Michigan Tech Faculty Member Wins NSF CAREER Award

The National Science Foundation has named Roshan D'Souza the recipient of a 5-year NSF CAREER Award. D'Souza, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering-engineering mechanics, heads a team of Michigan Tech researchers who are harnessing the power of graphics processing units (GPUs), the computing engine behind some of the most popular video games,to understand complex biological systems.

�This is one of those really significant early career recognitions," said David D. Reed, vice president for research. "It's extremely competitive, and you have to be able to explain how you are going to integrate teaching with your research. The CAREER Award demonstrates NSF's concern for extending the broader impact of research funding."

D'Souza is the second Tech faculty member to receive an NSF CAREER award in the past year. Last spring Jeffrey Allen, also an assistant professor of mechanical engineering-engineering mechanics, received an NSF CAREER Award for his research into capillary flow--how and why liquids and gases move through tiny channels such as those found in hydrogen fuel cells.

"The NSF CAREER Award is a prestigious and highly competitive multi-year grant for untenured junior faculty," explained William W. Predebon, chair of mechanical engineering-engineering mechanics. "It is a significant recognition of the quality and creativity of the proposed research, as well as recognition of the research potential of a junior faculty member."

Predebon called D'Souza's work "breakthrough research that could help overcome the major hurdle of translating the results of bench research into clinical therapies."

D'Souza and Allen are among six ME-EM faculty members to have received the NSF award. A total of 24 Tech researchers have won NSF CAREER Awards since 1995.

The awards are designed to promote early career development in junior faculty who exemplify the integration of research and teaching and who are likely to become the academic leaders of the future. Untenured faculty in their first tenure-track appointment are eligible to apply up to three times.

A free workshop to help eligible faculty members prepare to apply for NSF CAREER Awards is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 28 from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in Wadsworth Hall. Follow-up activities are also planned.

Michigan Technological University is a public research university founded in 1885 in Houghton, Michigan, and is home to more than 7,000 students from 55 countries around the world. Consistently ranked among the best universities in the country for return on investment, Michigan’s flagship technological university offers more than 120 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in science and technology, engineering, computing, forestry, business and economics, health professions, humanities, mathematics, social sciences, and the arts. The rural campus is situated just miles from Lake Superior in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, offering year-round opportunities for outdoor adventure.