NSF CAREER Awards

The NSF Career Awards are highly selective grants to new faculty members that are believed to become the academic leaders of the future. CAREER awardees are selected on the basis of creative career development plans that effectively integrate research and education within the context of the mission of their institution and build the foundation for a lifetime of contributions to their discipline. Listed below are our current NSF Career award winners:

• Matthew Mench (2006) - Mench’s research project “Sensors for Quantification of Degradation in Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells” will develop a new class of advanced degradation sensors for polymer electrolyte fuel cells.  Many complex systems, including fuel cells, suffer gradual degradation that can result in catastrophic failure.  Because the time scale of degradation is relatively slow, these types of anomalous faults are nearly impossible to detect at an early stage with conventional sensing technology.  A novel approach will be used to enable early detection and quantification of potentially catastrophic evolving faults in polymer electrolyte fuel cells.    The methodology to achieve this sensing capability is heuristically similar to an electrocardiogram, in which the time series data of a patient’s heart response to external stress is used to rapidly diagnose ailments that have evolved over many years.    The sensors developed will enable nearly imperceptible slow time scale anomalies to be directly quantified in a rapid time scale, well before significant degradation occurs, greatly extending service availability, performance, and enabling a more aggressive initial design.
  

• Aman Haque (2006) - Aman's research project titled "In-situ Monitoring of Opto-electro-mechanical Responses of Single Cells to External Stimuli using MEMS" will investigate how individual biological cells react to mechanical (coupled normal and shear forces) and bio-chemical (pH level and epsilon toxin) stimuli. The approach is to monitor their mechanical, electrical and bio-chemical responses, in-situ, by combining fluorescence/confocal microscopy with novel micro-electro-mechanical testing devices. The simultaneously qualitative (direct visualization) and quantitative (real-time measurement of force, displacement and bio-impedance) data on the mechanical and chemical assays will enable research in two unexplored areas: (i) cellular structural and adhesion mechanics under more realistic, combined normal and shear loading and (ii) relationship between cell health and its electrical impedance. 
  
  
• Kendra Sharp (2004) - Kendra's research will focus on the consequences and science behind particle effects and particle transport in pressure-driven and electrokinetic microfluidic systems. Microfluidic systems consist of individual or networked channels and components, typically on the sub-millimeter scale. Given the continued trends towards miniaturization within the science and engineering community, the particle-laden flows which are the focus of the current project are expected to gain importance in the areas of particle-based assays, particulate handling, and micro/nano-fabrication applications.
  
  
• Eric Mockensturm - Eric's research will center on the dynamics of flexible webs. A "web" is any thin, wide, flexible material that is tensioned and transported during processing. Web handling systems are used in the production of many products, including paper, magnetic and optical tapes, fabric, photographic film, plastic wrap, sandpaper and diapers. A better understanding of web processing mechanics will help manufacturers produce everyday products more economically.
  
  
• Timothy Simpson - Tim's research will focus on the product family and product platform optimization. He will study how three Pennsylvania companies-Durametal Corporation, Flowserve Corporation, and Ivalo Lighting-design families of products based on a common set of component's known as a product platform. He will then develop computer models that determine the best set of common and unique components within a product family.
  
  
• Stephen Piazza - Steve's grant will be used to develop musculosketal computer models to analyze the function of healthy and diseased human feet and ankles. The project, which will be conducted at the Center for Locomotion Studies, will also introduce undergraduate students-particularly those from groups underrepresented in higher education-to research and career opportunities in biomechanics.