For environmental-effects research related to energy technologies and their use, focusing on the impacts of climate and atmospheric changes on the physiology, growth, and biogeochemical cycles of North American forest ecosystems.
For pioneering research and development of new materials for advanced energy technologies, including materials for (a) the storage of nuclear waste, (b) the solid-state generation of electrical power directly from heat, and (c) the lossless transport of electricity.
For his pioneering research in atom probe field-ion microscopy and atom probe tomography, most recently to understand the unprecedented properties and behaviors of nanostructured ferritic steels.
For pioneering accomplishments in the fields of global optimization, artificial neural networks, and high performance computing based on quantum devices.
For basic studies in the fracture of and toughening mechanisms in ceramics and ceramic composites, in the establishment of the relationships between microstructure and composition and mechanical behavior, and in the development of advanced ceramic materials.
For contributions to understanding plasma turbulence and the nonlinear properties of magnetohydrodynamic instabilities, especially their role in explaining the behavior of magnetically confined plasmas, and for development of new magnetic confinement concepts that overcome these limitations.
For advances in neutron and gamma-ray dosimetry, the transport of electricity through gases, and the development of laser-based one-atom detection with applications in nuclear physics, solar neutrino research, and oceanic, geologic, and environmental research