White House Honors

As recipients of Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers, Christine Ortiz of materials science and engineering and Scott Manalis of the Media Lab earned a trip to the White House, as well as five years of government funding for their research. The two MIT faculty members were among 60 researchers nationwide so honored by President George W. Bush in July.

Photograph by Webb Chappell

Ortiz, who was nominated by the National Science Foundation, is using biological principles to synthesize polymers for single-molecule nanoscale devices. Manalis, nominated by the Department of Defense, is developing new measurement techniques for extracting information from biological systems. The techniques will be used to make microfabricated sensors that will determine which genes are turned on in cells and measure how much protein each gene produces.

Both professors, who joined the faculty in 1999, will use their funding to support doctoral students in their labs.