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NC State mathematician receives DARPA Young Faculty Award

Jonathan HauensteinDr. Jonathan Hauenstein, assistant professor in mathematics at NC State, has received a 2013 Young Faculty Award from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) worth $492,613 for his research involving numerical algebraic geometric methods for data analysis.

Hauenstein was one of only 25 faculty members at universities across the country to receive an award this year. He was the only faculty member to receive an award for research in mathematics.

The Young Faculty Award program was established to identify and engage rising research stars in junior faculty positions at U.S. academic institutions. The program provides award recipients with funding, mentoring, and vital industry and Department of Defense contacts early in the recipient’s career with the hope that the recipient will develop research ideas in line with the Department of Defense’s needs. DARPA intends for the YFA program to nurture the next generation of academic scientists who will spend a significant portion of their careers researching and finding solutions for national security issues.

Hauenstein received his PhD from the University of Notre Dame, and was a visiting assistant professor at Texas A&M University before becoming an assistant professor at NC State in August of 2012.

His work at NC State includes being a part of the Symbolic Computation group, which is concerned with the design, analysis and implementation of algorithms for algebraic problems as they relate to mathematics and computer science.

Dr. Omer Oralkan, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at the university, also received a 2013 Young Faculty Award, making NC State one of only two universities to receive multiple awards this year.