Four Illinois researchers receive Presidential Early Career Award

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Four researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign were named recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on young professionals at the outset of their independent research careers.

The winners this year are health and kinesiology professor Marni Boppart, physics professor Barry Bradlyn, chemical and biomolecular engineering professor Ying Diao and computer scienceprofessor Edgar Solomonik.

Boppart is the Saul J. Morse and Anne B. Morgan Professor in Applied Health Sciences and studies molecular and cellular mechanisms responsible for the health benefits of exercise. This information is then used to develop novel cell- and pharmacological-based interventions that can prevent or treat loss of muscle mass and function with age. She is the recipient of numerous awards including the Allen Distinguished Investigator Award, the Beckman Institute Vision and Spirit Award and the Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching from the College of Applied Health Sciences. She is a fellow of the American Physiological Society and of the American College of Sports Medicine. Boppart also is affiliated with cell and developmental biology, the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology and the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology. 

Bradlyn studies theoretical condensed matter physics, specializing in topological phases of matter. His research centers on geometry and topology in solid-state systems, focusing on how we can use these mathematical tools to identify and understand new exotic quantum materials. He is an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Research Fellow and has been awarded an Air Force Young Investigator Award, an NSF Career Award and the McMillian Award.

Diao’s research focuses on understanding the assembly of functional polymers and innovating printing approaches that enable structural control down to the molecular and nanoscale to enable next-generation electronics and greener energy. She has received many awards for her work. She was named to the list of Technology Review Innovators Under 35 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and received a National Science Foundation CAREER Award, an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship in Chemistry, a NASA Early Career Faculty Award and the AIChE Allen P. Colburn Award for Excellence in Publications. Diao also is affiliated with chemistry, materials science and engineering, the Beckman Institute and the Materials Research Laboratory at Illinois.

Solomonik studies the design of efficient algorithms for numerical problems, with a focus on tensor computations, a class of challenging calculations characterized by many parameters and unknown variables. Tensors provide a mathematical framework for solving complex and data-intensive problems prevalent in physics, chemistry and other scientific domains. Solomonik is the recipient of many awards, including The Grainger College of Engineering Dean’s Excellence in Research Award, a National Science Foundation CAREER Award, the Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics Supercomputing Early Career Prize, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Early Career Researchers Excellence Award in High Performance Computing.