April 2, 2007

Five Young UCSB Faculty Members Win National Science Foundation 'CAREER' Awards

Gail Gallessich

Five young faculty members at the University of California, Santa Barbara have received prestigious CAREER awards from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

The Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program offers the National Science Foundation's most prestigious awards in support of the early career development activities of those teacher-scholars who are most likely to become the academic leaders of the 21st century.

The NSF explains that CAREER awardees are selected on the basis of creative proposals that effectively integrate research and education within the context of the mission of their organization. The plans are expected to build a firm foundation for a lifetime of integrated contributions to research and education.

The financial awards, which are estimated and not guaranteed, will be paid out over a five-year period. The winning UCSB faculty members and their projects follow:

·Song-I Han, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry, will receive $734,000 to develop novel contrast mechanisms for nuclear magnetic resonance that highlight molecule-specific functions of materials and processes by targeted signal enhancement of selected fluid molecules.

·Todd H. Oakley, assistant professor of ecology, evolution & marine biology, will receive $600,000 for a project entitled "CAREER: Exploring Congruence of Fossil and Molecular Estimates of Macroevolutionary Divergence Times in Ostracoda (Crustacea)."

·Volkan Rodoplu, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, will receive $400,000 to develop methodologies for tracking and disseminating quality of service metrics in mobile, wireless networks of microprocessor-sensor devices.

·Todd Squires, assistant professor of chemical engineering, will receive $400,000 for a theoretical and experimental program that involves the development of microfluidic systems.

·Tommaso Treu, assistant professor of physics, will receive $708,000 for a project entitled "CAREER: Dark Matter and Black Holes Over Cosmic Time."

The National Science Foundation promotes and advances scientific progress in the United States by competitively awarding grants and sponsoring cooperative agreements for research and education in the sciences, mathematics, and engineering.

About UC Santa Barbara

The University of California, Santa Barbara is a leading research institution that also provides a comprehensive liberal arts learning experience. Our academic community of faculty, students, and staff is characterized by a culture of interdisciplinary collaboration that is responsive to the needs of our multicultural and global society. All of this takes place within a living and learning environment like no other, as we draw inspiration from the beauty and resources of our extraordinary location at the edge of the Pacific Ocean.