Penn Engineer, George Pappas, Honored with Presidential Early Career Award by President Bush

May 4, 2004

ARLINGTON, Va. – University of Pennsylvania professor George Pappas has been named as one of the nation's most promising young scientists and engineers by President Bush with a 2002 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE).

Pappas is one of 20 National Science Foundation (NSF)-supported researchers to be recognized today. In total, 57 researchers sponsored by NSF and eight other federal departments and agencies were honored. Pappas was recognized for his work in the understanding of hybrid systems – complex, information systems embedded inside physical systems such as those found in avionics, automotive electronics, robotics or medical devices.

“Hybrid systems arise naturally when sensors and actuators, such as those physically controlling a robot, are supervised by software logic which focuses on higher level reasoning,” said Pappas, an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical and Systems Engineering and the Department of Computer and Information Sciences in Penn’s School of Engineering and Applied Science. “Inexpensive processors and sensors are becoming almost ubiquitous. So the application of hybrid system theory is not only interesting from an engineering perspective, but also important because of its presence in everyday life and relevance to our high-tech economy.”

Pappas received a $375,000 CAREER grant for the study of hierarchical abstractions of hybrid systems. This research will enable the integration of low-level, detailed physical models, used for controlling aircraft or robot motion, with high-level but simple models, used for multi-aircraft or multi-robot coordination. The grant also allows Pappas to focus on creating new hybrid system courses for graduate and undergraduate students, allowing students to learn embedded and hybrid system concepts at a Penn’s renowned General Robotics, Automation, Sensing and Perception (GRASP) Laboratory.

NSF's nominees for PECASE awards are drawn from junior faculty members who have received grants from NSF's Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) program. These awards are considered the agency's most important and prestigious awards for new faculty members who show promise as leaders in their fields of science and engineering. The NSF-supported PECASE recipients represent a little over five percent of all CAREER awards made in 2002. Of the 2,900 CAREER awards that have been made since the program began in 1996, just 140 have received presidential recognition.

CONTACT: Greg Lester at 215-573-6604 or glester@pobox.upenn.edu