STROBE Awards

JILA Fellow Margaret Murnane was one of 10 recipients of the Presidential Distinguished Service Award for the Irish Abroad.

Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney announced the names of the award winners on the 28th of November 2018. These awards, established in 2012, are meant to recognize the contributions of members of the Irish diaspora.

Each of the awards is for contributions to a specific category. Murnane received the science, technology and innovation award for her work as “one of the leading optical physicists of her generation”, according The Irish Times.

The awards were presented on Thursday, November 29th, 2018, by Ireland’s President Michael D. Higgens.

Other recipients of the award include Novelist Edna O’Brien and Irish-American Pulitzer Prize-winning author William Kennedy.

The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Mr Simon Coveney, T.D., today announced the names of the recipients of the Presidential Distinguished Service Award for the Irish Abroad for 2018.

The Presidential Distinguished Service Award was established by the Government following the 2011 Global Irish Economic Forum as a means to recognise the contribution of members of the Irish diaspora, and the first awards were made in 2012.

Announcing the recipients of the award, the Tánaiste said:

“I am delighted to have the opportunity once again this year to formally recognise the achievements of some of the finest members of our global family, our diaspora.”

“The diverse contributions of these individuals extends across six different categories. Through their work, they contribute to building an invaluably positive image of Ireland and Irish people around the world.”

“This is the seventh year in which recipients have received this Award, and the ceremony remains a very important opportunity to acknowledge those who have contributed to realising Ireland’s place as an island at the centre of the world.”

The world’s most influential scientific researchers in 2018 include 41 UCLA scholars. In its annual list, Clarivate Analytics names the most highly cited researchers—those whose work was most often referenced by other scientific research papers for the preceding decade in 21 fields across the sciences and social sciences.

Naomi Ginbserg was selected to participate in the UC Women’s Initiative for Professional Development in 2018 because she demonstrates potential to advance women in their careers.

The 2018 Klaus Halbach Award for Innovative Instrumentation at the ALS was given to the COSMIC ptychography team “for the development of the microscopy endstation at the COSMIC beamline, featuring an ultra-stable x-ray microscope, computational methods for data reconstruction, and a high-speed data acquisition system.” The award, which was sponsored by Aerotech, Inc., was presented at the ALS User Meeting to team members David Shapiro, Rich Celestre, Kasra Nowrouzi, Bjoern Enders, Young-Sang Yu, Lee Yang, Hari Krishnan, Stefano Marchesini, and the Science IT-HPCS group led by Susan James.

The Optical Society (OSA) Board of Directors has elected 98 members to the Society’s 2019 Fellows Class. Principal factors for election to OSA Fellow include candidates’ achievements in business leadership, education, research, engineering and service. A majority of 2019 Fellows reside outside of the USA.

“Being named an OSA Fellow is an honor accorded to those of rare distinction in their field, and carries the responsibility of service to and leadership of the optics and photonics communities,” said OSA President Ian Walmsley. “I congratulate the 2019 class on their achievements.”

“For systematic and scholarly transformation of advanced laboratories in physics, for building leading assessment tools of laboratories, and for national service advancing our advanced laboratory educational community.”

JILAn Dr. Tess Eidem was recognized by the University of Colorado Boulder for her work coordinating student understanding about roles and responsibilities related to their support funding.

Eidem is the Associate Director of Education for STROBE, an NSF Science and Technology Center that is a collaboration between six universities, including the University of Colorado Boulder.

As recognition for her work, the University awarded Eidem a certificate for Best Practices in Managing Conflicts of Interest & Commitment and a small gift certificate.

The NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, established in 2007, supports unusually innovative research from early career investigators who are within 10 years of their final degree or clinical residency and have not yet received a research project grant or equivalent NIH grant.

Friday, October 5, 2018 – Last night CO-LABS presented JILA’s ultrafast imaging team, led by Fellows Margaret Murnane and Henry Kapteyn, the 2018 Governor’s Award for High-Impact Research.

Murnane and Kapteyn were honored for their work in revolutionizing ultrafast and nanoscale imaging through the research and development of tabletop x-ray sources. These advancements enable real-time imaging of the structure, chemistry, and dynamics of materials at the level of small collections of atoms. The applications range from improving semiconductor devices and magnetic storage to understanding the fundamental physics and chemistry of complex materials. By designing, developing, and eventually enabling the availability of this technology through KM-Labs, Murnane and Kapteyn have enabled many curious researchers to further their discoveries.

Walter Copan, the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), presented the award to Murnane and Kapteyn. “What Henry and Margaret have done is truly emblematic of collaboration and of this long-standing partnership between NIST and the University of Colorado,” said Copan.

JILA Chair Thomas Perkins was also present at last night’s awards ceremony.  “We are thrilled to celebrate the announcement of 2018 Governor’s award for High-Impact Research to JILA’s Ultrafast Imaging Team, led by Professors Margaret Murnane and Henry Kapteyn,” said Perkins. “This award honors their triumvirate of ongoing success: pioneering the frontier in ultrafast x-ray laser science and application, training dozens of young scientists, and growing a successful Colorado high-tech company.”

This year marked the tenth anniversary of CO-LABS gathering scientists, researchers, entrepreneurs, business leaders and government officials to celebrate the exceptional and groundbreaking work of scientists and engineers from Colorado’s federally-funded research labs and institutions.

“These discoveries highlight the diversity and impact of the science and technology coming out of Colorado’s research labs that make our state and the world a better place,” said Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper. “We are indeed fortunate to be home to an incredible concentration of brilliant scientists whose work is having profound impacts on society.”

JILA’s award was one of three bestowed last night. Other winners included the Center for Disease Control and Prevention for their Metabolic biomarkers that improved diagnosis and prognosis of early Lyme disease, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory for their sustainable and elegant solution to produce cost-competitive acrylonitrile. The Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences received an honorary mention for their pioneering study of how the growing emissions from consumer products affects our understanding of air pollution and environmental regulation.

Previous JILA recipients of the CO-LABS Governor’s Award include current JILA Chair Thomas Perkins in 2017, JILA Fellows Cindy Regal and Konrad Lehnert in 2016, Dana Anderson in 2014, and  Jan Hall in 2010.

The keynote speaker of the event was Alice Jackson, the President of Xcel Energy – Colorado. She discussed Xcel’s partnership with federal research laboratories such as the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the National Center for Atmospheric Research.

CO-LABS was started in 2007 as a non-profit consortium of federal research labs, research universities, businesses and economic development organizations with a mission to support and expand the positive impacts of Colorado’s science and technology resources.

The awards ceremony and reception was held at Denver Museum of Nature & Science.