The University of Connecticut was well represented during the Connecticut Technology Council’s annual “Women of Innovation” awards gala Jan. 20 in Southington.

Four women affiliated with the University received awards, while four others were recognized as finalists. The competition featured a total of nearly 60 candidates representing various fields. The awards honor women in the work force who are innovators, role models, and leaders in the fields of technology, science, and engineering.

The 2010 UConn winners were:

• Dr. Marja Hurley, associate dean, professor of medicine, and director of the Office of Health Career Opportunity Programs at the UConn Health Center; honored for academic innovation and leadership. Hurley is a nationally recognized expert in the field of cellular and molecular biology of bone. She also has received national acclaim for her work developing innovative programs that have helped hundreds of students from underrepresented groups attend medical and dental schools throughout the U.S.
• Baikun Li, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering in the School of Engineering, honored for research innovation and leadership. Li leads the Bio-energy Production-Wastewater Treatment Group at UConn, which seeks efficient ways to generate clean energy through wastewater treatment.
• Claire Weiss, a doctoral student and researcher in the Institute of Materials Science and School of Engineering; honored for collegian innovation and leadership. Weiss is currently working on the fabrication and characterization of complex oxide thin films. Her varied work could impact the performance of devices used in military, healthcare, energy, and commercial applications.
• Heidi Douglas, a 1977 University alumna and a member of the School of Engineering Advisory Board; honored for entrepreneurial innovation and leadership. Douglas is currently the managing partner of Nuventus LLC, a professional services firm focused on lead generation, sales, and marketing of innovative, high tech, and life sciences products.

The four UConn finalists were:

• Linda Strausbaugh, a professor of molecular and cell biology in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences; finalist in the category of academic innovation and leadership. Strausbaugh serves as director of the University’s Center for Applied Genetics & Technology and she developed the Professional Science Master’s Degree program in Applied Genomics. Strausbaugh has provided national leadership for innovative graduate education programs and recently secured Sloan Foundation funding for pioneering Professional Science Master’s degrees and National Science Foundation scholarships for economically disadvantaged students.
• Guiling Wang, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering in the School of Engineering; finalist for research innovation and leadership. Wang’s primary research interests are precipitation forecasting over the U.S., climate prediction across the globe, and assessing and mitigating climate change impact on human health in the Northeast.
• Jamie Maciaszek, a doctoral student in biomedical engineering in the School of Engineering; finalist for collegian innovation and leadership. Maciaszek is currently developing a unified approach to investigating the fundamental mechanisms involved in vasoocclusion in sickle cell disease.
• Emily Tao, a seventh-semester chemical engineering student in the Department of Chemical, Materials, and Biomolecular Engineering; finalist for collegian innovation and leadership. Tao has worked as a research assistant for three semesters, developing better methods of drug delivery.

Strausbaugh and Douglas later talked about their early struggles in fields traditionally dominated by men.

“When I got my Ph.D. at Wesleyan, I was the only woman,” Strausbaugh told the Hartford Courant after the ceremony. “Today in my program, 71 percent of the students are female.”

“When I first started out, as a woman I was always in the minority…,” Douglas said. “But I became comfortable with it and I got used to being the only woman at technical conferences. It is lovely to be recognized with this kind of award.”

The Connecticut Technology Council is the state’s industry association for the technology sector. Its mission is to “connect people, ideas, and opportunities to the global technology and innovation community.”