Three Rutgers Researchers Honored with Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers
Three Rutgers professors – Jinglin Fu from Rutgers–Camden, Jessica Ware from Rutgers–Newark, and Saman Zonouz of Rutgers–New Brunswick – have been awarded the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the highest honor bestowed by the United States Government.
The PECASE Awards, established in 1996 by the National Science and Technology Council, are conferred to outstanding scientists and engineers at the onset of their independent careers. The awardees show exceptional potential for leadership at the frontiers of scientific knowledge during the 21st century.
“Our warmest congratulations to professors Fu, Ware and Zonouz for the well-deserved prestigious recognition. Their groundbreaking research and dedication enliven Rutgers’ mission as a leading national research university that improves lives and drives the economy of New Jersey and the nation,” said S. David Kimball, interim senior vice president for research and economic development.
Jinglin Fu is an associate professor of Chemistry at Rutgers–Camden in bio-mimetics, bio nanotechnology, regulatory biomolecular networks, biocatalysis, bioenergy, microscopy, AFM and imaging. Most recently, Fu, who is also a faculty member for the Center of Computational and Integrative Biology, was selected by the Army Research Office (ARO) as a recipient of the Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (ECASE-Army) to support his research of “Develop Synthetic Compartments for Enhanced and Regulated Biochemical Reactions,” with a $1 million award.
Jessica Ware, assistant professor of biological sciences, is an evolutionary biologist at Rutgers–Newark who has focused her research on four main areas: systematics, behavior, biodiversity and biogeography. Among other investigations, Ware’s research has conveyed the importance of entomology for ensuring crops protection and mitigating vectors of insect-borne diseases that could potentially pose threats to human health.
Associate Professor Saman Zonouz, a faculty member of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, was recognized for his research related to his National Science Foundation CAREER Award on the project, “Trustworthy and Adaptive Intrusion Tolerance Capabilities in Cyber-Physical Critical Infrastructures.” In this project, Zonouz will design secure mechanisms for cyber-physical critical infrastructures that integrate networks of computational and physical processes to provide the society with essential services.
Each PECASE Award recipient is selected from nomination of scientists whose work is supported by participating agencies like the Department of Agriculture, Department of Commerce, Department of Defense, Department of Energy, Department of Education, Department of Health and Human Services: National Institutes of Health, Department of Veterans Affairs, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the National Science Foundation.
