FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 10, 1999

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Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson today awarded seven Department of Energy-funded scientists and engineers Department of Energy Early Career Awards for their work at the department's national laboratories and research universities.

The seven Energy Department researchers are among 60 scientists and engineers named by President Clinton to receive the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government to young professionals in research careers.

"The men and women being honored today are true representatives of the world-class scientists and engineers working at Department of Energy laboratories and research facilities," said Secretary Richardson. "I congratulate these scientists and engineers for their scientific leadership. Their creativity and innovation provides the Department of Energy with cutting-edge science and technology to achieve our mission."

The Department of Energy awards were created three years ago to recognize outstanding scientists and engineers early in their careers for their scientific contributions to the department's missions. This year there are four Early Career Scientist Award recipients from the Office of Science and three Early Career Scientist and Engineer Award recipients from the Office of Defense Programs.

The Office of Science Early Career Scientist Award recipients and their citations are:

• Gary P. Wiederrecht, Argonne National Laboratory, for creativity and accomplishments in the field of new optical materials for energy efficient image processing and storage;
• James W. Lee, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, for seminal contributions to photosynthesis research and its application to nanofabrication;
• Anthony Mezzacappa, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, for his work identifying the explosive mechanism of core-collapse supernovae; and
• Mari Lou Balmer, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, for nationally recognized, seminal contributions to the fields of selective ion sequestration and plasma-activated catalysis.

• Tonya L. Kuhl, University of California Santa Barbara, for the development of a confined-geometry shear cell that allows for the study of the structure of fluid molecules captured between aligned solid surfaces;
• Roya Maboudian, University of California Berkeley, for enabling work in self-assembled monolayer anti-stiction coatings; and
• Christopher Palmer, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, for contributions in the field of liquid phase chemical analysis using micelle polymers as separation media in the development of portable devices for detecting and identifying warfare agents.