Engineering professor receives 2023 AFOSR Young Investigator Award

December 15, 2022 - by Kim Delker

photo: Sakineh Chabi
Sakineh Chabi

Sakineh Chabi, an assistant professor in the UNM Department of Mechanical Engineering, is the recipient of a 2023 Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) Young Investigator Research Program (YIP) award.

Chabi’s project was selected from over 170 proposals. She one of 58 scientists and engineers to be selected for the award, which granted about $25 million this fiscal year.

Chabi was honored for “Two-dimensional Silicon Carbide for Future Optoelectronics and Photonics.”

The honorees receive three-year grants of up to $450,000. The program is open to U.S. citizens and permanent residents who are scientists and engineers at U.S. research institutions. Individuals must have received Ph.D. or equivalent degrees in the last seven years and show exceptional ability and promise for conducting basic research of Department of the Air Force relevance.

“Through the YIP, the Department of the Air Force (DAF) fosters creative basic research in science and engineering, enhances early career development of outstanding young investigators and increases opportunities for the young investigators to engage in forwarding the DAF mission and related challenges in science and engineering,” said Ellen Robinson, Young Investigator Research Program manager.

The Air Force Office of Scientific Research, or AFOSR, is the basic research arm of the Air Force Research Laboratory.

Other research areas that received awards in 2023 included aerospace composite materials, aerospace materials for extreme environments, agile science for test and evaluation, atomic and molecular physics, complex networks, condensed matter physics, and dynamic data and information processing.

A full list of winning proposals can be found here.