Piran Kidambi, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, has received a 2023 Young Investigator Award from the Nanoscale Science and Engineering Forum (NSEF) of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE). Nicole Moehring, a graduate student in Kidambi’s Research Group, has won a Graduate Student Research Award in the Membrane Area of the AIChE’s Separations Division.
The early career award recognizes Kidambi for “advancing nanoscale science and engineering of atomically thin membranes for next-generation health care, energy and environmental applications.” The prestigious graduate student award recognizes prolific young researchers and recipients are selected from a global nomination pool.
The NSEF award is the latest in high-profile support that Kidambi has earned for his research. In February, Kidambi received a three-year grant from Chan Zuckerberg Initiative’s Frontiers of Imaging. It was one of 20 awarded worldwide with the aim of revolutionizing the study of viruses, human health and vaccines.
In June 2022, his work was selected to receive funding through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Early Career Research Program. These programs are designed to provide support to exceptional researchers during the crucial early career period when many conduct their most formative work.
Moehring’s research focuses on transport of sub-atomic species through atomically thin membranes for applications in energy and environment such as fuel cells and isotope separations. She has developed new approaches to understand fundamentals of transport and used these insights to pioneer disruptive advances in the field.
Moehring adds the 2023 Professor Dibakar Bhattacharyya AIChE Separation Division Graduate Student award to other high-profile, national-level graduate student awards this year. She received a U.S. Department of Engineering Office of Science Graduate Student Research (SCGSR) fellowship and a graduate student award from the North American Membrane Society earlier this year. Moehring completed her dissertation defense last week and will join the Savannah River National Lab to complete her thesis research as part of the SCGSR award.
As part of their awards, Kidambi and Moehring will present at their division plenaries at the AIChE Annual Meeting in November in Orlando.
Contact: brenda.ellis@vanderbilt.edu