AMES, Iowa – Three Iowa State researchers are being honored with the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.
The Iowa State honorees are Soumik Sarkar, a professor of mechanical engineering and director of Iowa State's Translational AI Center; Dipali Sashital, a professor in the Roy J. Carver Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology; and Zengyi Shao, the Hershel B. Whitney Professor, Global Initiatives in Chemical and Biological Engineering.
The award (known as PECASE) is the government's highest honor for scientists and engineers who are early in their careers, according to a White House announcement. The president honored nearly 400 researchers with the award this year.
"The award recognizes innovative and far-reaching developments in science and technology, expands awareness of careers in science and engineering, recognizes the scientific missions of participating agencies, enhances connections between research and impacts on society, and highlights the importance of science and technology for our nation's future," according to the announcement.
Here's more about Iowa State's winners, who are all being honored for their work supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation:
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Soumik Sarkar: Sarkar's research vision is to build artificial intelligence tools for safe, sustainable, high-performing cyber-physical systems, with applications spanning energy, transportation, manufacturing and agriculture.
"I am deeply honored to receive the PECASE award and to share this recognition with the incredible network of support that made it possible – my students, collaborators, colleagues, mentors, friends and family. This award inspires me and my group to continue pushing the boundaries of knowledge and exploring the potential of deploying AI solutions in engineered systems safely and responsibly to address critical societal challenges."
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Dipali Sashital: Sashital's lab studies bacterial defense systems that have been adapted for genome editing. The goal is to discover the fundamental mechanisms underlying how bacteria acquire and maintain immunity, and to ensure that CRISPR genome-editing tools can be used safely and effectively.
"It is an enormous honor to be selected for the PECASE, and to be included in such an amazing group of scientists. All of the success in our lab is due to our amazing graduate and undergraduate students, both current and former, and to the wonderful, supportive environment in the (biochemistry, biophysics and molecular biology) department and at Iowa State."
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Zengyi Shao: Shao's research group is delving into the functional genomics of high-performing microbial species possessing distinctive biochemical and biomedical potentials. Leveraging these rapidly proliferating testbeds, the group aspires to unravel essential cellular processes and unveil fundamental mechanisms employing synthetic biology strategies.
"I am deeply honored to be one of the recipients of the PECASE award and wish to express my sincere gratitude for the unwavering support from my colleagues at ISU, the SynBio community, as well as from my PhD advisor, mentors, collaborators, friends and family. I am also grateful to former and present students and postdocs of my group. Their diligence and dedication have not only enriched my professional path but also offered invaluable strength in overcoming numerous research challenges."
