Foundation honors professors
By Luis R. Jiménez
Staff Writer
Last spring six Purdue assistant professors received
a major thrust in their careers as researchers and teachers. They received
the National Science Foundation Early Career Development Award that
recognizes excellence in research and education.
The National Science Foundation is the government's
only federal agency dedicated to the support of education and fundamental
research in all scientific and engineering disciplines.
 Each
year the foundation presents several awards including the Early Career
Development awards.
There were 409 recipients of the award this year
and six of them were from Purdue. The recipients include Rashid Bashir,
whose research focuses on nanobiotechnology; Babak Falsafi, who's researching
computer memory systems; Cheng-Kok Koh, who's researching high-performance
electronic circuits with large-scale integration; Sunil Prabhakar, whose
research involves improving data access techniques; David Sanders who's
studying the early evolution of phosphotransferases, enzymes that catalyze
the most common reactions in cells; and Hong Tan who's researching haptic
human-machine interface.
Richard Schwartz, the dean of the Schools of Engineering,
said this has been a good year in relation to the number of recipients
of the award. "These awards are given to relatively few faculty in the
country," he said. "They certainly enhance the reputation of Purdue
and the Schools of Engineering."
The recipients were recognized for their innovative
research and its further translation to teaching skills. The award's
primary aim is to encourage researchers who are in their first few years
of research experience, and it is expected to have beneficial long-term
effects on their careers.
"These awards are given to them to do leading edge
research and is an advantage for Purdue's students having a faculty
that bring this information directly to them," said Schwartz.
Many of the awardees of the Early Career Development
award said they were honored after receiving this recognition.
For example, Bashir, an assistant professor of
electrical and computer engineering, said, "I am very pleased. It's
an honor for myself, for the department of engineering and to Purdue."
Sanders, an assistant professor of biological sciences,
added that he was pleased that the National Science Foundation would
have recognized his work and the University's research environment.
The award, besides being the foundation's most
prestigious honor for junior faculty members, also comes with funding
for research. According to the National Science Foundation's Web site
the awards range from $200,000 to $500,000 for four and five-year periods
in research funding. According to some of the recipients of the award,
the money was welcomed with relief, as it will shorten their need for
funding.
Prabhakar, an assistant professor of computer sciences,
said that besides being a great honor, the funding he is receiving from
the award will allow him to focus more on research than on trying to
get funding.
"This money, which is a little over $240,000, will
pay for the graduate student's salary, my summer salary, some equipment
and will fund the research," Prabhakar said.
According to Sanders, he received $500,000 over
a five-year period along with the recognition. "This will pay for most
of my summer salary," he said. "Besides, it will also pay the graduate
and undergraduate students helping with the research, whom are paid
specifically from these awards."
What makes these researchers excel is their accomplishments
in research and the probable future implications of what they are studying.
The research's practical use ranges from Tan's creation of a sensing
chair that could determine a person's sitting posture, to Bashir's development
of biochips that could diagnose specific biological species, specific
chemicals or even specific cells when implanted in the body.
Schwartz said that these awards would get the young
faculty members off to a good start in their careers.
Sanders added, "This award helps my research and
helps my teaching which are both two important components of my career."
|
