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Prodanovic Receives the InterPore Procter & Gamble Award

June 13, 2014
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Assistant Professor Masa Prodanovic received the InterPore Procter & Gamble Award for Porous Media Research at the 6th International Conference on Porous Media in Milwaukee, Wisc.

The award is given to individuals in recognition of their outstanding contributions to topics related to swelling porous media, very thin porous media, and modelling of interfaces between porous media in the previous three years.

“I’ve referred to the assistant professorship as feeling like a hamster on a treadmill sometimes because you are trying to figure out how to be both a successful researcher and how to direct others in their research, which is a huge jump from just doing research yourself,” Prodanovic said. “With that pressure and all the work involved, it means a lot to get an ‘Okay. Good job.’”

Prodanovic’s extensive research and advancements in the field of flow and transport in porous media, especially within the areas of modeling multiphase interfaces in porous media, multiscale simulation, pore-scale imaging, and modeling of microporosity in carbonates and unconventional reservoirs led her to earn this award.

Prodanovic says this award is even more motivation for her to continue her research.

“Despite the advancements that have been made there are actually a lot of fundamental problems that we don’t completely understand on small, pore scale,” she said. “In the future I hope to make more strides in dynamic integration of small and large scales, which is an outstanding problem.”

Professor and Chair of UT PGE, Dr. Tad Patzek, said in his nomination letter that, in addition to active research, Prodanovic has been extremely effective in InterPore as the main facilitator for the InterPore focus group on pore-scale modeling and visualization and is the organizer and co-instructor for an InterPore-sponsored short course on Image Analysis for Porous Media.

“Dr. Masa Prodanovic has set herself apart as a leader in the porous media community and especially with InterPore,” Patzek said.