Recognition & Honors
Accolades & Acknowledgements
Gopal Pandurangan (Computer Science) received the Best Paper Award at the 44th Annual ACM Symposium on Principles of Distributed Computing (PODC 2025). His coauthored paper, “Improved Byzantine Agreement under an Adaptive Adversary,” advances solutions for achieving secure consensus in distributed networks—critical for blockchain, financial systems, and other security-sensitive applications. This marks Pandurangan’s first PODC award in more than 20 years of contributing to the prestigious conference.
Mark Meier (Physics) took first place at UH Technology Bridge’s Innov8 Hub Pitch Day for his groundbreaking seismic exploration technology. Designed to detect oil and gas deposits at much greater depths, Meier’s innovation uses a rotating set of weights to generate lower-frequency soundwaves—providing upstream energy companies with clearer subsurface images, reducing costs, and minimizing dry wells. A former ExxonMobil research specialist, Meier is now seeking $2 million in funding to build and test a full-scale version of the technology.
In the Media
Coral Named for UH Biologist Rediscovered After 24 Years
A coral species named in honor of the late University of Houston biologist Gerard M. Wellington has been spotted in the Galápagos Islands for the first time since 2000. Rhizopsammia wellingtoni, a black stony coral first collected in 1974 and officially named in 1982, was found thriving in several locations during a 2024 research expedition. Once thought to be possibly extinct due to sharp population declines after the 1982–83 El Niño, the species’ survival is credited to its ability to live in deeper, cooler waters. Scientists are now studying its genetics to better understand its resilience to climate change.