President Obama Honors Nation’s Top Scientists and Innovators
On September 27, 2011, President Obama named seven eminent researchers as recipients of the National Medal of Science and five inventors as recipients of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the highest honors bestowed by the United States government on scientists, engineers, and inventors. The recipients will receive their awards at a White House ceremony later this year.
Two of World Scientific’s authors are among this year’s recipients; Professor Shu Chien —– he is the author of many of our Bioengineering books, and an editorial board member of JMMB —– won the National Medal of Science award. The National Medal of Technology and Innovation award went to Professor B. Jayant Baliga —– author of Silicon Rf Power Mosfets and Silicon Carbide Power Devices.
“Each of these extraordinary scientists, engineers, and inventors is guided by a passion for innovation, a fearlessness even as they explore the very frontiers of human knowledge, and a desire to make the world a better place,” President Obama said. “Their ingenuity inspires us all to reach higher and try harder, no matter how difficult the challenges we face.”
The National Medal of Science was created by statute in 1959 and is administered for the White House by the National Science Foundation. Awarded annually, the Medal recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to science and engineering. Nominees are selected by a committee of Presidential appointees based on their extraordinary knowledge in and contributions to chemistry, engineering, computing, mathematics, and the biological, behavioral/social, and physical sciences.
The National Medal of Technology and Innovation was created by statute in 1980 and is administered for the White House by the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Patent and Trademark Office. The award recognizes those who have made lasting contributions to America’s competitiveness and quality of life and helped strengthen the Nation’s technological workforce. Nominees are selected by a distinguished independent committee representing the private and public sectors.
Professor Vladimir Shalaev, author of the monograph Electro-dynamics of Metamaterials, has recently won the Max Born Award from the Optical Society of America. He is also Robert and Anne Burnett Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Purdue University. His areas of focus include metamaterials, transformation optics, nanophotonics and plasmonics. He has made pioneering contributions to the field of the optics of fractal and percolation composites, their applications for Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy, and to the field of optical metamaterials, including first experimental observation of negative refractive index in the optical range (This work was ranked in the top 50 innovations in nanotechnology in 2006 by Nanotech Briefs) and magnetism across the entire visible range.
Professor Shalaev received several awards for his research in the field of nanophotonics and metamaterials. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the International Society for Optical Engineering, and of the Optical Society of America. Prof. Shalaev is a Co-Editor for five books in the area of nano-optics and an Editorial Board Member of a number of research journals. He has co-authored two books, 20 invited book contributions, and about 300 research publications. One of the books, Electrodynamics of Metamaterials (World Scientific Publishing, 2007), is authoritative in the field of plasmonic nanostructure research. He is also on the editorial board of the peer reviewed journal Metamaterials, along with a number of other notable board members who have significantly contributed to metamaterial research.
World Scientific’s author Professor Gautam R. Desiraju was recently elected as President of the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr) during the IUCr General Assembly in Madrid held last month Prof. Desiraju has received pres-tigious awards such as the Alexander von Humboldt Forschungspreis and the Third World Academy of Sciences award in Chemistry and is among the most highly cited Indian chemists. He is also the co-author of Crystal Engineering: A Textbook, one of the latest bestselling titles by World Scientific.
This book is important because it is the first textbook in an area that has become very popular in recent times. There are around 250 research groups in crystal engineering worldwide today. The subject has been researched for around 40 years but there is still no textbook at the level of senior undergraduates and beginning Ph.D. students. This book is expected to fill this gap.
The writing style is simple, with an adequate number of exercises and problems, and the diagrams are easy to understand. This book consists of major areas of the subject, including organic crystals and co-ordination polymers, and can easily form the basis of a 30- to 40- lecture course for senior undergraduates.
On September 27, 2011, President Obama named seven eminent researchers as recipients of the National Medal of Science and five inventors as recipients of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, the highest honors bestowed by the United States government on scientists, engineers, and inventors. The recipients will receive their awards at a White House ceremony later this year.
Professor Vladimir Shalaev, author of the monograph Electro-dynamics of Metamaterials, has recently won the Max Born Award from the Optical Society of America. He is also Robert and Anne Burnett Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Purdue University. His areas of focus include metamaterials, transformation optics, nanophotonics and plasmonics. He has made pioneering contributions to the field of the optics of fractal and percolation composites, their applications for Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy, and to the field of optical metamaterials, including first experimental observation of negative refractive index in the optical range (This work was ranked in the top 50 innovations in nanotechnology in 2006 by Nanotech Briefs) and magnetism across the entire visible range.
World Scientific’s author Professor Gautam R. Desiraju was recently elected as President of the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr) during the IUCr General Assembly in Madrid held last month Prof. Desiraju has received pres-tigious awards such as the Alexander von Humboldt Forschungspreis and the Third World Academy of Sciences award in Chemistry and is among the most highly cited Indian chemists. He is also the co-author of Crystal Engineering: A Textbook, one of the latest bestselling titles by World Scientific.
