WARRENDALE, PA – [March 25, 2015] –The Materials Research Society’s (MRS) Outstanding Young Investigator Award recognizes outstanding, interdisciplinary scientific work in materials research by a young scientist or engineer who shows exceptional promise as a developing leader in the materials area. This year, MRS has named two award recipients—Karena W. Chapman, Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), and Ali Javey, University of California, Berkeley (UC-Berkeley). Chapman and Javey will be presented with their awards on April 8, 2015 during the Award Ceremony of the 2015 MRS Spring Meeting in San Francisco.

About Karena W. Chapman
Chapman was cited “for her contributions to understanding the coupled structure and reactivity of energy-relevant systems and for developing the incisive experimental and analytical tools needed to interrogate these complex materials systems.” She will present her award talk, Accelerating the Development of Energy Materials Through Advanced X-ray Tools, on Thursday, April 9 from 5:30 - 6:15 p.m. in Ballroom B of the San Francisco Marriott Marquis. This session will be recorded with video, audio and presentation materials and will be available for free viewing from MRS OnDemand^® shortly after the Meeting.

Chapman is a chemist within the X-ray Science Division at ANL. In this role she develops and applies advanced synchrotron-based characterization tools to explore the coupled structure and reactivity of energy-relevant materials, including battery electrodes and electrolytes, catalysts and nanoporous framework materials for strategic gas capture. Her research exploits Pair Distribution Function (PDF) analysis of high-energy x-ray scattering data and other complementary methods to probe the atomic and nanoscale structure of crystalline, nano and amorphous materials that are beyond the limits of conventional crystallography. She leads the dedicated PDF instrument, 11-ID-B, at ANL's Advanced Photon Source and is co-editor for the Journal of Applied Crystallography. Chapman joined ANL in 2005 as the Arthur Holly Compton Postdoctoral Scholar, becoming a staff scientist in 2009. She received her BSc and PhD degrees in chemistry from the University of Sydney, Australia.

About Ali Javey
Javey was cited "for innovative contributions in integrating nanomaterials into device applications." He will present his award talk, Emerging Materials for Future Electronics and Solar Cells, on Thursday, April 9 from 6:15 - 7:00 p.m. in Ballroom B of the San Francisco Marriott Marquis.

Javey is a faculty member in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at UC-Berkeley. He earned his PhD degree in physical chemistry from Stanford University, and was a junior fellow of the Harvard Society of Fellows. Javey’s research interests encompass the fields of chemistry, materials science and electrical engineering. His work focuses on the integration of nanoscale electronic materials for various technological applications, including low-power electronics, flexible circuits and sensors, and energy generation and harvesting. Javey has received the Nano Letters Young Investigator Lectureship, UC-Berkeley Electrical Engineering Outstanding Teaching Award, APEC Science Prize for Innovation, Research, and Education, Netexplorateur of the Year Award, IEEE Nanotechnology Early Career Award, and he was a Blavatnik National Award for Young Scientists finalist.

About the Materials Research Society
MRS is an international organization of almost 16,000 materials researchers from academia, industry and government, and a recognized leader in promoting the advancement of interdisciplinary materials research to improve the quality of life. MRS members are engaged and enthusiastic professionals hailing from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics and engineering—the full spectrum of materials research. Headquartered in Warrendale, Pennsylvania (USA), MRS membership now spans over 80 countries, with more than 48 percent of members residing outside the United States. In addition to its communications and publications portfolio, MRS organizes high-quality scientific meetings, attracting over 13,000 attendees annually and facilitating interactions among a wide range of experts from the cutting edge of the global materials community. MRS is also a recognized leader in education outreach and advocacy for scientific research. More information about the Materials Research Society can be found on its website, www.mrs.org.