ONR Announces 1999 Winners of the Young Investigator Program Award

News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 23, 1999
Office of Naval Research
Office of Congressional and Public Affairs
703-696-5031 Fax:703-696-5940

The Office of Naval Research recently announced the winners of the Young Investigator Program Competition for 1999. Awards were presented to 21 of the 216 applicants who responded to the announcement.

The Young Investigator Program, developed to support basic research by exceptional performers who received a Ph.D. or equivalent degree on or after December 1, 1993, provides recipients through their institutions with up to $100,000 per year for three years. The funds may be applied to a variety of research costs, including salary, graduate student support, laboratory supplies, etc., and additional funds may be made available to purchase equipment related to the investigator’s research.

Young Investigators are selected on the basis of prior professional achievement, the submission of a creative proposal, and evidence of strong support by their respective universities. ONR’s Young Investigator awards recognize exceptional young scientists and engineers. The program supports outstanding research in fields as diverse as acoustics, ceramics, mathematics, molecular mechanics, and electromagnetics, to name a few, that are critical to the evolution of a first-rate Navy and Marine Corps.

1999 Young Investigators Program Awardees:

Dr. Karen Butler, Department of Electrical Engineering, Texas A&M University, will investigate the concept of "predictive reconfiguration" for a ship, which would analyze the status of the ship, track threats and optimize reconfiguration of the electrical system to deal with threats and minimize damage.

Dr. Gert Cauwenberghs, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University, will study the mechanisms and computations needed to reconstruct signals from complicated sensory input and incorporate this into engineering hardware systems for signal processing. This research can lead to improved passive and active sonar technology and acoustic signal processing.

Dr. Christopher S. Chen, Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Johns Hopkins University, will examine new ways to use cells as sensors to detect and classify toxic materials, including chemical and biological warfare agents. The innovative research involves cells that are attached to microfabricated substrates by elastomeric polymers, so that cell shape can be measured by the stress forces exerted on the substrate.

Dr. Howard M. Choset, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, will be investigating basic control algorithms for systems of multiple robots that enable complete search and reconnaissance in unstructured environments. The research can lead to software which encodes the algorithms for use by commercial, academic, and Navy organizations which are developing practical robotic systems

Dr. Eric Marie Jacques Feron, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will investigate new aggressive maneuvering and dynamic trajectory planning strategies for multiple, autonomous vehicles, such as Unmanned Combat Aerial Vehicles.

Dr. Andrea Goldsmith, Department of Electrical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, will investigate the capacity limits of multimedia wireless systems, specifically ad-hoc network systems found in tactical military communications.

Dr. Jennifer M. Groh, Department of Psychology, Dartmouth College, will be studying how information from the various sensory systems is integrated into a common spatial frame of reference. Understanding this process could lead to seamless sensor fusion, biomimetic robotics, improved human performance, and insights into improved human/machine interfaces.

Dr. Karl Grosh, Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mechanics Department, University of Michigan, will attempt to adapt the mammalian cochlear structure to create naval SONAR transducers with enhanced sensitivity and tailorability of frequency selectivity as receivers, and with high-power projection as well as temporal pulse shape forming capability as transmitters. If this biomimetric acoustic transducer design could be brought to fruition, it would revolutionize SONAR transducer design.

Dr. Laurens E. Howle, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Duke University, will use mathematical fluid dynamics modeling to create an inter-active two-dimensional and three-dimensional model of flexible foils interacting with the fluid medium around them. This work can assist in engineering biomimetic underwater vehicle propulsors and controlling surfaces.

Dr. Deborah Jin, JILA, University of Colorado, will investigate the possibility of fermionic (Cooper-paired) superfluid behavior in atomic gases. The goals of this research are to overcome limitations in atomic time and frequency standards due to collisional frequency shifts, study mixed Bose/Fermi systems, and obtain fermionic optical lattices. This research could eliminate one of the primary remaining sources of error in atomic clocks.

Dr. David O. Kazmer, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Massachusetts at Amherst, will investigate new approaches to dynamically control the thermal and fluid properties of the heated polymer melt during injection molding. This research is important for high-quality, low-cost composites manufacturing.

Dr. Jon M. Kleinberg, Department of Computer Science, Cornell University, will investigate the routing of information in large-scale communication networks so as to minimize congestion and the mining of information networks. This research may improve both the performance and the usefulness of the world wide web.

Dr. Daphne Koller, Department of Computer Science, Stanford University, will investigate an algorithm that can learn the qualitative structure of dynamic models from data, including hidden variables. Both high- and low-level models of uncertainty will be integrated to support more effective inference and learning algorithms. Her work directly applies to Navy command and control systems.

Dr. Zongli Lin, Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Virginia, will investigate control of systems with saturating actuators and its applications to flight controls. The research may overcome stability problems associated with the platforms (such as aircraft, missiles, etc.) that are exponentially unstable with saturating actuators.

Dr. Farzad Mashayek, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Hawaii at Manoa, will investigate reliable models and detailed simulation of fuel droplets dispersed in turbulent flows, in the presence of evaporation and chemical reaction. The models will be applicable to control strategies directed at reducing combustion instability and improving performance of propulsion systems.

Dr. H. Tuba Ozkan-Haller, Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, University of Michigan, will conduct a series of numerical experiments to study the generation, damping, and evolution of edge waves. She will test these results against data from nearshore field experiments.

Dr. Dennis W. Prather, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Delaware, will investigate improvements to conventional binary optics/diffractive optical elements (DOEs) by introducing meso-scopic diffractive optical elements (MDOEs). MDOEs are DOEs that have dimensions comparable to the wavelength of illumination; they will be integrated with active optoelectronic devices, such as lasers and detectors, on a commensurate scale.

Dr. Rajeev Ram, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will investigate highly efficient cascade interband laser receivers. The device has the potential to cost less and perform better than other arrays for communications applications.

Dr. Donald N. Slinn, Department of Ocean Engineering, Florida Atlantic University, will use numerical techniques to model nearshore processes. The research will focus on the effect of topographic variability, wave-current interactions, and the influence of the tidal cycle.

Dr. Sarah H. Tolbert, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Los Angeles, will carry out research in the area of nanoscale science. New ways to control the composition and architecture of nanoparticles, which will allow for self organization into structures useful for photonic applications such as optical sensors, will be explored.

Dr. Xiang Zhang, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering Department, Pennsylvania State University, will be exploring materials processing techniques to fabricate three-dimensional structures on the scale of one micron or below. These very small structures can be formed into sensor networks embedded within a material that allows the condition of the material to be monitored while in use.