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Carnegie Science Awards

Awardees

Chairman's Award

The prestigious Chairman’s Award of the 2013 Carnegie Science Awards will go to three presidents of national academies who have roots in the region: Dr. Ralph Cicerone, president of the National Academy of Sciences; Dr. Charles Vest, president of the National Academy of Engineering; and Dr. Harvey Fineberg, president of the Institute of Medicine.

Dr. Cicerone, a native of New Castle, is also chair of the National Research Council; his research in atmospheric chemistry, climate change, and energy has involved him in shaping science and environmental policy at the highest levels nationally and internationally. Dr. Fineberg, a native of Pittsburgh, has devoted most of his academic career at Harvard University in the fields of health policy and medical decision-making. Dr. Vest, a native of Morgantown, is also president emeritus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has served on numerous federal committees on topics ranging from weapons of mass destruction to transformational diplomacy to higher education.

Advanced Manufacturing Award
David Burns
The ExOne Company
Burns helped position ExOne as the leader in additive manufacturing, better known as 3D printing. While many 3D printing companies deal primarily with printers used to create plastic products, ExOne works exclusively in industrial applications, using materials such as metal and sand.

Advanced Materials Award
Jonathan Stinson
Boston Scientific Corporation
Edward Argetsinger, Paul Turner, Paul D. Jablonski, PhD
National Energy Technology Laboratory
NETL helped design a new alloy for coronary stents, which physicians use to open blocked or restricted arteries. Patients experience shorter recovery times and avoid follow-up procedures, as well as more invasive surgery. The high-demand stents also allow for easy placement for physicians.

Catalyst Award
Nancy J. Minshew, MD
Center for Excellence in Autism Research
University of Pittsburgh
For over 20 years, Dr. Minshew has researched the cognitive, neurological, and genetic basis of autism and has applied these findings to community practice and public policy. Minshew is an internationally known autism advocate and served on the Pennsylvania Autism Task Force.

Corporate Innovation Award
National Energy Technology Laboratory
Regional University Alliance (NETL-RUA)
NETL-RUA specializes in research that enables domestic fossil fuels to power our nation while protecting our environment and enhancing our energy independence. NETL-RUA engages local university students by encouraging them to research sustainable development and the use of fossil energy resources in the Pittsburgh region.

Elementary Educator Award
Shannon Merenstein
Environmental Charter School
Merenstein instituted a new way of teaching science and art together at The Environmental Charter School through the creation of The Thinking Lab. With her co-teacher, she developed an innovative K-3 curriculum that connects science, technology, design, and art.

Middle Level Educator Award
Howard Johnson
Charleroi Area School District
Over a 10-year period, Johnson sought funding to develop an ecosystem learning center on school grounds. The bio-network complex, which includes a pond, gazebo classroom, greenhouse, and composting center, provides real-life, hands-on experiences for his students.

High School Educator Award
Jackie Karenbauer, Jennifer DiPasquale, Mark Buccilli
North Hills School District
Karenbaurer, Dipasquale, and Buccilli developed an innovative biology curriculum that uses iPads and MacBooks to get students excited about science. Students became more engaged in the classroom, and the educators noticed a decrease in student absences and discipline referrals.

Leadership in STEM Education
James Manner, PhD, Fu-mei C. Lin, PhD
Society for Analytical Chemists of Pittsburgh
Spectroscopy Society of Pittsburgh
For over 65 years, SACP and SSP have provided more than $600,000 annually to science education. The funding supports local institutions including Carnegie Science Center, Library and Museum, as well as science equipment and programs in K - 12 schools and colleges.

University/Post-Secondary Educator Award
Steven Little, PhD
Swanson School of Engineering
University of Pittsburgh
Locally, Little is recognized as a first-rate educator and mentor by his colleagues and students. He was also recently named a "Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar" and chosen to speak to the nation's brightest science and engineering students at the Beckman Foundation's Scholars Symposium.

University/Post-Secondary Student Award
Elaine Faith Houston
University of Pittsburgh
Houston, a strong supporter of STEM education, has dedicated countless hours toward research projects, including a motorized wheeled appliance with robotic arms, as well as Pitt's Tech-Link LEGO Robotics Program. Known as the "techno wizard," Houston teaches students how to program robots.

Emerging Female Scientist Award
Xinyan Tracy Cui, PhD
Department of Bioengineering
University of Pittsburgh
Dr. Cui's pioneering work in conducting polymer-based neural electrode coatings, which offers advantages over traditional metal electrodes, is both nationally and internationally recognized. Many laboratories have adapted this technology or started research in this direction. Her work has attracted $4 million in peer-reviewed funding.

Start-Up Entrepreneur Award
Patrick Daly
Cohera Medical
Cohera Medical developed a unique surgical adhesive that has been used in more than 500 surgeries in Europe. Its core product, TissuGlu, is based on a unique chemical design that is resorbable, non-toxic, easy-to-use, and forms a strong bond between tissue layers.

Entrepreneur Award
Raul Valdes-Perez, Jerome Pesenti
Vivisimo
Founded in 2000, Vivisimo was recently acquired by IBM for software helping companies and governments discover, analyze, and navigate big data. Unlike traditional approaches, such as data warehouse, Vivisimo software goes beyond the structured data to also give insight into the more extensive unstructured data.

Environmental Award
Robert Enick, PhD
NETL RUA and Chemical Petroleum Engineering
University of Pittsburgh
Dr. Enick, working in collaboration with a GE Global Research Team, has developed a unique method of capturing carbon dioxide from the stack of coal-fired power plants. This state-of-the-art technique is projected to have much lower energy costs than current technologies.

Information Technology Award
Mark DeSantis
kWantera, Inc.
kWantera manages the purchase, consumption and quality of energy for industry, buildings and campuses in real-time over the internet. kWantera Analytics^™ substantially reduces energy costs and the energy footprint of customers throughout the US and abroad.

Life Sciences Award
David Vorp, PhD
Swanson School of Engineering
University of Pittsburgh
Dr. Vorp's work on aortic aneurysms has changed the way clinicians view this disease. His work on vein graft modification is expected to lead to human trials soon, and his approach to tissue engineered arteries may one day change arterial bypass surgeries.

Science Communicator
Peter Lucas, PhD, Joe Ballay, Mickey McManus
MAYA Design, Inc.
A world saturated with technology requires scientific thinking about design. This is the focus of the team's work, which includes informational films, an interactive website, and the book "Trillions: Thriving in the Emerging Information Ecology."

Junior Division Student
Orion Gangopadhyay
PA Virtual Charter School
Orion Gangopadhyay studied the electrical effects of different soil types. He conducted an experiment to prove whether soil could function as an electrical system, using a battery, two electrodes, soil, and water, and then recorded the data on the different types of soil conductivity.

Intermediate Division Student
Taylor Robinson
Sister Thea Bowman Catholic Academy
Taylor Robinson focused her project on socially contagious behavior. She studied why some people are particularly susceptible to itching when they observe others scratching and developed a matrix to display her findings.

Senior Division Student
Ryan Maurer
Frazier High School
Ryan Maurer developed an "all-in-one" test stand for gathering data on the delivered performance of high power rocket motors. His test stand has the capability of wirelessly communicating with a computer up to 1,000 feet away.