Close wins early career award from Department of Energy
Sigrid Close, an assistant professor of aeronautics and astronautics in the School of Engineering, has received a 2013 Early Career Research Award from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The five-year grants bolster exceptional researchers during the crucial early career years, a period when many scientists do their most formative work.
The DOE's Office of Fusion Energy Sciences selected Close's proposal, “Experiments and Simulations of Hypervelocity Impact Plasmas,” through a peer-review process. She will receive $750,000 over five years. This is her second CAREER award. The first came from the National Science Foundation for the study of meteor plasmas in the ionosphere.
Under the most recent award, Close will study the behaviors of plasmas created when tiny meteoroids and space debris are vaporized in hypervelocity collisions with spacecraft. Upon impact, the space particles and parts of the spacecraft’s surface ionize, producing a dense plasma that expands and radiates energy.
"This program is helping to build and sustain America's science workforce," said Patricia M. Dehmer, Acting Director of DOE's Office of Science in a press release.
"I am honored to be selected for this award. This is an incredible opportunity to understand hypervelocity impact plasma by executing ground-based experiments and combining these data with the output from hydrocode and PIC simulations," Close said.
The Early Career Research Program, now in its fourth year, funds researchers in universities and DOE national laboratories to supports individual research programs of outstanding scientists early in their careers. To be eligible, researchers must have received a PhD within the past ten years and be an untenured, tenure-track assistant or associate professor at a U.S. academic institution or a full-time employee at a DOE national laboratory. In total, there were 770 proposals submitted for 2013; only 61 received awards.
