The CoMSEF Executive Committee is pleased to announce that Professor Ed Maginn of the University of Notre Dame has been selected as the recipient of the inaugural CoMSEF Early Career Award. This new annual award recognizes outstanding research in our field and was given to Ed at the start of session 113 - Recent Advances in Molecular Simulation Methods I - at 12:30 PM on Monday November 9 in room Tennessee C of the Gaylord Opryland Hotel during the Annual AIChE meeting.

Ed received his B. S. in Chemical Engineering from Iowa State University in 1987. He then worked for Procter and Gamble as an operations engineer for three years before entering the graduate program in Chemical Engineering at the University of California at Berkeley, where he received his PhD in 1995 under the direction of Doros Theodorou and Alex Bell. He joined the faculty of Notre Dame in 1995 and is presently Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. Ed has over 90 refereed publications and two patents and is the recipient of the Dow Outstanding New Faculty Award from the American Society for Engineering Education as well as an CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation. He has also received several teaching awards, including the BP Outstanding Teacher award for the Notre Dame College of Engineering, two John A. Kaneb Awards from the University of Notre Dame and the AIChE Student Chapter Outstanding Teaching Award.

Ed is receiving the CoMSEF Early Career Award for his development of molecular simulation algorithms to study fundamental thermodynamics and transport behavior and his specific contributions to the understanding of nanoporous materials and ionic liquids. CoMSEF Early Career Award recipients must be in the early stages of their professional careers (in academia, industry, or a national laboratory), defined as being within 15 years of completion of the highest degree and be current members of CoMSEF. 

Award Description

The CoMSEF Early Career Award is an annual award to recognize outstanding research in computational molecular science and engineering. The award consists of a plaque and honorarium.

Nominees may hold positions in academia, industry, or a national laboratory, and must be in the early stages of their professional careers, defined as being within 15 years of completion of the highest degree.  Nominees must be current members of CoMSEF.

A nomination package consisting of the nominee’s CV, a nomination letter and two supporting letters of recommendation should be sent as a single file in pdf format to the CoMSEF Chair.  Self-nominations are discouraged. The deadline for receipt of nominations will be during the summer months with the recipient being announced prior to the Fall AIChE meeting.

The award recipient will be chosen based on the overall strength of the research accomplishments of the candidates by an ad hoc selection committee consisting of the current CoMSEF chair, the CoMSEF vice-chair and two representatives drawn from related organizations (e.g., area 1a committee, CACHE trustees).

2009 award details

• candidates earning their highest academic degrees from 1994 onwards are award eligible
• momination packages should be sent to Clare McCabe (c.mccabe@vanderbilt.edu)
• deadline: July 1, 2009