Zia

Roseanna N. Zia, assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering, is among this year’s Office of Naval Research (ONR) Young Investigator Program award winners, it was announced earlier this month.

Zia received $568,000 over three years for her project titled “Structure, Dynamics and Nonlinear Mechanical Response of Kinetically Arrested Particle Suspensions.”

In her proposal, Zia defines a new view of kinetically arrested states of microstructured soft matter, which she asserts will revolutionize the way scientists understand and control correlations, phase mapping and collective behavior in colloidal science. Her goal is to develop a predictive theory and a novel, nonequilibrium phase map that would introduce a new view of complex matter.

The program funds early-career academic researchers whose scientific pursuits show promise for supporting the U.S. Department of Defense, while also promoting the researchers’ professional development.

Twenty-four winners from 19 academic institutions were selected from a pool of nearly 300 candidates.