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2016 Young Investigator Award Recipients


Dr. Spring Berman, Arizona State University
Scalable Control of Adaptive Multi-Robot Systems in Inaccessible Environments

Dr. James Bird, Boston University
Bubbling Underwater to Breakup Biofilms and Lift Early Settlers (BUBBLES)

Dr. David Blunck, Oregon State University
Ignition, Deflagration and Detonation Behavior of Fuel and Oxidizer Mixed with Combustion Products

Dr. David Camarillo, Stanford University
Brain strain and neck muscle dynamics during sagittal head impacts in naval scenarios

Dr. Steven Cavallo, University of Oklahoma
Polar Predictability and Dynamics through Multi-scale Atmospheric Vortices

Dr. Tara Deans, University of Utah
Engineering multifunctional blood products with synthetic biology

Dr. Andrei Faraon, California Institute of Technology
Quantum Transduction Between Optical and Microwave Photons using Rare-Earth-Doped Materials

Dr. Dimitrios Giannakis, New York University
Geometrical Methods for Feature Extraction and Prediction in Autonomous and Non-Autonomous Dynamical Systems: Applications to Atmosphere Ocean Science

Dr. Jeremy Goldbogen, Stanford University
Biomechanical and energetic analyses of whale-borne tag sensor data to assess the population consequences of acoustic disturbance

Dr. Christopher Green, University of Wisconsin
Key components of action video games and their neural underpinnings

Dr. Elad Harel, Northwestern University
Ultrasensitive Multi-Octave and Multi-dimensional Spectral Sensing by Single Element Detection and Compressive Sensing

Dr. Jonathan Hauenstein, University of Notre Dame
Harnessing the Complex Numbers for Efficiently Solving Real Problems

Dr. Jiarong Hong, University of Minnesota
Probe into Ventilated Cavitation Physics with Novel Imaging Techniques

Dr. Liangbing Hu, University of Maryland
Printable, Anisotropic Nanostructures with Boron Nitride Nanosheets for High Temperature Applications

Dr. Mahesh Illindala, Ohio State University
Design and Synthesis of Resilient Microgrid Systems

Dr. Mikhail Kats, University of Wisconsin
Optical limiters, fuses, and diodes for protection from high intensity light sources

Dr. Mercedeh Khajavikhan, University of Central Florida
Parity-Time (PT) Symmetric Photonics

Dr. Laura Kloepper, Saint Mary's College - Notre Dame
Biologically Inspired Approaches to Overcome Mutual-Interference by Active Sensor Systems

Dr. Duygu Kuzum, University of California, San Diego
From Neurons to Microcircuits of Hippocampus: A Computational Model Based on Experimental Findings

Dr. Bruce Lee, Michigan Technological University
Smart, Moisture-Resistant Adhesive Inspired by Marine Chemistry

Dr. Sergey Levine, University of Washington
Sensorimotor Representation Learning for Robotic Motion Skills

Dr. Ming Li, University of Arizona
Toward High Performance Tactical Multi-hop Wireless Networks via Exploiting Antenna Reconfigurability

Dr. Yongmin Liu, Northeastern University
Reconfigurable Metamaterials for Beam Steering, Imaging and Sensing at Infrared Frequencies

Dr. Jenifer Locke, Ohio State University
Systematic Study of the Effect of Sensitization on Corrosion Fatigue of Aluminum-Magnesium Alloy used in Naval Applications

Dr. Ting Lu, University of Illinois
Developing Designer Probiotic Cocktails to Reduce Foodborne Illness among Warfighters

Dr. Michael Lynch, Duke University
Sustainable Biological Production of Energetic Materials

Dr. Jianguo Mei, Purdue University
Liquefying Organic Semiconductors

Dr. Yigit Menguc, Oregon State University
Soft Marine Robotics with Cephalopod-Inspired Dynamic Motion Primitives and Electroactive Fluidic Sensing and Actuation

Dr. Nader Motee, Lehigh University
Risk is New Robustness: A Systemic Perspective

Dr. Jeremy Munday, University of Maryland
Novel Optoelectronic Materials for Hot Carrier Effects

Dr. Cristopher Niell, University of Oregon
Large-scale neural circuits underlying skilled task performance

Dr. Shyue Ping Ong, University of California, San Diego
Hierarchical First Principles Methods for the Design of Heterogeneous Solid-Solid Interfaces

Dr. Volkan Ortalan, Purdue University
Investigation of Dynamic Processes in Energetic Materials by Ultrafast Transmission Electron Microscopy at the Nanoscale

Dr. Devi Parikh, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University
Visual Question Answering (VQA)

Dr. Vishal Patel, Rutgers University
Structured Sparse and Low-Rank Representations for Multimodal Recognition

Dr. Barry Rand, Princeton University
Understanding processing and device function of metal halide perovskite thin film solar cells

Dr. David Richter, University of Notre Dame
Fate, transport, and feedback of spray and aerosols in the marine atmospheric boundary layer

Dr. Jeffrey Rinehart, University of California - San Diego
Colloidally-synthesized heterostructured nanomaterials for smaller, stronger, more efficient computing components

Dr. Ozgur Sahin, Columbia University
Biologically inspired architectures for evaporation-driven active materials

Dr. Elaine Shi, Cornell University
SHinE: Secure Hardware in Effect

Dr. Michael Shields, Johns Hopkins University
Efficient stochastic simulation-based computational modeling for structural design, reliability, and life-cycle assessment

Dr. Nathaniel Stern, Northwestern University
Multi-Dimensional Control in Laterally-Confined Atomically-Thin Nanostructures

Dr. Kunihiko Taira, Florida State University
Interaction of active flow control and global instability

Dr. Bozhi Tian, University of Chicago
A silicon-based extracellular matrix for understanding three-dimensional dynamics in biofilms

Dr. Xiaodong Yang, Missouri University of Science and Technology
Negative Optical Torque Generation in Plasmonic and Dielectric Metasurfaces

Dr. Nanfang Yu, Columbia University
Phase-Change Correlated Perovskites as a New Platform for Photonics

Dr. Tamer Zaki, Johns Hopkins University
Augmentation and Integration of Measurements and Simulation Data in Heterogeneous Environments