AFOSR-funded scientists earn innovation honors Published Sept. 27, 2007 By Maria Callier Air Force Office of Scientific Research Public Affairs ARLINGTON, Va. -- The editors of "Technology Review" have recognized two scientists supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research as 2007 Young Innovators for their breakthrough research. Ju Li, 32, and Mung Chiang, 30, have been included in the journal's annual list of top innovators in the field of technology and science who are under the age of 35. The editors honored these investigators because they consider their work to be so cutting-edge it is "changing our world." Mr. Li, formerly an assistant professor of materials science and engineering at The Ohio State University and now part of the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania, has developed new algorithms to model the mechanical properties of complicated nanostructures. "I develop multiscale modeling techniques, trying to connect the behavior of electrons and atoms to macroscopic materials properties using computer simulation," explained Mr. Li. "We have demonstrated for the first time that computer predictions of the strength and strain-rate sensitivity of nanostructured metals can be directly compared to experimental measurements performed at seconds-to-hours time scales. The goal is computer-aided materials optimization." AFOSR supported Mr. Li as a graduate student when he was researching molecular modeling of the thermo mechanical properties of silicon carbide at MIT which was part of his doctoral thesis. He began the work there he's continuing to pursue today. Mr. Chiang is an assistant professor of electrical engineering, affiliated faculty of applied and computational mathematics and of computer science at Princeton University. His research is on the optimization of communication networks with an end goal of making future networks as efficient, robust, and flexible as possible. "In particular, we want to use innovative models and advanced mathematical tools to optimize the performance of networks operating over a variety of conditions, through many different communication media, and for a wide range of control tasks," said Mr. Chiang. He notes that the Young Innovators 2007 award recognizes the part of his work that makes practical impacts, especially to broadband access networks and the Internet. "In collaboration with colleagues in industry and academia, my group and I have developed optimization algorithms to double the transmission rates of the digital subscriber line system," said Mr. Chiang. "This greatly increases the quality of wireless cellular service, maximizes the efficiency of Internet routing, and enables network operators to plan cost-effective, multi-year rollouts of large networks." By funding research efforts for the Air Force in relevant scientific areas such as developing new algorithms to model the mechanical properties of complicated, nanostructures and the optimization of communication networks, AFOSR continues to expand the horizon of scientific knowledge. AFOSR is part of Air Force Materiel Command's Air Force Research Laboratory.