As classes are taught, homework is assigned, and students rush from building to building to catch the next lecture, it's easy to forget that so many College of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences (CEMS) professors teaching those lectures are also world-class researchers, many of whom have been recognized throughout the U.S. and world for unique and groundbreaking accomplishments in their fields.

Young investigator awards are highly competitive, prestigious awards that recognize rising stars in their fields and are from organizations such as Microsoft, the National Science Foundation, National Security Agency and Army Research Office. The awards recognize the ability of faculty members' work as researchers, educators, and innovators to meet the highest expectations of their colleagues around the world.

"Having so many national, prestigious awards granted to members of our faculty is reflective of the outstanding talent and creativity that pervades the entire College," says CEMS Dean Domenico Grasso. "It is an honor to work with so many excellent faculty members. Their work not only reflects well on their own careers, but showcases the greatness of our collective, scholarly community in engineering, computer science, mathematics and statistics."

Some of the excellent faculty in CEMS recognized early in their careers for their significant potential include (in alphabetic order):

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  Dr. Daniel Bentil

  Dr. Daniel Bentil is associate professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics with a Ph.D. from the University of Oxford. Dr. Bentil has a secondary appointment in the Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, and received the 1995 National Science CAREER Award in the amount of $175,645 for his research entitled, "Career development in mathematical biology," with research and educational components. The research component concerned studies on molecular muscle mechanics; the educational component focused on the development of an interdisciplinary mathematical biology curriculum for undergraduate and beginning graduate students at UVM.
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  Dr. Josh Bongard

  Dr. Josh Bongard is assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science with a Ph.D. from the University of Zurich. Dr. Bongard received the 2007 New Faculty Fellowship Award from Microsoft Research and $200,000 for robotics research. Only five such awards are given nationwide. "We are very excited by the potential of Bongard's work to have a broad impact, and look forward to having an ongoing and deep collaboration between him and Microsoft Research," said Harold Javid, program manager for Microsoft Research.
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  Dr. Darren Hitt

  Dr. Darren Hitt is associate professor in the School of Engineering with a Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University. A mechanical engineer, Dr. Hitt received the 2001 National Science Foundation CAREER Award with $375,000 for research entitled, "Micro-scale flow branching of complex fluids."
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  Dr. Britt A. Holmén

  Dr. Britt A. Holmén is an associate professor in the School of Engineering with a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. A civil and environmental engineer, Dr. Holmén received the 2002 NSF CAREER Award and $375,000 for environmental engineering for her research entitled, "Vehicle-derived ultrafine particles and their adsorbates: Formation and aging effects on organic composition and size distribution."
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  Dr. Jeffrey Marshall

  Dr. Jeffrey Marshall is a professor in the School of Engineering with a Ph.D. from the University of California - Berkeley. Dr. Marshall received the Army Research Office Young Investigator Award and $145,118 for his 1992-1995 research grant entitled, "The fluid mechanics of vortex cutting by a blade."
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  Dr. Adel Sadek

  Dr. Adel Sadek is an associate professor in the School of Engineering with a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia. A civil engineer, Dr. Sadek received the 2002 National Science Foundation CAREER Award.
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  Dr. Frederic Sansoz

  Dr. Frederic Sansoz is an assistant professor in the School of Engineering with a Ph.D. from the Ecole des Mines de Paris. An expert in mechanical engineering and materials science, Dr. Sansoz recently received a 2008 National Science Foundation CAREER Award of $400,000 for his research entitled, "Microstructure and size effects on metal plasticity at limited length scale."
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  Dr. X. Sean Wang

  Dr. X. Sean Wang is the Dorothean Professor in the Department of Computer Science with a Ph.D. from the University of Southern California. Dr. Wang received the 1999 National Science CAREER Award for his research entitled, "Towards data base support for on-line time series analysis."
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  Dr. Greg Warrington

  Dr. Greg Warrington will be joining the Department of Mathematics & Statistics as an assistant professor in Spring 2009. He received his Ph.D. in mathematics from Harvard University and is currently an assistant professor at Wake Forest University where he received an NSA Young Investigator's Award and holds a Wake Forest Sterge Faculty Fellowship.