Five finalists have been chosen for the first APS Prize for Industrial Applications of Physics, launched this year. Sponsored by General Motors and presented biennially, the Prize recognizes cutting-edge technologies, especially by physicists working in smaller companies.
The finalists are:
Jason Ensher and Susan Hunter
InPhase Technologies
For: Applying tunable External Cavity Laser Diodes (ECLDs) to holographic data storage
Andrew McDowell
ABQMR
For: Developing the first hand-held detector capable of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy of hydrogen
Roy Rand
Imatron
For: Contributing to the development of an innovative cardiac CT scanner
Richard Ruby, John Larson and Paul Bradley
Avago Technologies
For: Developing filters and duplexers using FBAR (free standing bulk acoustic resonator) technology
Philip Wyatt
Wyatt Technology Company
For: Pioneering the commercialization of laser light scattering (LLS), a method with much practical benefit for both the chemical and pharmaceutical industries
More information:
Industrial Prize Finalists
Industrial Prize Criteria
WASHINGTON, June 30—A team of researchers at the Ocean University of China has developed and tested a mobile lidar (light detection and ranging) station that can accurately measure wind speed and direction over large areas in real time -- an application useful for aviation safety, weather forecasting and sports.
As described in the July 1 issue of the journal Optics Letters, published by the Optical Society, the mobile lidar station can measure wind fields more accurately, which could help world-class athletes compete in international competitions, such as the Olympics. Ocean University is in Qingdao, which is hosting the sailing competitions of the XXIX Olympic Games and the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games, and this technique is being tested in conjunction with the event.
"Wind is non-uniform even in a small sailing field," says Professor Zhi-Shen Liu of the Key Laboratory of Ocean Remote Sensing, Ministry of Education of China, Ocean University of China, who led the research. "Athletes could maximize their performances if they have the most accurate information to help them capture the wind."
In Olympic sailing, individual competitors or teams of athletes sail various classes of sailboats in timed trials over a single course. The contest requires them to navigate upwind, downwind and everything in between. Their final time depends on numerous factors, including the boat design, the skill of the sailors, course difficulty and ocean currents. Perhaps the most important factor, though, is how well the athletes can harness the wind that fills their sails.
Because wind constantly changes speed and direction, athletes and coaches hope to have the best information at the start of a run. On cloudy, rainy days, the standard meteorological tool of Doppler radar can accurately provide wind field information. When no clouds are present, however, Doppler radar is ineffective. The best wind data on clear days comes from ocean buoys and land stations that use wind cups and ultrasonic anemometers to measure wind speed.
In the Qingdao sailing area, where this summer's competitions will take place, only four buoys, one boat and one tower are available to measure sea surface winds within a competition area of approximately 10 square kilometers.
Liu and his lidar group, composed of research scientists and graduate students, have been working with an optical remote sensing technology called Doppler lidar, which they are applying for weather and environmental research. Lidar works by scattering laser beams off atmospheric aerosols or molecules. Doppler lidar takes advantage of the fact that when these aerosols or molecules are moving in the wind, the scattered laser light changes frequency -- the same way an approaching car has a higher pitched sound than a car driving away.
The advantage of Doppler lidar, says Liu, is that it can quickly sample a large area, providing a much finer map of winds than buoys alone. He and his group have developed a lidar bus, which can move equipment to the experiment field conveniently.
Last year, they successfully tested their new bus at the 2007 Qingdao International Regatta sailing event. They moved the bus to the seashore near the sailing field, and made a horizontal scan over the sea surface, making the measurement in real time and then uploading the data to the local meteorological station every 10 minutes. They envision a similar effort in the upcoming Olympic and Paralympic games.
The research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Key Laboratory of Ocean Remote Sensing, the Ministry of Education of China and the China Meteorological Administration (CMA).
Paper: "A high spatial and temporal resolution mobile incoherent Doppler lidar for sea surface wind measurements" by Zhi-Shen Liu et al., Optics Letters, Vol. 33, No. 13, July 1, 2008 p. 1485-1487. For a copy of the paper, please contact Angela Stark, astark@osa.org or 202.416.1443.
About OSA
Uniting more than 70,000 professionals from 134 countries, the Optical Society (OSA) brings together the global optics community through its programs and initiatives. Since 1916 OSA has worked to advance the common interests of the field, providing educational resources to the scientists, engineers and business leaders who work in the field by promoting the science of light and the advanced technologies made possible by optics and photonics. OSA publications, events, technical groups and programs foster optics knowledge and scientific collaboration among all those with an interest in optics and photonics. For more information, visit www.osa.org.
Contact:
Angela Stark
Optical Society
202.416.1443
astark@osa.org
Jason Socrates Bardi
American Institute of Physics
301.209.3091
jbardi@aip.org
VANCOUVER, BC (June 17, 2008) – TRIUMF, Canada’s national laboratory for particle and nuclear physics, today announced the appointment of Lia Merminga as the new Head of its Accelerator Division. This role is one of Canada’s most senior scientific posts. With over twenty years of experience in accelerator physics, Merminga is a well respected and preeminent physicist in the international scientific and research community.
“We are delighted to have a physicist of Lia’s stature join our team. Her appointment will help TRIUMF build on our international reputation of pioneering scientific discovery and groundbreaking innovation,” says Nigel Lockyer, Director of TRIUMF. “Lia’s choice to join TRIUMF is a perfect demonstration of TRIUMF’s ability to attract the world’s best scientists to do research here in Canada. Lia is a brilliant physicist, and her experience and leadership will be a huge asset not just to our facility, but also to the advancement of Canadian science.”
Merminga is widely recognized for expertise in identifying problems and solutions associated with the push for higher energy, higher quality accelerator beams, and developing concepts for new accelerators. Merminga has also been recognized for maintaining and establishing collaborative teams for sophisticated national and international projects. At TRIUMF, she will be leading the Accelerator Division, which is the foundation of TRIUMF’s scientific excellence in nuclear physics and life-sciences technology.
“The excellence and dedication of the TRIUMF staff, the laboratory’s past accomplishments, and the vision for future directions are all elements that strongly attracted me. TRIUMF is the top lab for me to conduct my research and I’m looking forward to leading some of the world’s best researchers,” states Merminga. “Here, I can play a role in seeding new high-technology companies and in developing new accelerator techniques that could even be used for medical-isotope production – for me, it’s a very exciting time.”
Previously, Merminga worked as the Director of the Centre for Advanced Studies of Accelerators (CASA) at the Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility (Jefferson Lab) in Virginia, USA. Merminga was also responsible for establishing practices that supported and helped expand Jefferson Lab’s strong program of mentorship and training.
About Lia Merminga:
Lia Merminga grew up in Greece. She began her career as a scientist at Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC). Merminga moved to the East Coast in 1992, joining Jefferson Lab as a Staff Scientist. She was Deputy Director of CASA from 2001 to 2002 and accepted the role of Director in May 2002. Merminga holds a B.S. from the University of Athens in Greece. She also holds a M.Sc. in physics, M.Sc. in mathematics and Ph.D. in physics, all from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Merminga has worked in advanced accelerator physics for 20 years, specializing in the physics and technology of energy recovery linear accelerators (linacs), high average power free-electron laser , linac-ring colliders, multibunch instabilities in recirculating linacs, radio-frequency (RF) control and modeling, and nonlinear dynamics. She is internationally known for her contributions to the designs of potential applications of energy recovery linacs. She has taught courses at the U.S. Particle Accelerator School and is a fellow of the American Physical Society.
About TRIUMF:
TRIUMF is Canada’s national laboratory for particle and nuclear physics. Based in Vancouver, the facility is a world–class physics research laboratory. TRIUMF hosts scientists from around the globe who conduct fundamental research in advanced materials, life sciences, particle and nuclear physics to understand the building blocks of our world. TRIUMF is funded by a contribution via the National Research Council Canada, support from the Province of British Columbia, and commercialization of research at the facility. It is jointly operated by seven Canadian universities, University of Alberta, University of British Columbia, Carleton University, l’Université de Montréal, Simon Fraser University, University of Toronto, University of Victoria. See: http://www.triumf.ca.
The Optical Society (OSA) is pleased to announce that based on "impact factor," or the number of citations compared to the number of papers published, its journals Optics Letters and Optics Express are the most heavily cited journals in optics and photonics. According to the 2007 Journal Citation Report®, the Thomson Reuters rankings for journal citations, these two publications received the highest impact factor rankings of all optics journals. Optics Letters was the first ranked journal, followed by Optics Express. Thomson Reuters announces these rankings annually, and they serve as an industry standard in gauging the notability of research published in peer-reviewed journals.
OSA publishes three other journals that ranked in the top 20 overall. These include Journal of the Optical Society of America B (10), Journal of the Optical Society of America A (15) and Applied Optics (17). The Journal of Lightwave Technology (9) is co-published with the IEEE. The rankings in the optics category evaluate a total of 64 journals, up from 56 in the category last year.
“ISI rankings validate the impact OSA’s journals have on the field,” said Rod C. Alferness, president, OSA. “Year after year, our journals lead the field in providing critical, high-quality, peer-reviewed research, and based on the citations of the papers published, it’s clear that the community looks to them to set the standard of excellence. We are proud to provide these important resources and to deliver unparalleled technical content to those in optics and photonics.”
The Journal Citation Report provides quantitative tools for ranking, evaluating, categorizing and comparing journals. Created by ISI®, the impact factor is one of these tools; it is a measure of the frequency with which the "average article" in a journal has been cited in a particular year or period. The annual Journal Citation Report impact factor is a ratio between citations and recent citable items published. Thus, the impact factor of a journal is calculated by dividing the number of current year citations to the source items published in that journal during the previous two years.
These impact factor rankings have become an increasingly important tool for librarians and educators in the last several years as a way to differentiate between many journals on the same subject. The rankings are often used to select which journals to include in library collections and to assist in academic evaluation of researchers.
About OSA
Uniting more than 70,000 professionals from 134 countries, the Optical Society (OSA) brings together the global optics community through its programs and initiatives. Since 1916 OSA has worked to advance the common interests of the field, providing educational resources to the scientists, engineers and business leaders who work in the field by promoting the science of light and the advanced technologies made possible by optics and photonics. OSA publications, events, technical groups and programs foster optics knowledge and scientific collaboration among all those with an interest in optics and photonics. For more information, visit www.osa.org.
About Thomson Reuters
Thomson Reuters is the world’s leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals. We combine industry expertise with innovative technology to deliver critical information to leading decision makers in the financial, legal, tax and accounting, scientific, healthcare and media markets, powered by the world’s most trusted news organization. With headquarters in New York and major operations in London and Eagan, Minnesota, Thomson Reuters employs more than 50,000 people in 93 countries. For more information, go to www.thomsonreuters.com.
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The AIP Center for History of Physics announces that the center's director, Spencer Weart, will retire in January 2009, and will be replaced by Gregory Good.
Gregory Good received a B.S. in physics from St. Vincent College (Latrobe, PA) in 1974, and a Ph.D in history of science from the University of Toronto, Canada in 1982. He is currently associate professor, director of graduate studies, and chair of the history department at West Virginia University. His historical interests include the history of physics and of the earth sciences in the 19th and 20th centuries, in particular questions of disciplinary identities, shifting research programs, and diverse commitments (social, institutional, and political). Among his published works is "The Earth, the Heavens and the Carnegie Institution of Washington" (1994). He has served as editor of the two‑volume "Sciences of the Earth" encyclopedia.
"There are a lot of disciplinary history centers, and I plan to work with all the ones I can, and even to work with ones that may seem counterintuitive," said Good. "One thing I hope to do is to have the history center function as a physical meeting place." He also hopes to reach out to D.C. area universities to coordinate programs and projects with historians of science at those universities, and also throughout the Mid‑Atlantic region.
Spencer Weart received a B.A. in physics from Cornell in 1963 and a Ph.D. in physics & astrophysics from the University of Colorado in 1968.
After postdoctoral terms at Caltech (solar physics) and the University of California, Berkeley (history of science) he became the director of the center for history of physics in 1974. He has published a variety of works including "Nuclear Fear: A History of Images" (1988) and "The Discovery of Global Warming" (2003, revised edition in press). In his retirement he plans to continue to write historical works and to assist in the growth of the history center's website.
In honor of Weart's 35 years of contributions to the history of science, the Avenir Foundation made a gift of three million dollars to endow the Spencer R. Weart Directorship of the Center for History of Physics. This is the largest gift ever given to AIP and establishes the first endowed position at the Institute. "With support like this from our friends," Weart says, "the new director will be taking the history center in exciting new directions."
About the Center
AIP's Center for History of Physics and Niels Bohr Library & Archives work
together with partners around the world for a better understanding of the human side of physics and allied sciences such as astronomy and geophysics. Established in 1965, the Center helps to preserve the history of physics and allied fields and to make that history better known. Through documentation programs, archival collections and educational initiatives, they help ensure that the heritage of modern physics is safeguarded and its story accurately told. See http://www.aip.org/history/
Trieste, June 16, 2008 - The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) takes pleasure in announcing the award of the 2008 ICTP Prize in honour of Pierre-Gilles de Gennes jointly to Professor Abhishek Dhar, Theoretical Physics Group, Raman Research Institute, Bangalore, India, and to Professor Zhong Fang, Center for Quantum Simulation Sciences, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, People's Republic of China.
Abhishek Dhar is being honoured for "his outstanding contributions to non-equilibrium statistical mechanics of transport and fluctuation phenomena, classical as well as quantum mechanical. His exact and insightful results have clarified subtle issues, and corrected several misconceptions, specially about heat conduction."
Zhong Fang is being recognized for "his theoretical and computational work on the origin of anomalous Hall effect and for his significant contributions to the understanding of spin and
orbital physics in transition metal oxides."
The ICTP Prize was established in 1982 to recognize outstanding and original contributions of young scientists, no more than forty years of age, working in developing countries. The prize is awarded annually in honour of an eminent scientist and includes a sculpture, certificate and cash award.
Pierre-Gilles de Gennes (1932-2007), in whose honour the 2008 ICTP Prize is being awarded, was one of the most influential theoretical physicists of his time. His work spanned a wide variety of subjects in condensed matter theory and statistical physics. He was awarded
the 1991 Nobel Prize in Physics "for discovering that methods developed for studying order phenomena in simple systems can be generalized to more complex forms of matter, in particular to liquid crystals and polymer".
For additional information, see: http://prizes.ictp.it/prizes/Prize
New York, NY, June 12, 2008 ─ J. Richard Bond, PhD, director of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research Cosmology and Gravity Program (University of Toronto), is the recipient of the 2008 Cosmology Prize of the Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation in affiliation with the International Astronomical Union. He is being honored for groundbreaking theoretical work on structure formation and evolution of the universe.
“Professor Bond's work has provided the theoretical framework to interpret the observed inhomogeneities in the fossil radiation left over from the early stages of expansion of the Universe ─ the Big Bang,” as stated in the official citation. His research “has helped us understand the transition from the nearly featureless early Universe to the wonderfully structured world of galaxies, stars and planets today.”
Bond will receive the Gruber Cosmology Prize in September, 2008, at the Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass. The prize consists of a gold medal and $500,000.
At the same time, Dr. Karen L. Masters, a young researcher at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, will be recognized as the 2008 recipient of a $50,000 grant through the PPGF Fellowship Programme, an annual fellowship sponsored by the IAU and the Gruber Foundation.
“When Dick Bond got into this field, we had ideas about how the galaxies formed but little evidence to back them up. Dick pointed the way to measurements that greatly improved the evidence, and he showed how to analyze the measurements,” says Philip James E. Peebles, PhD, Albert Einstein Professor of Science and professor emeritus of physics at Princeton University. “Thanks to him we now have a tightly checked theory of the evolution of our expanding universe.” Peebles was one of two recipients who received the inaugural Gruber Cosmology Prize in 2000.
Bond’s approach to cosmological questions combines a unique blend of original theory and full involvement in the observations made by experimental teams. He has helped usher the field through three decades of what has been described as its “golden age.” Bond is known for solving outstanding and important problems through detailed and thorough calculations and comparisons with observation. Many of the ground and space-based telescopes that are sending an avalanche of data back to earth today are doing so thanks to the work of Bond and his collaborators. Especially influential have been Bond's theoretical ideas on the nature and behavior of the dark matter that holds galaxies together; the “cosmic web” paradigm for structure formation from the nonlinear dynamics of random density fields; the distribution and state of gas; the evolution of quantum fluctuations from inflation in the early universe and how to probe them observationally. Much of the nomenclature and methodology was developed by Bond.
Working during the 1980s with George Efstathiou of Cambridge University, Bond theorized and developed detailed calculations to demonstrate that minute fluctuations in the cosmic background radiation (CBR), the photon afterglow of the Big Bang, would provide key clues to the fundamental cosmological parameters of shape, size, age and composition, in particular through the imprint of acoustic peaks and troughs on this “first light”. Bond and his colleagues at the Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics at the University of Toronto, where he is a University Professor and past director, developed an impressive array of statistical tools that became standards in the field to analyze increasingly complex CBR experiments.
Milestones in the analyses included unraveling the cosmic consequences for galaxy formation theories of the first detections of CBR fluctuations by the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite and a suite of pioneering experiments in the nineties. This was followed, in this decade, by the exquisite mapping of the CBR at increasingly high resolution by experiments exploiting powerful new detector technologies, including the balloon-borne Boomerang, the Cosmic Background Imager in Chile and the Arcminute Cosmology Bolometer Array Receiver at the South Pole, experiments on whose teams Bond played a key theoretical role. In accordance with the patterns first computed by Bond and Efstathiou, the maps showed that acoustic peaks exist, are viscously damped as the light is freed from matter, and that the escaping photons are polarized.
The analysis of the data supported most cosmologists' view that the universe is “flat,” and that it will expand forever instead of falling back on itself eons from now. At the same time, the analysis was used to reveal the age of the universe, how much ordinary matter and dark matter exist, and that the dominant component of the density is the mysterious dark energy which does not cluster as dark matter does, but drives a late-time inflation. Bond is now involved in several other major CBR projects, including the European Space Agency’s Planck satellite to be launched at the end of the year, the Spider balloon-borne telescope, and the Atacama Cosmology Telescope in Chile.
“What we must marvel at is how simple the universe appears to have been, characterized by a handful of fundamental cosmological parameters that we have now determined to good precision and will determine with very high precision with the new experiments,” Bond says.
“To be able to say that in the course of one’s career we’ve understood what the universe is made of and how all of the structure we can observe arose ─ profound philosophical questions all ─ certainly has been and will continue to be an exhilarating ride! What more could you want with a career? Well, we want to detect gravity waves generated in the first moments of the universe.” A ride that, clearly, is far from over.
The Cosmology Prize honors a leading cosmologist, astronomer, astrophysicist or scientific philosopher for theoretical, analytical or conceptual discoveries leading to fundamental advances in the field. Since 2001, the Cosmology Prize has been awarded in collaboration with the International Astronomical Union. The Foundation’s other international prizes are in Genetics, Neuroscience, Justice and Women’s Rights. Nominations for the 2009 prizes are now open and close on December 15, 2008.
Citation Information
The official citation reads: "The 2008 Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation Cosmology Prize is proudly presented to J. Richard Bond for his pioneering contributions to our understanding of the development of structures in the Universe.
"Professor Bond's work has provided the theoretical framework to interpret the observed inhomogeneities in the fossil radiation left over from the early stages of expansion of the Universe---the Big Bang. Professor Bond's research has helped us understand the transition from the nearly featureless early Universe to the wonderfully structured world of galaxies, stars and planets today."
Laureates of the Gruber Cosmology Prize:
2007: Saul Perlmutter and Brian Schmidt and their teams: the Supernova Cosmology Project and the High-z Supernova Search Team, for independently discovering that the expansion of the Universe is accelerating.
2006: John Mather and the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) Team for studies confirming that our universe was born in a hot Big Bang
2005: James E. Gunn for leading the design of a silicon-based camera for the Hubble Space Telescope and developing the original concept for the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
2004: Alan Guth and Andrei Linde for their roles in developing and refining the theory of cosmic inflation
2003: Rashid Alievich Sunyaev for his pioneering work on the nature of the cosmic microwave background and its interaction with intervening matter
2002: Vera Rubin for discovering that much of the Universe is unseen black matter, through her studies of the rotation of spiral galaxies
2001: Martin Rees for his extraordinary intuition in unraveling the complexities of the universe
2000: Allan R. Sandage and Phillip J. E. (Jim) Peebles: Sandage for pursuing the true values of the Hubble constant, the deceleration parameter and the age of the universe; Peebles for advancing our understanding of how energy and matter formed the rich patterns of galaxies observed today.
The Prize recipients are chosen by the Cosmology Selection Advisory
Board. Its members are:
Jacqueline Bergeron, Institut d'Astrophysique-CNRS; Peter Galison, Harvard University; Ronald Ekers, Australia Telescope National Facility - CSIRO; Andrei Linde, Stanford University; Julio F. Navarro, University of Victoria; James Peebles, Princeton University; Roger Penrose, University of Oxford.
Owen Gingerich of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, and Virginia Trimble of the University of California, Irvine, also serve as special cosmology advisors to the Foundation.
The Gruber Prize Program honors contemporary individuals in the fields of Cosmology, Genetics, Neuroscience, Justice and Women’s Rights, whose groundbreaking work provides new models that inspire and enable fundamental shifts in knowledge and culture. The Selection Advisory Boards choose individuals whose contributions in their respective fields advance our knowledge, potentially have a profound impact on our lives, and, in the case of the Justice and Women’s Rights Prizes, demonstrate courage and commitment in the face of significant obstacles.
The Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation honors and encourages educational excellence, social justice and scientific achievements that better the human condition. For more information about Foundation guidelines and priorities, please visit www.gruberprizes.org
Affiliation with International Astronomical Union:
In 2000, the Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation and the International Astronomical Union (IAU) announced an agreement by which the IAU provides its expertise and contacts with professional astronomers worldwide for the nomination and selection of Cosmology Prize winners. Under the agreement, the Peter Gruber Foundation also funds a fellowship program for young astronomers, with the aim of promoting the continued recruitment of new talent into the field. The International Astronomical Union, founded in 1919, is an organization of professional astronomers. It serves today a membership of more than 9,000 individual astronomers from 85 countries, worldwide. Information about the activities of the IAU is available from www.iau.org.
NOTE: Media materials and additional background information on the Gruber Prizes can be found at our online newsroom:www.gruberprizes.org/Press.php
La Grange Park, IL (June 10, 2008) - The American Nuclear Society (ANS) honored two nuclear professionals by bestowing on them the status of ANS Fellow during the Annual Meeting being held in Anaheim, California, June 8-12, 2008. These individuals have made significant accomplishments in the fields of nuclear science and engineering. The prestigious designation of ANS Fellow acknowledges the extraordinary leadership of nuclear professionals in different disciplines relating to research, invention, engineering, safety, technical leadership and teaching.
The ANS Fellows honored are:
Jacques Bouchard, a Special Advisor to the Chairman/CEO of Centre de Saclay, is being honored for his outstanding leadership in designing France's new strategy for future nuclear energy systems, which has deeply influenced the international GEN IV and GNEP initiatives. For outstanding contributions as Chair of the GEN IV International Forum, toward the sustainable development of nuclear energy worldwide, and for his essential contributions as President of the French Nuclear Society (SFEN) toward furthering the collaboration between the ANS and SFEN.
Kord S. Smith, the Vice President for Technical Development with Scandpower, Inc., is being honored for his significant fundamental contributions to reactor analysis methods in three dimensional core simulations. Many of his methods, particularly the analytic nodal method and nodal homogenization theory, are widely adopted in modern core analysis codes. His systematic implementation and successful commercialization of the methods advanced LWR core design methodology.
The Society’s highest honor was bestowed on Bouchard and Smith during the ANS Awards Luncheon today. A certificate of distinction is presented at the ANS Annual and Winter Meetings. Bouchard and Smith will join the elite group of people listed on the ANS webpage at www.ans.org/honors/fellows/.
ANS, established in 1954, is a professional organization of scientists and engineers devoted to the applications of nuclear science and technology. Its 11,000 members come from diverse technical disciplines ranging from physics and nuclear safety to operations and power, and from across the full spectrum of the national and international nuclear enterprise, including government, academia, research laboratories and private industry.
Tuesday, June 10: At today’s press conference in Hong Kong, The Shaw Prize Foundation announced The Shaw Laureates for 2008. Information was posted on the website www.shawprize.org at Hong Kong time 16:30 (GMT 08:30).
The Shaw Prize consists of three annual prizes: Astronomy, Life Science and Medicine, and Mathematical Sciences, each prize bearing a monetary award of one million US dollars. This will be the fifth year that the Prize has been awarded and the presentation ceremony is scheduled for Tuesday, September 9, 2008.
Details of the Shaw Laureates
Astronomy – awarded to Professor Reinhard Genzel, Managing Director of Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, Germany, in recognition of his outstanding contributions in demonstrating that the Milky Way contains a supermassive black hole at its centre.
Life Science and Medicine – awarded jointly to Sir Ian Wilmut, Chair and Director of Reproductive Biology, The Scottish Centre for Regenerative Medicine, University of Edinburg, UK, Professor Keith Campbell, Professor of Animal Development at the School of Biosciences, University of Nottingham, UK and Professor Shinya Yamanaka, Professor of the Institute for Frontier Medical Science, Kyoto University, Japan for their recent pivotal innovations in reversing the process of cell differentiation in mammals, a phenomenon which advances our knowledge of developmental biology and holds great promise for the treatment of human diseases and improvements in agriculture practices.
Mathematical Sciences – awarded jointly to Professor Ludwig Faddeev, Director of Euler International Mathematical Institute, Petersburg Department of Steklov Institute of Mathematics, St. Petersburg, Russia and Professor Vladimir Arnold, Chief Scientist of Steklov Mathematical Institute, Moscow, Russia for their widespread and influential contributions to Mathematical Physics.
* * * *
Background
Established under the auspices of Mr. Run Run Shaw, the Prize honours individuals, regardless of race, nationality and religious belief, who have achieved significant breakthrough in academic and scientific research or application and whose work has resulted in a positive and profound impact on mankind.
The Shaw Prize is an international award managed and administered by The Shaw Prize Foundation based in Hong Kong. Mr. Shaw has also founded The Sir Run Run Shaw Charitable Trust and The Shaw Foundation Hong Kong, both dedicated to the promotion of education, scientific and technological research, medical and welfare services, and culture and the arts.
(Washington, D.C. – June 9, 2008) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) presented 55 prestigious Scientific and Technological Achievement Awards (STAA) to more than 300 scientists in EPA’s research centers, laboratories, and program offices. The Awards recognize outstanding scientific and technological achievements that have been peer-reviewed and published by EPA employees.
Some of the research achievements include a forecasting tool for fine-particulate matter in outdoor air designed to improve public awareness; indicators to track environmental-health impacts on vulnerable communities; and assessments of arsenic mobility in contaminated ground water and sediments.
“These award winners exemplify the smart, dedicated, hardworking EPA researchers and engineers who, every day, put their scientific knowledge to work for the American people,” said George Gray, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Research and Development. “I’m proud to acknowledge these STAA winners with one of EPA’s highest honors.”
Of the 55 awards, five were first-place, 13 were second-place, and 37 were third-place. EPA also presented 45 honorable-mention awards. More than 100 award recipients were non-EPA employees who were part of collaborative teams with EPA employees.
EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD) administers and manages the STAA program. EPA established STAA in 1980 to recognize Agency scientists and engineers who publish their work in peer-reviewed literature. STAA is an EPA-wide competition that promotes and recognizes scientific and technological achievements by EPA employees. Each year the EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB), an independent advisory committee, is asked to review EPA’s nominated scientific papers and make recommendations to the Administrator for awards.
First Place STAA projects and winners:
Developing an Operational Fine Particulate Matter (PM2.5) Air Quality Index Forecast Tool to Improve Public Awareness: Improving National Air Quality Forecasts with Satellite Aerosol Observations. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 86(9):1249-1261 (2005). James Szykman; Lewis Weinstock; Richard Wayland and Fred Dimmick.
Pharmacokinetics of Polybrominated Diphenyl Ether (PBDE) 47 in Mice: (1) Toxicokinetics of BDE 47 in Female Mice: Effect of Dose, Route of Exposure, and Time. Toxicological Sciences, 83(2): 215-223 (2005); (2) Impact of Repeated Exposure on the Toxicokinetics of BDE 47 in Mice Toxicological Sciences, 89(2):380-385 (2006); (3) Disposition of BDE 47 in Developing Mice Toxicological Sciences, 90(2):309-316 (2006). Linda S. Birnbaum; Janet J. Diliberto; Michael J. DeVito.
Demonstrating How Activity Patterns and Environmental Factors Impact Human Exposures to Ambient Particulate Matter: (1) Continuous Weeklong Measurements of Personal Exposures and Indoor Concentrations of Fine Particles for 37 Health-Impaired North Carolina Residents for Up to Four Seasons. Atmospheric Environment, 40:399-414 (2006); (2) Use of Personal-Indoor-Outdoor Sulfur Concentrations to Estimate the Infiltration Factor and Outdoor Exposure Factor for Individual Homes and Persons. Environmental Science and Technology, 39(6):1707-1714 (2005); (3) Validation of a Method for Estimating Long-Term Exposures Based on Short-Term Measurements. Risk Analysis, 25(3):687-694 (2005). Lance Wallace; Ron Williams; Anne Rea; Carry Croghan.
Advancing the Scientific Understanding of the Contributions of Headwater Streams to the Integrity of Downstream Waters: Hydrological Connectivity between Headwater Streams and Downstream Waters: How Science Can Inform Policy. Journal of the American Water Resources Association, 43(1):118-133 (2007). Tracie-Lynn Nadeau.
Elucidating Basic Controls on Transformations of Aquatic N(org), Essential Knowledge for Addressing Eutrophication: Groundwater N Speciation and Redox Control of Organic N Mineralization by O2 Reduction to H2O2 Geochimica Et Cosmochimica Acta (GCA), 70:3533-3548 (2006). John W. Washington; Robert C. Thomas.
For more information about the EPA 2007 STAA Award recipients: http://es.epa.gov/ncer/staa/
EPA’s Office of Research and Development: http://www.epa.gov/ord
In a new and generous act of personal philanthropy, Mike Lazaridis has provided an additional $50 million (Canadian) to Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics (PI). This private donation increases his personal contributions to $150 million in the research institute.
The private funding announcement, delivered by The Honourable John Wilkinson, Ontario Minister of Research and Innovation, was celebrated by over 600 people just prior to a PI Public Lecture. The donation was acknowledged by all dignitaries representing the Province of Ontario and the Government of Canada, important members of a public-private partnership that fund the scientific research and outreach operations.
On behalf of the Government of Ontario, The Honourable John Wilkinson, Minister of Research and Innovation said: “Ontario’s $3B Innovation Agenda focuses on our government acting as a catalyst to support our top researchers and entrepreneurs – extraordinary people like Mike Lazaridis who are leading the way to turn groundbreaking ideas and innovation into Ontario’s next generation of jobs. Ontario’s commitment to fundamental and applied research has not only been informed but also inspired by Mike’s personal commitment to innovation, and his contributions to the Perimeter Institute. That’s why our government has already invested over $65M to support this important initiative. This new investment will strengthen the Institute and the government-industry partnerships that have made it possible, and help us to continue to attract the world-class talent and the scientific knowledge Ontario needs to compete in the 21st century.”
On behalf of the Government of Canada, The Honourable Jim Prentice, Minister of Industry, sent these words, “Mr. Lazaridis is one of Canada’s most significant science and technology (S&T) leaders and is making an extraordinary contribution to further strengthen our country’s S&T capacity. His personal commitment to the Perimeter Institute has enabled Canada to attract the best researchers in the field of theoretical physics. The recent nomination of Mr. Neil Turok as the new Executive Director of the Institute is one of many examples of this success. The Government of Canada is an important partner in the development of the Perimeter Institute, having renewed public funding in March 2007 to further propel the scientific research and outreach activities at international levels. In keeping with the government’s S&T strategy, the Perimeter Institute continues to provide the country with a competitive advantage in the area of basic research, pushes the frontiers of knowledge, attracts highly qualified researchers, promotes the nation’s world class excellence abroad, and shares the joys of scientific research, discovery and technologies with Canadians from coast to coast. Perimeter Institute is highly regarded as an international focal point for scientific inquiry, and the Government of Canada has been very pleased to be a partner and help accelerate the pace of research and outreach activities of this organization through its contribution of $50 million (See March 2007 Announcement). The vision and role of Mike Lazaridis in the partnership have been central, including his advocacy on behalf of basic research and education, his leadership at the Institute, and overwhelming financial support that now totals $150 million in personal philanthropy. On behalf of the Government of Canada, it is a pleasure to acknowledge Mike’s steadfast commitment, contributions, and to reaffirm our belief in a partnership that is successfully positioning Canada with the highly qualified researchers and the scientific knowledge we need to compete in the competitive world of ideas and innovation.”
Mike Lazaridis, the founder and Chairman of the Board of Perimeter Institute, thanked all national, provincial, regional and municipal partners for their commitment to scientific research and their direct role in shaping the institute. He also acknowledged those in wider society who engage in the outreach activities. Among many comments and conversations that evening, he said, “Though Perimeter Institute began as my dream, it exists because of a shared commitment by all of the partners. Partners who know that today’s scientific research will seed tomorrow’s biggest innovations. The power of human understanding and new ideas has a long and proven history in transforming society – such as Maxwell’s unification of electricity and magnetism, and Einstein’s insights about the nature of space, time, and light. Today’s scientists are pushing our fundamental understanding even further. They are working on the most challenging problems we have ever known and they are calculating new solutions that, over time, will improve our society – intellectually, materially, and by stimulating future generations of researchers to dig even deeper. These are exciting times in science and we have the good fortune to propel new ideas right here in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. It is an important mission I feel passionate about and wish to support. Finally, all of us at Perimeter wish to thank you – the students, teachers and members of the general public. Your enthusiasm for science provides constant motivation to our researchers, outreach staff, and the partnership. Collectively, we all share in the grand quest to research, discover, and innovate.”
Tel Aviv University is proud to announce that the 2008 Raymond and Beverly Sackler Prize in the Physical Sciences [1] in the research
field "Physics Beyond the Standard Model in the LHC Era" has been awarded to Nima Arkani-Hamed, School of Natural Sciences, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, New Jersey, USA, for his novel, deep and highly influential contributions to new paradigms for physics beyond the Standard Model at the TeV energy scale, especially the ideas of large extra dimensions and of the large hierarchy of strengths of fundamental forces in Nature, including gravity; supersymmetry model-building; theories of flavor and of neutrino masses; and models of the cosmological constant.
Previous recipients of the Sackler prize include Michael Douglas, Rutgers University and Juan Maldacena, Inst. Advanced Study, Princeton (2000) for their contributions to String Theory, as well as Thomas Glasmacher, Michigan State University and Yuri Kovchegov, Ohio State (2006), for their contributions to nuclear and hadronic physics.
The prize in the amount of $50,000 was awarded to the recipient on May 19, 2008, during the annual session of Tel Aviv University.s Board of Governors. Tel Aviv University is honored to administer the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Prize in the Physical Sciences, which is intended to encourage dedication to science, originality and excellence by awarding outstanding scientists.
The Raymond and Beverly Sackler Prize in the Physical Sciences, awarded at Tel Aviv University, has been established through the generosity of Raymond and Mrs. Beverly Sackler.
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