Deliver Your News to the World

Hispanic engineering organization honors two Argonne researchers


WEBWIRE

Two researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory won coveted 2007 achievement awards from the Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Award Corporation (HENAAC).

Juan Carlos Campuzano, an Argonne Distinguished Fellow, was named a recipient of an Outstanding Technical Achievement Award and Monica C. Regalbuto, head of Argonne’s Process Chemistry and Engineering Department, won a Professional Achievement Award.

The HENAAC Awards, presented annually for the past 18 years, recognize some of the nation’s top engineers, scientists and technologists of Hispanic heritage. The winners are selected, in part, based on their professional accomplishments and potential as a role model for young people in the Hispanic community.

Campuzano, Regalbuto and other 2007 award winners will be honored at the 19th annual HENAAC conference, to be held Oct. 11-13 in San Diego.

As an Argonne Distinguished Fellow, Campuzano holds the highest of all ranks at the laboratory. The title is comparable in stature to an endowed chair at a top-ranked university and recognizes exceptional contributions in a person’s field. Only two dozen Argonne employees currently hold the rank.

Campuzano, who works in the Synchrotron Radiation Studies Group in the laboratory’s Materials Science Division, is credited with landmark advances in the field of high temperature superconductivity.

“Dr. Campuzano’s accomplishments in condensed matter physics span surface science, correlated electron materials and angle resolved photoemission,” said George W. Crabtree, director of Argonne’s Materials Science Division. “His research in high-temperature superconductivity has laid many of the foundations of our knowledge of this forefront field. He has built a world-renowned program at Argonne integrating experiment and theory, trained and mentored an outstanding group of young condensed matter scientists and dramatically expanded the reach of photoemission as an experimental tool to probe correlated electron behavior in solids.”

Campuzano came to Argonne in 1987 after serving in several research positions at university laboratories in the United Kingdom. During his tenure at Argonne, he also served as a member of the physics faculty at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

His widely cited work has won Campuzano numerous awards and honors, including the University of Chicago Medal for Distinguished Performance at Argonne National Laboratory and election as Fellow of the American Physical Society. He has received funding of more than $3 million in competitive grants from federal agencies.

Campuzano earned a Ph.D. degree in physics, an M.Sc. degree in physics and a B.S. degree in applied mathematics and physics, all from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Additional information about Campuzano and his work is available at http://www.anl.gov/Science_and_Technology/Distinguished_Fellows/campuzano.html.

As head of the Process Chemistry and Engineering Department, Regalbuto leads approximately 30 scientists, engineers and support staff in the development of technologies for the recycling and safe disposal of spent nuclear fuel.

“Monica is at the forefront in conducting and directing research essential to the nation’s energy security,” said Diane Graziano, acting director of Argonne’s Chemical Engineering Division. “Energy supply alternatives to fossil fuels, including nuclear and renewables, will be required to meet the steeply growing demand for energy while minimizing the consequences of carbon dioxide production and global warming. The nuclear separations technologies being developed by Monica and her team are providing solutions to the complex problems of spent fuel and proliferation that are currently constraining the expansion of nuclear energy.”

Graziano called Regalbuto “a world class engineer, leader and role model.”

Regalbuto joined Argonne in 1988. In 1996, she became a senior research engineer at BP Amoco, where her responsibilities included developing new technologies for cleaner fuels. She returned to Argonne in 2001 and has been at the laboratory since.

Regalbuto is the author of more than 40 journal articles, reports and presentations. She has been awarded four patents and has 15 patent applications pending. She is a member of a number of professional organizations, including the American Chemical Society, the American Nuclear Society and the Society of Women Engineers.

She was a founding member of the Hispanic/Latino Club at Argonne and is active in the club’s outreach efforts to elementary and secondary schools.

Regalbuto holds a Ph.D. degree in chemical engineering from the University of Notre Dame. She also has an M.S. degree in chemical engineering from Notre Dame and a B.S. degree in chemical engineering from Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey in Mexico.

More information about the work being done by Regalbuto and her team at Argonne on spent nuclear fuel can be found at http://www.cmt.anl.gov/Science_and_Technology/Process_Chemistry/UREX+.shtml.

With employees from more than 60 nations, Argonne National Laboratory brings the world’s brightest scientists and engineers together to find exciting and creative new solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology. The nation’s first national laboratory, Argonne conducts leading-edge basic and applied scientific research in virtually every scientific discipline. Argonne researchers work closely with researchers from hundreds of companies, universities, and federal, state and municipal agencies to help them solve their specific problems, advance America ’s scientific leadership and prepare the nation for a better future. Argonne is managed by UChicago Argonne, LLC for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science.



WebWireID46597





This news content was configured by WebWire editorial staff. Linking is permitted.

News Release Distribution and Press Release Distribution Services Provided by WebWire.