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EARNING RECOGNITIONUniversity of Texas at Austin professors won world prizes in mathematics, exercise physiology and chemistry, several were named to the National Academy of Engineering and National Academy of Sciences. Others were recognized as young innovators.
Rolf Schock Prize for MathematicsLuis A. Caffarelli won the 2005 Rolf Schock Prize for mathematics.
The Royal Swedish Academy, the same organization that grants Nobel prizes, awards the Schock prizes every two years in mathematics, visual arts, musical arts and philosophy and logic. Caffarelli, 56, was recognized for his important contributions to the theory of nonlinear partial differential equations. The prize, which includes a $56,000 award, was presented to Caffarelli in October 2005 at a ceremony in Stockholm. The Royal Academy described his work and his impact: “For 30 years Luis A. Caffarelli has been the world’s leading specialist in free-boundary problems for non-linear differential equations; his pioneering solutions have tackled many classic problems that have long defied mathematicians. It will probably be decades before they have utilized all the techniques he has created.” Caffarelli has taught and conducted research at The University of Texas at Austin since 1997, when he and his wife Dr. Irene Gamba, a professor of mathematics, joined the faculty. 2005 Citation Award by the American College of Sports MedicineExercise physiology and sports nutrition expert Dr. John Ivy has been honored with the 2005 Citation Award by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). The award is given to individuals who have made significant contributions to sports medicine and the exercise sciences through their research, teaching and professional service. Ivy, chairperson of the Department of Kinesiology and Health Education in the College of Education at The University of Texas at Austin, has devoted the past 30 years to the study of the acute and chronic effects of exercise and nutrition on muscle metabolism. His most recent two books, “Nutrient Timing” and “The Performance Zone,” are targeted at laypeople and describe his landmark research in “nutrient timing,” which refers to the maximization of physical performance through ingestion of certain supplements at specific times. “When you exercise,” says Ivy, “muscles become sensitive to particular hormones and nutrients and you can initiate positive training adaptations if you make sure that the correct nutrients are present. The increased sensitivity of the muscles lasts for a limited length of time, and if you miss this window of opportunity, there’s no way to stimulate muscle adaptations to that extent until the next bout of exercise.” 2005 Hero of Chemistry
C. Grant Willson, professor of chemical engineering and of chemistry and biochemistry at The University of Texas at Austin, received a 2005 Heroes of Chemistry award from the American Chemical Society for co-developing light-sensitive materials that are used for printing circuitry patterns on all of today's microprocessors and memory chips. The revision of this key computer chip manufacturing step became the universal standard for creating smaller, denser computer chips and microprocessors. Willson, holder of the Rashid Engineering Regents Chair in the College of Engineering, shared the award with co-inventor Dr. Hiroshi Ito from IBM’s Almaden Research Center. Willson and Ito co-developed their light-sensitive materials at IBM when photolithography, the process of patterning computer chips using light, was being questioned as the right approach for future semiconductor manufacturing. SIGCOMM Award for Lifetime ContributionSimon S. Lam, professor and Regents Chair in Computer Sciences at The University of Texas at Austin, has received the Association of Computing Machinery Special Interest Group on Data Communications (SIGCOMM) Award for lifetime contribution to the field of communications networks. “The SIGCOMM Award is widely recognized as the highest honor in computer networking,” said Professor Mark Crovella of Boston University, the SIGCOMM Award Committee chair. In his address upon receiving the award, Lam urged the Internet research community to direct its efforts toward a major improvement in the Internet protocol (IP). “Ten years ago, when Internet applications were primarily e-mail, ftp and Web, IP’s simplicity was its greatest strength in fighting off competitors and winning the networking race for data communications,” Lam said. “In the future, however, IP’s simplicity is possibly a liability because the requirements of Internet’s future applications will be more demanding, particularly the requirements of interactive multimedia applications.” Lam explained that the underlying model of IP is a network of queues that is prone to a phenomenon known as congestion collapse. He urged the Internet research community to take advantage of the current window of opportunity, while the Internet core has a lot more bandwidth than traffic, to do research that will strengthen IP’s foundation for the future. Sloan Research FellowshipsAUSTIN, Texas—Four University of Texas at Austin faculty members have received Sloan Research Fellowships for 2005. They are Gavril Farkas and Tamas Hausel, assistant professors of mathematics; Joshua R. Klein, assistant professor of physics; and Eiichiro Komatsu, assistant professor of astronomy. This is the first time the university has had as many as four recipients in one year. Dr. Farkas, who joined The University of Texas at Austin faculty in 2004, specializes in algebraic geometry. Dr. Hausel came to the university in 2002. He researches and teaches geometry. Dr. Klein researches neutrino physics and astrophysics, gravity and cosmology. He is involved with the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory in Sudbury, England. Dr. Komatsu, who came to the university in 2004, studies microwave background radiation anisotropy and polarization, inflationary scenarios of the early universe, alternative theories of gravity and radio band observational cosmology. Fulbright-Hays Faculty Research Abroad FellowshipProfessor Gregory Knapp of The University of Texas at Austin’s Department of Geography and the Environment has received a nine-month research grant from the Fulbright-Hays Faculty Research Abroad Fellowship Program to study “Water Management, Livelihoods and Landscapes in the Andes.” Guggenheim Memorial Foundation FellowshipDr. Alison Frazier, an associate professor in the Department of History at The University of Texas at Austin, is the recipient of a Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship and an I Tatti Fellowship from Harvard University. American Academy of Arts and SciencesDr. Allan H. MacDonald, professor of physics at The University of Texas at Austin, has been named to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, one of the nation’s highest academic honors. American Association for the Advancement of ScienceThree faculty members at The University of Texas at Austin—Dr. George Georgiou, Dr. Paul Macdonald and Dr. Stephen Martin—were elected fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Dr. George Georgiou, holder of the Joe C. Walter Jr. Endowed Chair, and a professor of chemical engineering and biomedical engineering, was elected for protein engineering, especially the development of therapeutics to biological warfare agents, protein manufacturing technologies and combinatorial library screening methodologies. Macdonald chairs the Section of Molecular Cell and Developmental Biology in the School of Biological Sciences and holds the Mr. and Mrs. Robert P. Doherty Jr. Regents Chair in Molecular Biology. The member of the College of Natural Sciences was elected for his research into how genetic material called mRNA determines the way in which anatomical regions in fruit flies are organized. Martin is the chairman of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry in Natural Sciences and holder of the M. June and J. Virgil Waggoner Regents Chair in Chemistry. He was elected for distinguished contributions to the fields of chemistry, including synthetic and organic chemistry. National Academy of EngineeringFour engineering professors at The University of Texas at Austin were elected to membership in the National Academy of Engineering, widely considered the highest honor to be earned in the engineering profession. Dr. Ivo M. Babuska, holder of the Robert Trull Chair in Engineering, and a professor in aerospace engineering, was elected for contributions to the theory and implementation of finite element methods for computer-based engineering analysis and design. Dr. George Georgiou, holder of the Joe C. Walter Jr. Endowed Chair, and a professor of chemical engineering and biomedical engineering, was elected for protein engineering, especially the development of therapeutics to biological warfare agents, protein manufacturing technologies and combinatorial library screening methodologies. Dr. John R. Howell, holder of the Ernest Cockrell Jr. Memorial Chair, and a professor of mechanical engineering, was elected for the development and dissemination of methods of addressing complex radiation heat-transfer problems. Dr. Danny David Reible, holder of the Bettie Margaret Smith Chair in Environmental Health Engineering, and a professor of environmental engineering, was elected for the development of widely used methods of managing contaminated sediments. 100 Top Young InnovatorsDr. Yueh-Lin (Lynn) Loo, assistant professor of chemical engineering, and Dr. Lauren Ancel Meyers, assistant professor of integrative biology, have been named to the 2004 list of the world’s 100 Top Young Innovators by Technology Review, The University of Texas at Austin announced today (Sept. 20). The TR100, chosen by an elite panel of judges and the editors of Technology Review, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology magazine of innovation, consists of 100 individuals under age 35 whose innovative work in technology has a profound impact on today’s world. Loo is credited with inventing an inexpensive, non-toxic and quick process for making organic electronics and plastic circuits – individual electronic devices and circuits built from carbon-containing materials on flexible plastics. Meyers developed a mathematical model to predict the spread of infectious diseases for use by decision makers seeking to reduce their spread. Beckman Young InvestigatorsDr. Yueh-Lin (Lynn) Loo at The University of Texas at Austin has received a 2005 Young Investigator Award from the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation to find ways to improve the ability of polyaniline to conduct electricity. Loo, an assistant professor of chemical engineering, will use the three-year, $264,000 award to seek a 10-fold increase in the conductive ability of the plastic. That enhancement might be enough for manufacturers to begin considering polyaniline-based wires for products that include: electronic display screens that can be rolled up after use, clothing with polyaniline woven into it that changes color when exposed to a harmful chemical, and implantable medical devices that release a drug when someone’s body temperature changes. “Using this material to develop biodevices would be especially nice,” Loo said, “because polyaniline appears to interact well with living cells.” |
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