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Articles - Publication Date 12.1.2002
R&D Stars To Watch
These researchers and engineers continue to push the boundaries of technological and scientific achievement.
By Jill Jusko
Douglas E. Adams, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind. Adams' use of sonar-like signals to detect when structures and mechanical parts -- such as those used in weapons systems and aircraft -- are about to fail helped earn him a 2001 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. He is working to develop "smart structures" that use sensors, actuators and processors to prevent catastrophic failures in parts that are difficult to inspect via conventional methods. Such parts include those made of advanced composites.
Jeffrey Brinker, senior scientist, Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, N.M., and professor of chemical and nuclear engineering and chemistry, University of New Mexico. Brinker's development of materials that mimic the structure of abalone sea shells has made it possible to build tough yet lightweight structures or coatings that can resist cracking due to their inherent microstructures. His work has helped make possible the commercial production of aerogels, extremely light materials penetrated by tunnels, and the development of aerogel films, which show promise as coatings for future generations of microelectronic devices. In September he received the Department of Energy's E.O. Lawrence award for his innovations in nanostructured materials.
Stephen K. Burley, chief scientific officer, senior vice president of research and development, Structural GenomiX Inc., San Diego. Some academic eyebrows were raised when Burley was lured from positions as head of the Laboratory of Molecular Biophysics at The Rockefeller University and investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute to join Structural GenomiX (SGX), a start-up biotechnology company involved in drug discovery. SGX, launched in 1999, has tapped the talents of an acclaimed researcher who has published extensively in the areas of structural biology and biochemistry. Burley also holds a degree in medicine. Burley founded Prospect Genomics Inc., a company that was acquired by SGX last year.
John M. Butler, research chemist, biotechnology division, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Md. A 2001 recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, Butler was recognized for his contributions to DNA typing for forensics and human identification, and developing advanced techniques for high-throughput analysis of mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosome markers. He designed and built STRBase -- a comprehensive, Internet-accessible database on STR (short tandem repeat) markers used for human identity testing. Butler also is the author of "Forensic DNA Typing: Biology and Technology Behind STR Markers" (2001, Academic Press).
Harsh Deep Chopra, associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, State University of New York at Buffalo, and Susan Hua, director of the university's Bio-Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Systems Facility. Supercomputing devices the size of a wristwatch may eventually result from research being done by materials researchers Chopra and Hua. They have developed a magnetic sensor made of nickel and measuring just a few atoms in diameter that could increase data storage capacity by a factor of 1,000 or more. Their research, a breakthrough in electrical resistance, addresses the challenge presented as stored bits of data get smaller and their magnetic fields weaken, resulting in data that is harder to detect and read.
M. Raymond Flannery, physics professor, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta. A theoretical physicist, Flannery earned the 2001 Sir David Bates Prize from the Institute of Physics, London, for his contributions to theoretical atomic physics, in particular for "his studies of recombination processes with applications to astrophysics and plasma physics." Other notable accolades i
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