Two Tech faculty members earned the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) in early January, strengthening Tech’s reputation as a leading center for research and innovation.
Juan-Pablo Correa-Baena, associate professor and Goizueta Early Career Faculty Chair in the School of Materials Science and Engineering, and Josiah Hester, associate professor in the School of Interactive Computing and associate director for Community-Engaged Research at the Brook Byers Institute for Sustainable Systems, were this year’s honorees from Tech.
Established in 1996 by then-President Bill Clinton, the PECASE Award is the highest honor the U.S. government grants scientists and engineers. The award, decided upon by several White House agencies, highlights the importance of scientific discovery and innovation in individuals opening their independent research careers.
Spanning five different presidential administrations since its inception, the PECASE Award has grown from annually recognizing a cohort of 60 scientists and engineers to around 100 today. With the Biden administration’s term coming to an end, the White House chose a cohort of 400 scientists and engineers for the award.
The Department of Energy recognized Dr. Correa-Baena this year for his work in developing next-generation materials for photovoltaic applications and quantum technologies.
“Personally, I’m really excited to be recognized for this, not just for me but also for those connections that I’ve forged with other faculty, other colleagues, and my students here at Georgia Tech,” Correa-Baena told the Technique. “Being only one of two recognized here at Georgia Tech and in the past having these awards only given every six or five years was very, very cool.”
With over 11 years of experience in his field, Dr. Correa-Baena partially credits his nomination to his specific research approach, identifying the root causes of problems and studying their fundamental concepts. He can then translate the knowledge into real-world applications.
“We don’t just do experiments, but we also work with theorists who help us understand how these atoms interact with each other,” Correa-Baena explained. “Then we try to validate those models that my colleagues in the theory field have predicted.”
Dr. Hester, on the other hand, has been recognized by the National Science Foundation (NSF) for his work in developing an emerging class of battery-free, embedded computing and sensing systems that operate using ambient energy.
“It was always a far-reaching goal. I was shocked. It’s something you would never in a million years think you would win,” Hester told the Tech News Center. “For me, I always thought this was an unachievable, unassailable type of thing because of the reputation of the folks in computing who’ve won previously.”
Dr. Hester credits the work that earned him the NSF Faculty Early Career Development Program award three years prior as the basis of his nomination. Here, his specialty in the intersection of interactive computing and sustainable technologies has garnered him wide-set acclaim.
“I want everything to be an Internet of Batteryless Things — computational devices that could last forever,” Hester said. “I outlined a bunch of different ways that you could do that from the computer engineering side and a little bit from the human-computer interaction side. They all had a unifying theme of making computing more sustainable and climate-friendly.”
Dr. Correa-Baena’s and Dr. Hester’s achievements prove the ever-crucial role early-career scientists play in addressing today’s modern landscape.
“I wanted to make sure that whatever I did would benefit society. And I thought sooner or later we’re going to have to replace fossil fuels for clean energy sources, whether that’s this decade or next or in the next 50 years, at some point, we’re going to have to do that,” Dr. Correa-Baena said.
As both scientists look to address the growing challenges posed by renewable energy, the contributions made by each look to pave the futures of their respective fields.