson University. His work focuses on signal processing and machine learning. He has been the faculty advisor for the Gamma Gamma Chapter (Clarkson University) since 2019.
THOMAS K. GAYLORD
Inducted: Gamma Theta Chapter (1964)
Advisor: Beta Mu Chapter
Bestowed in 2025
Thomas K. Gaylord is currently Julius Brown Chair and Regents’ Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. His research is in the areas of optical interconnects, lidar, diffractive optics, fiber optics, interference lithography, and quantitative phase imaging. He is a co-developer of the Rigorous Coupled-Wave Analysis (RCWA) for grating diffraction and the Tomographic Deconvolution Phase Microscopy (TDPM) method for quantitative phase imaging. He is the author of more than 300 journal publications and 30 patents in these areas. His papers have been cited more than 25,000 times. Prof. Gaylord received the Georgia Tech Outstanding Teacher Award, the Curtis W. McGraw Research Award from ASEE, the Engineer of the Year Award from the Georgia Society of Professional Engineers, the Esther Hoffman Beller education medal from the Optical Society of America, and the Georgia Tech Distinguished Professor Award. He is a Fellow of the IEEE, of the Optical Society of America, of the SPIE international optical engineering society, and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
THOMAS L. ROTHWELL
Upsilon Chapter (1953)
Citation: Honorary Advisor for his Contributions to HKN Advisor Programs
Bestowed in 2025
Thomas L. Rothwell served as the 2002-2003 President of Eta Kappa Nu. In addition, he was 2001-2002 Vice-President, 1963-1966 Director, and chair of multiple national committees including the Outstanding EE Student Award Committee. He was a lifelong volunteer for the LA Alumni Chapter. He received the 1999 HKN Distinguished Service Award. Tom received M.S.E.E. and B.S.E.E. degrees from the University of Southern California in 1955 and 1959, respectively. He was a USAF veteran of WWII and the Korean War and retired as an engineer and manager for Hughes Aircraft Company in 1992.
