The Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) program provides some of the National Science Foundation's most prestigious awards to higher education faculty. According to the NSF website, these awards are given "in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization."
UC Merced's computer science and engineering faculty has been remarkably successful in attaining these prestigious awards.
"CSE has currently 17 research faculty (not including teaching faculty). Out of them, we have gotten 11 CAREER Awards,” said Alberto Cerpa, graduate chair for electrical engineering and computer science at UC Merced. “This means that out of the 13 tenured or advanced assistant faculty, we have gotten 11 CAREER Awards.”
To put that achievement into context, Cerpa said, “Out of all the tenured or advanced assistant faculty, we have a success rate of 85%, and among all the faculty (including many junior faculty that are still applying for the award), our rate is 65%. This is the largest of all the US research universities, and I think it speaks very loudly about the research quality of our program.”
In the past year alone, the department faculty has earned four awards:
- Professor Hyeran Jeon has received a CAREER award for her research into computer efficiency.
- Professor Xiaoyi Lu has received a CAREER award for his research into high-performance computing (HPC) cyberinfrastructure systems.
- Professor Wan Du has received a CAREER award for his research on energy efficient building management.
- Professor Ahmed Sabbir Arif has received a CAREER award for his research into non-acoustic, image-based speech input on mobile devices.
"As dean of the School of Engineering, I am continually inspired by the outstanding achievements of our NSF CAREER Award-winning faculty," said Dean Rakesh Goel. "This year has been especially remarkable with four faculty from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering winning this prestigious award. Their dedication to advancing knowledge, mentoring students, providing outreach to underserved students, and pushing the boundaries of research exemplifies the highest standards of academic excellence."
Early-career faculty members are selected based on three factors: the strength of their research proposals; their potential to serve as academic role models in research and education; and their leadership in their fields and organizations. Each CAREER award proposal includes an educational outreach component.
"These scholars not only shape the future of their fields but also inspire others to strive for greatness," Goel said. "I am so proud of these colleagues and colleagues who received this award in the recent past. Jointly, we are building the future in the heart of California."
