Gregory S. Chirikjian (left), professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and Kevin Hemker (below), professor and chair of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, have been elected fellows of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). A fellow is the highest grade of membership within ASME; it recognizes exceptional engineering achievements and contributions to the engineering profession.

Joelle Frechette, assistant professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, has received a National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award, given in recognition of young scientists’ commitment to research and education.

In a ceremony on June 15, Sharon Gerecht, assistant professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomole- cular Engineering, received the Outstanding Young Engineer Award. The award, sponsored by the Maryland Academy of Sciences and conferred by the Maryland Science Center, aims to encourage the impor- tant work of young scientists and engineers in the state of Maryland, and to increase public awareness of their accomplishments.

David Gracias, assistant professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, has been selected as one of 12 recipients of the 2008 DuPont Young Professor Award. This award is designed to provide start-up assistance to promising young and untenured research faculty.

Ben Hobbs, the Theodore M. & Kay W. Schad Professor in Environmental Manage- ment, has been elected a fellow to the Class of 2008 by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for “integration of economic and environmental concerns into power systems design and operation.”

Susan Hohenberger, assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science and a member of the Johns Hopkins Information Security Institute, received a 2008 Microsoft Research New Faculty Fellowship. The fellowship will support Hohenberger’s research in cryptographic challenges in verifying authenticity of incoming messages and encrypting outgoing ones in energy-, data-, and time-
constrained applications, computer security, algorithms, and complexity theory.

Kristina M. Johnson, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs and professor of electrical and computer engineering, received the 2007 American Association of Engineering Society’s John Fritz Medal. Established in 1902, the medal is widely considered the highest award in the engineering profession and is pre- sented each year for scientific or industrial achievement in any field of pure or applied sci- ence. Past honorees have included Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, George Westinghouse, and Orville Wright.

Nicholas Jones, dean of the Whiting School and professor of civil engineering, received the 2008 Robert H. Scanlan Medal from the Engineering Mechanics Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers. The medal is awarded annually to recognize distinguished achievement in engineering mechanics based upon scholarly contributions to both theory and practice in the areas of structural mechanics, wind engineering, and aerodynamics. Jones was recognized in particular for his many contribu- tions in the fields of aerodynamics of bridges and full-scale monitoring of structures.

Rachel Karchin, assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and a member of the Institute for Computational Medicine, was awarded a Susan B. Komen Investigator Initiated Research Grant. It provides three years of support for the exploration of new ideas and novel approaches to breast cancer research and clinical practice.

Howard E. Katz, professor of materials science and engineering, was named one of 34 inaugu- ral fellows of the Materials Research Society. This honor was given “for introducing multi- functional organic materials into electronic and optical devices including transistors and electro- optic modulators; for innovation in materials synthesis; and for serving the materials community through society leadership, editorship, and government outreach.” Katz will assume the presidency of the International Union of Materials Research Societies in 2009.

Hai-Quan Mao, assistant professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, has received a National Science Founda- tion Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award, given in recognition of young scientists’ commitment to research and education.

Carey Priebe, professor in the Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics, is one of six to be named a 2008 National Security Science and Engineering Faculty Fellow by the Department of Defense. This new program provides grants to top-tier researchers from U.S. universities to conduct long-term, unclassified, basic research, in an effort to engage the next generation of outstanding scientists and engineers in the most challenging technical issues facing the government.

Russ Taylor, professor in the Department of Computer Science and the director of the Center for Computer-Integrated Surgical Systems and Technology, has been selected as a co-recipient of the 2008 Pioneer in Robotics and Automation Award from the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society. The award recognizes individuals who have made a significant impact on the robotics and/or automation fields by initiating new areas of research, development, or engineering.

Natalia Trayanova, professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and a member of the Institute for Computational Medicine, was selected as a fellow of the Heart Rhythm Society. The most distinguished level of the society, fellow status recognizes members who have realized significant professional achievement, provided exceptional service, and are prominent in the field of cardiac arrhythmia research and treatment.

Peter Wilcock, professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering with a joint appointment in the Department of Civil Engineering, received the 2008 Hans Albert Einstein award from the American Society of Civil Engineers for his contributions to research in sediment transport in gravel-bed rivers