This past December, the White House honored inventor and University of Maryland benefactor Robert Fischell with the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. Now, another university researcher is receiving presidential recognition.
President Barack Obama named 106 researchers to receive the Presidential Early Career Awards for Scientists and Engineers, “the highest honor bestowed by the United States Government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers,” according to a White House news release last week.
One of these researchers was Anya Jones, an assistant professor of aerospace engineering and director of the Jones Aerodynamics Lab at this university.
“This [award] is a really big deal,” Jones said. “I’ve been working in this specific field for a while and I think lots of little things add up, and getting an award like this is really a vote of confidence.”
Jones came to this university in 2010 and has been working in experimental aerodynamics.
Her work currently involves trying to figure out ways to fly aircraft in extreme conditions and investigating ways to produce lift on wings even if the atmosphere is very unsteady, she said.
She also said she thinks this work is important because it could allow aircrafts, like search-and-rescue helicopters, to fly in areas that they haven’t really been able to before.
“If you’re trying to fly an air vehicle through very windy or extreme weather conditions, or trying to land a helicopter in a storm, right now, you really can’t,” she said. “If we can make flight possible in more ways, that’s exciting.”
Inderjit Chopra, a professor in aerospace engineering and director of the Alfred Gessow Rotorcraft Center at this university, said Jones is an “incredibly dedicated” and hard-working researcher and has made great contributions to the field of aerodynamics in her five years at the university. He also said her work could help shape the plans and designs for the next generation of helicopters.
Jones also works with five doctorate students who assist on the research, gather data and run experiments in the lab. One of the most exciting things about the award, she said, is that it comes with some additional funding, which will help her and her students continue their work in this area.
According to the news release, 12 government departments and agencies, including the Agriculture Department, Education Department and Defense Department — which awarded Jones’s work — nominate scientists and researchers each year whose work shows promise for “assuring America’s preeminence in science and engineering and contributing to the awarding agencies’ missions.” This year’s winners will all receive their awards at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., this spring.
Jones has received several other honors as well for her work, including a 2011 NATO Research Achievement Award. She was also named an associate fellow by the Aerospace Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics in 2015.
Chopra said Jones’s excellent work makes her qualified for this White House honor as well.
“The award is very, very competitive; only very few people get this,” Chopra said. “It’s based on the credibility of her work, and she absolutely deserves it.”
