The White House has announced that three Georgia Tech professors are recipients of 2004 Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the nation's highest honor for promising young researchers within their areas of research. Fifty-eight researchers total were honored Jun. 13 in a ceremony presided over by John H. Marburger III, science advisor to the President, and director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.

The Georgia Tech recipients are Ali Adibi, an associate professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering; David V. Anderson, an assistant professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering; and William King, an assistant professor in the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering.

The Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers, established in 1996, honors the most promising beginning researchers in the nation within their fields. Eight federal departments and agencies annually nominate scientists and engineers at the start of their careers whose work shows exceptional promise for leadership at the frontiers of scientific knowledge during the twenty-first century. Participating agencies award these beginning scientists and engineers up to five years of funding to further their research in support of critical government missions.

Adibi was nominated by the Department of Defense for his research contributions to optical storage by exploring two-center holographic recordings and his contributions to chip-scale all-optical information processing modules by exploring wavelength crystals and nanophotonic approaches.

Anderson was nominated by the National Science Foundation (NSF) for pioneering the design of embedded signal processing and control systems that perform significant processing in analog as well as digital circuits. This research in cooperative analog-digital processing is enabling potential advances in low-power embedded systems and smart sensors, such as assistive devices for the hearing-impaired. Anderson's work is being integrated into an online master's design program and into outreach courses for practicing engineers and system designers from industry.

King was nominated by Sandia National Laboratories, a Department of Energy National Nuclear Security Administration Defense Programs Laboratory, for his work on heat transfer and thermomechanical processing at micrometer - and nanometer - length scales, and for his innovations in nanomanufacturing. The award recognizes the importance of his research for homeland defense and nuclear security, as well as for the impact his work has had on the commercialization of nanotechnology.

About the Office of Science and Technology Policy
Congress established OSTP in 1976 with a broad mandate to advise the President and others within the Executive Office of the President on the impacts of science and technology on domestic and international affairs. The 1976 Act also authorizes OSTP to lead an interagency effort to develop and to implement sound science and technology policies and budgets and to work with the private sector, state and local governments, the science and higher education communities, and other nations toward this end. The Director of OSTP serves as co-chair of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and oversees the National Science and Technology Council on behalf of the President. For more information visit www.ostp.gov.