The Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Award is the National Science Foundation's most prestigious award in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization.
Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering
Nirupam Aich, PhD, is an assistant professor of environmental engineering in the Department of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering. His research focuses on developing safer-by-design multifunctional nanomaterials for environmental remediation, pollution prevention, and water treatment. In addition, he evaluates the environmental and human health implications of emerging contaminants, nanomaterials, and nano-enabled products including electronic wastes. In recognition of the importance of his emerging research, Aich received the 2019 Emerging Investigator Award from the Sustainable Nanotechnology Organization and the National Research Council Postdoctoral Research Associateship Award in 2015. In 2022, he received a prestigious National Science Foundation CAREER Award to develop a novel filtration system using 3D printed nanomaterials that can effectively treat water contaminated by per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
Assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, Danial Faghihi’s, PhD, research focuses on predictive multiscale computational modeling of complex materials and biological systems. In particular, he develops modern algorithms to exploit large-scale data to enhance the predictive ability of computational models. He has published 32 journal articles in the area of computational and applied mechanics. Faghihi received a National Science Foundation CAREER award to design superinsulation materials systems for use in buildings via data-driven predictive computational tools. This work aims to increase the use of safer and more efficient insulation materials, significantly reducing energy consumption and carbon dioxide emission and positively impacting human wellbeing and national economic competitiveness.
Department of Computer Science and Engineering
Kenneth Joseph, PhD, assistant professor of computer science and engineering, is an emerging scholar in computational social science. His research focuses on obtaining a better understanding of the dynamics and cognitive representations of stereotypes and prejudice and their interrelationships with sociocultural structure and behavior. His work leverages a variety of computational methods, including machine learning/natural language processing and various forms of simulation, and integrates these methods with socio-cognitive theories. He is the recipient of an NSF CAREER Award, which will support his work in developing new measures of Americans’ views on racial inequality; identifying and correlating these views in peoples’ identities, locations and social networks; and developing strategies to counter misinformed views and their implications.
Department of Materials Design and Innovation
Baishakhi Mazumder, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of Materials Design and Innovation, performs research on atomic scale structure-chemistry of materials through atom probe tomography, with the aim of improving electrical conductivity in ultrawide band gap semiconductors. Her research has the potential to improve the performance of a wide range of consumer electronics and appliances, all-electric and hybrid-electric vehicles, and extraction and conversion of renewable energy sources by saving energy, which significantly reduces costs, and ultimately benefits both the economy and the environment. In 2022, Mazumder received a National Science Foundation CAREER Award to support her innovative work in atomic scale chemical imaging and its application to addressing fundamental challenges to study the role of defects in complex materials.
