LEES PI Tonio Buonassisi, who is also MIT associate professor for Mechanical Engineering, was one of the four MIT faculty among 105 recipients of the 2016 Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). This is the highest honor bestowed by the US government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers.

All of the 2016 recipients were employed or funded by the following departments and agencies: Department of Agriculture, Department of Commerce, Department of Defense, Department of Education, Department of Energy, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of the Interior, Department of Veterans Affairs, Environmental Protection Agency, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Science Foundation, and the Intelligence Community.

These departments and agencies joint together annually to nominate the most meritorious scientists and engineers whose early accomplishments show the greatest promise for assuring America’s preeminence in science and engineering and contributing to the awarding agencies' missions.

The PECASE awards, established by President Bill Clinton in 1996, are coordinated by the Office of Science and Technology Policy within the Executive Office of the President. Awardees are selected for their pursuit of innovative research at the frontiers of science and technology and their commitment to community service as demonstrated through scientific leadership, public education, or community outreach.

See MIT Campus News for more.