Sudarshan Kurwadkar, professor of civil and environmental engineering, was elected a fellow of the American Society of Civil Engineers — a prestigious honor held by only 3% of ASCE members. The fellowship is an acknowledgment of his remarkable contribution to the field of environmental engineering.
He has made significant, original and noteworthy contributions to advance the understanding of environmental processes that determine the fate and transport of organic and inorganic pollutants in various environmental matrices. He is the author of two books and over 50 scholarly publications in top-ranked journals. As a result of his intellectual eminence, he has received numerous awards and recognitions nationally and internationally. For example, he received the Donald L. Shields Award for scholarly and creative activities — an award annually given to one of Cal State Fullerton’s more than 2,000 faculty members. The California State University System, which comprises 23 campuses, lists him as an outstanding faculty member who demonstrates intellectual, social and cultural influence.
Outside of CSUF, he has received three U.S. Air Force faculty fellowships and two U.S. Department of Energy visiting faculty fellowships. In 2021, he received the prestigious National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine fellowship. Internationally, he has received a visiting research scholarship at Mahidol University, Thailand; a Global Initiative of Academic Network fellowship from the Government of India; and a summer fellowship in Israel.
Beyond his research contributions, Kurwadkar has been an exemplary teacher who has excelled in pedagogy in traditional face-to-face and virtual modalities. As a recipient of the ExCellence in Civil Engineering Education (ExCEED) fellowship from the ASCE, he continues to include the elements of the finest pedagogical practices in his lectures. Numerous awards validate his compelling, engaging and participatory instructional style, including the Teaching Excellence Award, Faculty Adviser of Distinction Award, ASCE Outstanding Faculty Adviser in Orange County, ASCE Outstanding Faculty Adviser Los Angeles Section and ASCE Outstanding Faculty Adviser in the State of California.
Kurwadkar has been a CSUF faculty member since 2014 and has served the ASCE in different capacities, including CSUF ASCE faculty adviser, vice president of student activities for the ASCE Los Angeles Section (comprising 11 university student chapters), and chair of the ASCE Environmental and Water Resources Institute’s Student and New Professional Committee. As a licensed professional engineer and a board-certified environmental engineer, he is at the forefront of promoting environmental research and education. He has secured nearly $3 million through externally funded projects, including $1.5 million in funding from the National Science Foundation. Throughout his more than 15 years of experience in higher education, he has actively promoted civil engineering education, emphasized experiential learning and engaged in inclusive pedagogy.