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N.M. Tech Chemistry Prof. Wins U. S. Presidential Awardby George ZamoraSOCORRO, N.M., March 1, 1999 -- Christopher Paul Palmer, an assistant professor of chemistry at New Mexico Tech, has been awarded the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the nation's highest award honoring young researchers at the outset of their research careers. Palmer joined an elite group of 59 other outstanding young scientists and engineers who were recognized by President William Jefferson Clinton at a White House ceremony on February 10. The recipients will each receive up to $500,000 over five years to continue their research projects with various federal agencies. "These talented young men and women show exceptional potential for leadership at the frontiers of scientific knowledge," President Clinton said. "Their passion for discovery will spark our can-do spirit of technological innovation and will drive this nation forward to build a better America for the twenty-first century." The Presidential Awards are intended to recognize some of the nation's finest scientists and engineers, who, while early in their research careers, show exceptional potential for leadership at the frontiers of scientific knowledge during the next century. Neal Lane, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, cited this year's honorees "for their research contributions, for their promise, and for their commitment to broader societal goals." Lane further commended Palmer as "a shining example to future generations of researchers." This past November, Palmer also was selected as a recipient of the U.S. Department of Energy's Defense Programs Early Career Scientist and Engineer Award. He was chosen for both honors largely on the basis of his substantial contributions to the field of liquid phase chemical analysis by using micelle polymers as separation media--research work which helped in the development of portable devices for detecting and identifying weapons agents. "My research, which is a continuation of an ongoing collaboration with Sandia National Laboratories's facility in Livermore, California, has been used to develop portable analytical instruments which can be used in stewardship programs to monitor weapons stockpiles," Palmer explains, "to monitor the use of chemical warfare agents, as well as to monitor environmental cleanup efforts which have been mounted by the Department of Energy." Palmer developed a technique to use polymeric surfactants for selective chemical separations, an approach which Sandia National Laboratories has applied to chemical analysis in micromachined channels on microchips. |