AFS Announces Its 2026 Honorific and Product of the Year Award Winners & FILTCON26 Student Poster Competition Winners

AFS proudly recognized outstanding leaders, researchers, innovators, and emerging professionals during the FILTCON26 Awards & Recognitions program. Presented annually at FILTCON, these awards celebrate individuals and organizations whose work continues to advance the filtration and separations industry through scientific achievement, leadership, mentorship, service, and innovation.

 

Frank Tiller Award

Rigoberto Advincula, University of Tennessee

Named in honor of Dr. Frank Tiller, the internationally acclaimed “Father of Modern Filtration Theory” and a founding member of AFS, the Frank Tiller Award recognizes lifetime scientific and engineering achievements in the technology of fluid-particle separation.

 

Wells Shoemaker Award

James Walker, Cerex Advanced Fabrics

Established in honor of Wells Shoemaker, a key founding member of AFS, this award recognizes individual AFS members whose exceptional leadership and dedicated service have created lasting and meaningful benefits for the Society and its members.

 

Senior Scientist Award

Jianyu “Jerry” Zhou, Parker Hannifin

The Senior Scientist Award honors mid-career professionals who have made significant contributions to the technology of filtration and separation through research, technical advancement, and industry innovation.

 

Young Scientist Award

Sreevalli Bokka, Captura Corp.

The Young Scientist Award recognizes early-career AFS members who have demonstrated important contributions to the filtration and separation field through innovation, research, and professional achievement.

 

Professor George Chase Award

Hooman Tafreshi, North Carolina State University

Named in honor of Professor George Chase and his many contributions to AFS and the filtration profession, this award recognizes academic researchers and their students whose work has significantly advanced the filtration and separations industry.

 

Fellow Award

Chris Wallace, Filtration Technology Corporation

The Fellow Award honors individuals who have made superior and sustained contributions of organization, leadership, and service to the Society over many years.

 

Legacy Award

George Chase, The University of Akron

The Legacy Award recognizes individuals whose influence extends beyond their own work through mentorship, knowledge transfer, and the development of future leaders within the filtration and separations community.

 

New Product of the Year Award

NanoNet® N3 Filter Media Technology – Atmus Filtration Technologies

Presented annually by the AFS Users Committee, the New Product of the Year Award recognizes the company introducing the most significant new product innovation in filtration and separation technology during the previous year.

---

 

FILTCON26 Student Poster Competition Winners

AFS also recognized outstanding student research during the FILTCON26 Student Poster Competition, one of the conference’s most dynamic and engaging programs. This year’s competition featured 12 student posters representing universities from around the world, highlighting innovative research and emerging talent within the filtration and separations industry.

Student posters were evaluated by industry judges based on research quality, organization and presentation, oral communication, and originality of the research topic.

 

1st Place

Mattie Brock, University of Kentucky

 

2nd Place

Komal Yadav, University of Hawaii at Manoa

 

3rd Place

Mostafa Jafari Gildeh, North Carolina State University

 

Honorable Mentions

Catarina Bejarano, University of Hawaii at Manoa

Odianosen Ewah, University of Kentucky

 

AFS extends its congratulations to all award recipients, student participants, judges, sponsors, and nominees whose dedication and innovation continue to strengthen and advance the filtration and separations community.