It's #Awards Season for AFOSR-funded researchers

  • Published
  • By Staff Writers
  • Air Force Office of Scientific Research
ARLINGTON, Va. --  As the vital basic research component of the Air Force Research Laboratory, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) has been funding award-winning researchers from around the world for over six decades and each year more accolades are added to that list.

Over the past few months, researchers from across AFOSR's broad portfolio have been selected for numerous awards recognizing their accomplishments and contributions to the U.S. Air Force and society in general.

Some have received AFOSR funding for over a decade, showing AFOSR's dedication to the continued support of high quality basic research; while others have been funded more recently, illustrating AFOSR's commitment to the development of the next generation of scientists and engineers. In no particular order, recent award winners funded by AFOSR include the following:

·  Professor Nader Engheta   won the 2015 SPIE Gold Medal of the Society, "for his transformative and groundbreaking contributions to optical engineering of metamaterials and nanoscale plasmonics, metamaterial-based optical nano circuits, and biologically-inspired optical imaging."  Engheta is an H. Nedwill Ramsey Professor of electrical and systems engineering, physics and astronomy, materials science and engineering, and bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania and receives AFOSR funding through the Quantum Electronic Solids portfolio managed by Dr. Harold Weinstock.
 
·  Professor Aristide Dogariu won the 2015 SPIE G.G. Stokes Award "for his development of new theoretical concepts and innovative methods and techniques for understanding and measuring polarization properties of light-matter interaction." Dogariu is a professor of optics at the University of Central Florida and receives AFOSR funding through the Remote Sensing and Imaging Physics portfolio managed by Dr. Julie Moses.
 
·  Professor Edl Schamiloglu was recognized with the 2015 IEEE Nuclear and Plasma Society Pulsed Power Science and Technology Committee's Peter Haas Award in recognition of his contributions to the field of pulsed power. Schamiloglu is a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of New Mexico and receives AFOSR funding through the Plasma and Electro-Energetic Physics portfolio managed by Dr. Jason Marshall.
 
·  Professor Krishna Rajan received an Alexander von Humboldt Research Award for his pioneering work in the new and emerging field of materials informatics, which involves the application of statistical learning and informatics techniques to a broad range of materials science problems. Rajan is a professor of interdisciplinary engineering at Iowa State University and receives AFOSR funding through the Aerospace Materials for Extreme Environments portfolio managed by Dr. Ali Sayir.
 
·  Dr. Padmini Rangamani was selected as a 2015 Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow recognizing her work in the field of computational and evolutionary molecular biology and placing her in an elite group of early-career scientists and scholars with tremendous potential as the next generation of leaders in science, mathematics, and economics. Rangamani is an assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at UC San Diego and receives AFOSR funding through the Young Investigator Program Biophysics portfolio managed by Dr. William Roach.
 
·  Professor Erdogan Madenci was named a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. Madenci is a professor of professor of aerospace and mechanical engineering from the University of Arizona and receives AFOSR funding through the Multi-Scale Structural Mechanics and Prognosis portfolio managed by Dr. David Stargel.

These awards highlight just some of the impressive credentials held by AFOSR-funded researchers. When transitioned, their work and the work of fellow AFOSR-funded researchers could advance state-of-the-art technologies developed at the Air Force Research Laboratory and other applied research facilities throughout the world.

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ABOUT AFOSR:

The Air Force Office of Scientific Research, located in Arlington, Virginia, continues to expand the horizon of scientific knowledge through its leadership and management of the Air Force's basic research program. As a vital component of the Air Force Research Laboratory, AFOSR's mission is to discover, shape and champion basic science that profoundly impacts the future Air Force.