CEAS Faculty Receive Nearly $6 Million for 10 Early Career Awards

	From left to right: Karen Chen-Wiegart, Robert Patro, Jason Trelewicz, Michalis Polychronakis, Dean Fotis Sotiropoulos, Anshul Gandhi, Romeil Sandhu, Ya Wang, Sherif Abdelaziz

The College of Engineering and Applied Sciences announces that eight faculty have received 10 prestigious Early Career Awards, nearly $6 million in funding, during the 2017-2018 academic year. These include six National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER awards, in addition to individual awards from the U.S Army Research Office (ARO), Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), Department of Energy (DOE), and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).  

“It is encouraging to see leading national research funding agencies supporting many of Stony Brook’s young faculty with early career awards this academic year,” said Samuel L. Stanley Jr., MD, President of Stony Brook University. “Funding the often visionary research of these faculty is of critical importance to advance their respective careers, and at the same time, achieves the University’s goals to increase sponsored research, strengthens our STEM education, and helps support our mission of scientific innovation and discovery.”

“The impressive number of early career awards received in the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences speaks volumes about the excellence of our junior faculty,” said Michael Bernstein, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs. “They have established a remarkable foundation for continued successes in the College. I look forward to celebrating the ongoing achievements of these exceptional individuals.“

“I am incredibly proud of our eight faculty who achieved 10 prestigious national awards this year. Their accomplishments enhance the opportunities we provide our students, and exemplify how we are making science fiction come to life every day through cutting edge research focused on society’s biggest challenges,” said Fotis Sotiropoulos, Dean, College of Engineering and Applied Sciences. “So many prestigious awards in just one year attest to the excellence of our young faculty and serve to demonstrate that the best days of CEAS are yet to come.”

Following is a list of 2017-2018 award recipients from the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences:

National Science Foundation Early CAREER 2018
Karen Chen-Wiegart, Materials Science and Chemical Engineering
$560,000 for: A Multi-modal Study of Bi-continuous Pattern Formation in Nano/Meso Composite and Porous Metals Films via Solid-State Interfacial Dealloying

Anshul Gandhi, Computer Science
$550,000 for: Enabling Predictable Performance in Cloud Computing

Robert Patro, Computer Science
$666,000 for: A Comprehensive and Lightweight Framework for Transcriptome Analysis

Michalis Polychronakis, Computer Science
$593,000 for: Principled and Practical Software Shielding Against Exploits

Romeil Sandhu, Biomedical Informatics
$500,000 for: Network Geometry for Analyzing Dynamical Systems

Ya Wang, Mechanical Engineering
$500,000 for: Understanding Dynamics of Ultra-small Magnetic Nanoparticles in the Brain for Neuron Regeneration Therapies​.

U.S. Army Research Office (ARO) Young Investigator Program
Sherif Abdelaziz, Civil Engineering
$356,000 for: Multi-scale Assessment of Freezing-Heating Effects on Clay-rich Materials

U.S. Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) Young Investigator Research Program
Romeil Sandhu, Biomedical Informatics
$450,000 for: Interactive Feedback Control for 2D3D Autonomous Systems

U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science Early Career
Jason Trelewicz, Materials Science and Chemical Engineering
$750,000 for: Enhancing the Performance of Plasma-facing Materials Through Solute-stabilized Nanostructured Tungsten Alloys

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Young Faculty Award (in negotiations)
Michalis Polychronakis, Computer Science
$893,372 for: Compiler-assisted Software Specialization against Vulnerability Exploitation

 

About the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences

Stony Brook’sCollege of Engineering and Applied Sciences is educating the next generation of global innovators to effect change in areas critical for improving the human condition and sustaining humanity. We are inventing the future by advancing cross-disciplinary research in engineering-driven medicine, artificial intelligence, and clean energy for a more sustainable future and much more, and are well-positioned to drive global and regional economic development.  The College is home to more than 4,000 undergraduate and 1,600 graduate students, and nine academic departments.