Professor Lilian Hsiao Receives NSF CAREER Award

Professor Lillian Hsiao
Professor Lilian Hsiao

Professor Lilian Hsiao has received a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award for her research proposal “Elastohydrodynamic lubrication of soft patterned interfaces.” The NSF describes CAREER awards as among its ” … most prestigious awards in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization.”

Prof. Hsiao’s project is focused on an aspect of haptic technology, which is technology that creates the perception and experience of touch. For example, an artificial hand that enables a user to pick up objects has haptic sensors that signal to the user when the object is touched and grasped. Haptic technology is also used in applications such as remote surgery and robotics.

The results of Prof. Hsiao’s CAREER project will aid practitioners in the design of haptic technology that more realistically reproduces sensations of touch. The project also includes activities to stimulate interest in fluid mechanics and soft matter among the public through interactive citizen science sessions, through virtual demonstrations for science camp participants, and through instruction in haptic applications and soft matter for undergraduates.

Professor Hsiao will receive $648,553 in funding over five years to support her project.

She received her B.S. degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and her Ph.D. degree from the University of Michigan, both in chemical engineering and completed postdoctoral training at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

In 2018, Prof. Hsiao was selected as a recipient of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 2019 Marion Milligan Mason Award for Women in the Chemical Sciences. The Award is designed to support the research efforts of early-career women researchers in the chemical sciences. According to the AAAS, “The 2019 awardees have made extraordinary contributions through their research programs and demonstrate a commitment to move their fields forward.”

Congratulations to Professor Hsiao for this prestigious award!