American Institute of Chemical Engineers honors two MIT researchers
In a ceremony during its Annual Meeting in Philadelphia, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) presented awards to 14 leaders and innovators in the chemical engineering field, including two from MIT.
Institute Professor Robert Langer was presented the AIChE's highest honor, the Founder's Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Field of Chemical Engineering. Michael S. Strano, the Charles (1951) and Hilda Roddey Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering, received the Allan P. Colburn Award for Excellence in Publications by a Young Member of the Institute.
MIT Portugal professor wins Crioestaminal Prize
Lino Ferreira, an MIT Portugal Program bioengineering faculty member and a former MIT postdoctoral fellow, has received the prestigious Crioestaminal Prize. Since 2005, the prize has been awarded in recognition of the best biomedical basic research project carried out in Portugal each year.
Ferreira was honored for the work his laboratory is conducting with human embryonic stem cells. Specifically, Ferreira is in the early stages of developing new stem cell therapies to regenerate cardiac muscle in individuals who have survived a heart attack; also, therapies to prevent the heart muscle deterioration that is a hallmark of this pathology. The project is scheduled to continue for the next four years.
MIT scientist, professor win postdoctoral grants
The Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation recently selected Jesse Kroll, a visiting scientist in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and Stephen J. Lippard, the Arthur Amos Noyes Professor in the Department of Chemistry, as award recipients to the Postdoctoral Program in Environmental Chemistry. The award provides $120,000 over two years to leading environmental chemistry faculty to appoint a Postdoctoral Fellow.
Architecture professor wins $10K
Department of Architecture Professor Joan Jonas was one of five recipients of the Francis J. Greenburger Awards, which were presented on Nov. 17. The $10,000 award honors artists who have made important contributions to the fields of contemporary art, but for one reason or another have not been fully recognized by the world at large
Swager wins John Scott Award
Timothy M. Swager, the John D. MacArthur Professor and head of the Department of Chemistry, has been selected to receive the 2008 John Scott Award. This award is given to the most-deserving men and women whose inventions have contributed in some outstanding way to the "comfort, welfare and happiness" of mankind.
MIT scientists win Air Force grants
Two MIT researchers have been named among the 39 recent recipients of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research's Young Investigators Research Program award. Lalana Kagal, a research scientist in the Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, and Paulo Lozano, an assistant professor in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, will both receive a $100,000 a year grant for three years to conduct basic research in their fields.
SolSource garners award from Clinton initiative
Members of the SolSource Tibet project, which won last year's MIT IDEAS competition and aims to develop a solar cooker and heater which could be distributed in the remote Himalayan regions of China, won a $5,000 award through the Clinton Global Initiative University, a new project of the Clinton Global Initiative that challenges college students and universities to address global problems with practical, innovative solutions.
DCM director wins AALAS honor
James Fox, the director of the Division of Comparative Medicine and a professor in the Department of Biological Engineering, received the 2008 Charles A. Griffin Award from the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science (AALAS). The award is presented for outstanding accomplishments in the improvement of care and quality of animals used in biologic and medical research.
A version of this article appeared in MIT Tech Talk on December 3, 2008 (download PDF).
