08 NOVEMBER 00

Nima Arkani-Hamed, Kristie Boering

Physicist Nima Arkani-Hamed and Chemist Kristie Boering were two of 24 researchers recently awarded grants by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Each grant recipient will get $125,000 a year for five years.

One of the foundation's goals this year is to support research in solving complex science problems and in conserving the environment.

Arkani-Hamed has developed a theory awaiting experimentation that explains why gravity is a weak force, which has received recent media attention in the Los Angeles Times and New Scientist.

Boering's research uses chemical indicators present in the atmosphere to tell whether it was affected by normal atmospheric processes or by industrial by-products; this knowledge will help find out how much of each greenhouse gas - carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxide, and methane - is in the atmosphere.

John Kubiatowicz

Assistant Professor of Computer Science John Kubiatowicz received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, an award established by President Clinton in 1996. Kubiatowicz was recognized for his research on wide-area data storage and data access required by distributed network-based applications. He was one of 59 researchers at an Oct. 24 award ceremony at the White House Old Executive Office Building.

Along with the award, Kubiatowicz will receive a research grant for up to five years, to further his study in support of critical government missions, which involve the National Science Foundation, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Department of Defense.

Kubiatowicz had also won the Faculty Early Career Development award given by the NSF to exceptionally promising junior faculty who are committed to the integration of research and education.

Charles Townes

The National Academy of Engineering has named Nobel laureate Charles Townes, physicist, professor in the Graduate Division, and inventor of the laser, as the recipient of its Founders Award for lifetime engineering achievement.

The award was presented last month at the academy's annual meeting in Washington, D.C.