JPL Researchers Win Presidential Early Career Awards
Three JPL researchers received the highest honor given by the U.S. government to scientists and engineers beginning their research careers.
Three employees
from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, receivedthe
highest honorgiven by the
U.S. government to scientists and engineers beginning their research careers. They
are among 18 NASA and six Caltech recipients of the honor. Caltech manages JPL
for NASA.The award recognizes
recipients' potential to advance the frontiers of scientific knowledge and their
commitment to community service, as demonstrated through professional leadership,
education or community outreach. The awardees were celebrated by White House
Office of Science and Technology Policy Director Kelvin Droegemeier and the National
Science Foundation in a ceremony at the Daughters of the American Revolution
Constitution Hall in Washington on July 25, 2019.The JPL recipients
of thePresidential Early Career Award for Scientists
and Engineers(PECASE),
named by President Trump, are:Laurie Barge, for
innovativefuel-cell based research; John Reager, for analysis of terrestrial
global water cycles; and Jonathan Sauder, for demonstrating innovative technologies
to enable a new class of space missions.Barge, an astrobiologist,
said she was "very pleasantly surprised and very honored" to attend
the ceremony with her fellow NASA scientists.She describes her
work as an innovative approach to the search for life. "We combined two
areas of expertise at JPL: electrochemistry and astrobiology. The fuel cell is
usually used to produce energy, but we used it to imitate systems that produce
energy in nature. This can simulate deep-sea vents but could also be applied to
environments where life might survive on other worlds." Barge said that by
working in astrobiology and incorporating fuel cells, she learned that the combination
could help scientists figure out what might fuel life, or eventhe origin of life, in other environments.John Reager is being
honored for his work on theGRACE mission, studying Earth's water cycle by measuringgroundwater,floodsanddrought. This helps him and his colleagues study
how extremes of water vary with time and climate change."We're
kind of like doctors, except where a doctor might listen to your heart with
a stethoscope and take your temperature with a thermometer, our stethoscopes
are satellites," said Reager. "Water is just another one of those
vital signs of the planet that tell us how healthy the planet is, how it's
changing over time, and what its prognosis is."The other award
recipient from JPL, Jonathan Sauder, is a senior mechatronics engineer in the Technology
Infusion group. He is being honored for his roles as lead mechanical engineer onRainCube(the first radar in a CubeSat), mechanical
development of the KaPDA antenna, and as a NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts Fellow
and principal investigator for a"Clockwork" Venus rover mission
conceptenabled by mechanical
technology."We're looking for new technology that could change the way we
do missions, whether that be for Venus or CubeSats," Sauder said, describing his work. "The team behind me at
JPL has been really incredible," he added. "There's only one
individual's name on the award, but none of this would have been possible
without a group effort behind it.""Laurie
Barge, John Reager and Jonathan Sauder exemplify the caliber and variety of JPL
research," said JPL director Michael Watkins. "They also show
exceptional promise - not just in the ways they are advancing scientific
knowledge, but in how they champion community service through professional
leadership, education or public outreach."NASA chief scientist
James Green said all the NASA recipients "were selected for what they have
already accomplished, but more importantly, we expect they will reach even higher
goals in the future. They are shining stars."In all, 314
federal researchers received PECASE awards this year. Created to highlight the
importance of science and technology for America's future, the early-career awards
foster innovative developments in science and technology, increase awareness of
careers in science and engineering, provide recognition to the scientific missions
of participating agencies, and enhance connections between research and challenges
facing the nation.For a complete
list of NASA award winners, visit:https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-scientists-engineers-honored-with-presidential-early-career-awardsFor a complete
list of Caltech award winners, visit:https://www.gps.caltech.edu/news-events/news/three-caltech-professors-receive-presidential-early-career-awards