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April 23, 1999
Nine young Purdue faculty earn NSF grants
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Nine Purdue University scientists and engineers are among 338
nationwide who are working on projects funded by a federal program designed to encourage
them early in their careers.
The 1998 Faculty Early Career Development Program grants range from $200,000 to $500,000
over four or five years. They are awarded by the National Science Foundation to junior-level
faculty to emphasize the importance of integrating research and education activities in academic careers.
The Purdue awardees are:
Carla Brodley, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering, for research
on machine learning issues -- including knowledge discovery and "data mining" techniques,
which use computers to discern patterns of data from huge amounts of seemingly unrelated information. Brodley is applying these techniques to a wide range of uses,
including computer security, improving the accuracy of vegetation maps of Earth,
locating volcanoes on Venus, and content-based image retrieval for medical use. An
article on her work appeared in the January-February issue of American Scientist.
Alan Friedman, assistant professor of biological sciences, for work to determine
how the major molecules responsible for genetic regulation in bacteria control their
activities. The expression of genes in bacteria and higher organisms is determined
by control of the initiation and termination of the transcription of DNA into RNA. Friedman
is studying the termination of transcription in organisms adapted to grow under extreme
conditions. Such organisms produce proteins with enhanced stability and other favorable properties for study by the methods of biophysics and X-ray crystallography.
Miriam Hasson, assistant professor of biological sciences, for the study of enzyme
mechanism and evolution in the family of enzymes that utilize the cofactor thiamin
diphosphate, also known as vitamin B1. Hasson and her group use X-ray crystallography,
site-directed mutagenesis and enzymology to understand what is important in accomplishing
catalysis. She teaches a laboratory course to undergraduates to acquaint them with
the exploration of protein structures on the Internet.
Sabre Kais, assistant professor of chemistry, for work in the area of theoretical
chemical physics. Kais' proposal outlines three related projects aimed at developing
a single approach to perform accurate calculations at the lowest computational cost
for electronic structure properties of atoms, molecules and clusters.
Jochen Lauterbach, assistant professor of chemical engineering, for studies of the
dynamics of automotive exhaust catalysis using novel imaging methods. His research
aims to identify periodic phenomena that occur on catalysts because of nonlinear
coupling of effects due to features such as surface heterogeneity or site diversity. This
research involves chemical reactions that are important in areas such as catalysis,
semiconductor manufacturing, and biological and polymeric coating deposition. Lauterbach
also is working to renew chemical engineering laboratory courses with experiments
in surface chemistry, catalysis, nanoscale mechanics, polymer engineering, holography
and optical engineering.
Patricia LiWang, assistant professor of chemistry, for investigation of the unique
structural properties of a family of proteins called chemokines, which are essential
in the human immune response. There are two chemokine subfamilies, each with a totally different quaternary structure, which is rare within protein families. LiWang is
investigating the individual amino acid interactions that cause the different structures.
Her group also is designing changes in a representative member of each subfamily
to cause its structure to transform into the structure type of the other subfamily.
Jens Palsberg,
associate professor of computer science, for research that focuses on type systems
and secure information flow systems for object-oriented software. The results of
his work may help make Web-based commerce safer, make wireless connections for laptop
computers more secure, and make mission-critical networks more safely reconfigurable and
survivable.
Daniel Raftery, assistant professor of chemistry, for his work in the area of environmental
catalysis, a field that addresses the need for more effective strategies for pollution
prevention. His research focuses on developing new and advanced tools to study promising methods for the neutralization of environmentally toxic species. For
example, light-activated catalytic surfaces can cause the degradation of volatile
organic compounds, which he can study at a molecular level.
Bin Yao, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, for the design and implementation
of intelligent high-performance control algorithms for complex mechanical systems
and manufacturing process to address industrial needs for high productivity and high-quality products. His research focuses on combing feedback mechanisms with various
learning techniques. Current application areas include the control of electro-hydraulic
systems, precision control of electro-mechanical systems such as high-speed linear motor drive systems, and the use of smart actuators and sensors for precision motion
control and the control of flexible structures.
Sources: Carla Brodley, (765) 494-0635, brodley@ecn.purdue.edu
Alan Friedman, (765) 494-5911, afried@bilbo.bio.purdue.edu
Miriam Hasson, (765) 496-2928, miriam.s.hasson.1@purdue.edu
Sabre Kais, (765) 494-5965, kais@power1.chem.purdue.edu
Jochen Lauterbach, (765) 494-4076, jochen@ecn.purdue.edu
Patricia LiWang, (765) 494-8519, liwang@chem.purdue.edu
Jens Palsberg, (765) 494-6012, palsberg@cs.purdue.edu
Michael Raftery, (765) 494-6070, raftery@chem.purdue.edu
Bin Yao, (765) 494-0634, yaob@ecn.purdue.edu
Writer: Susan Gaidos, (765) 494-2081, susan_gaidos@purdue.edu
Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; e-mail, purduenews@purdue.edu
NOTE TO JOURNALISTS: Black and white feature photos of all nine researchers are available from the Purdue News Service ftp site.
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