Two Cornell University faculty members are among this year's recipients of National Science Foundation (NSF) Career Awards. The Faculty Early Career Development Program offers NSF's most prestigious award for new faculty members. The program recognizes and supports the early career development activities of those teacher-scholars who are considered most likely to become the academic leaders of the 21st century.

Matthew DeLisa and Yong Joo, both assistant professors of chemical and biomolecular engineering, each will receive five-year grants of about $500,000.

DeLisa received a B.S. in chemical engineering at University of Connecticut, Storrs in 1996. He earned a master's in 1999 and a Ph.D. in 2000 at the University of Maryland, both in chemical engineering. He joined the Cornell faculty in 2003. 

In the project funded by the NSF award, DeLisa will develop techniques to analyze and engineer a model complex protein machine, namely the bacterial twin-arginine translocation (Tat) machinery. By exploiting the twin-arginine translocation system for protein expression that transports folded proteins across the E. coli membrane, he hopes to shed light on a poorly understood biological mechanism that could lead to the harnessing of this machinery for both the expression of commercially important proteins and the identification of correctly folded protein sequences. Such knowledge could lead to the creation of novel biotechnology-based drugs. 

Joo did his undergraduate study in chemical engineering at Seoul National University. He received a master's degree in 1990 and a Ph.D. in 1993, both from Stanford University in chemical engineering. He joined the Cornell faculty in July 2001. 

In the project funded by the NSF award, Joo will investigate nanofiber formation directly from polymer melts offering a novel solvent-free approach. The proposed melt electrospinning process can overcome some of the current barriers for commercializing conventional nanofiber technology, such as high process cost, low production rate and environmental issues. The award also will provide research experiences for middle and high school teachers, urban high school students as well as Cornell undergraduate students; short courses on research ethics and modules on fiber science also will be developed for K-12.