Prof. J. Nicholas Laneman, an assistant professor in Notre Dame’s Department of Electrical Engineering, was among the 58 young scientists and engineers honored by President George W. Bush in a White House ceremony on November 1, 2007.
The honorees were the recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award in Science and Engineering (PECASE). The PECASE program recognizes outstanding scientists and engineers who, early in their careers, show exceptional potential for leadership at the frontiers of knowledge. The PECASE is the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on scientists and engineers beginning their independent careers.
Prof. Laneman was one of 20 PECASE awardees selected by the U.S. National Science Foundation; the other 38 recipients were selected by other federal agencies. The 20 NSF awardees were selected from the approximately 400 scientists and engineers who received a Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) award in 2006. Receiving an NSF CAREER award is widely recognized to be a considerable distinction and strong evidence of a promising academic career. The additional recognition of a PECASE is a rare honor indeed, considering the tens of thousands of young scientists and engineers who are eligible each year.
Prof. Laneman is only the second Notre Dame faculty member to receive a PECASE since the award was established in 1996.
Prof. Laneman’s research focuses on wireless communication systems. He is widely credited as one of the pioneers in “cooperative communications,” techniques through which wireless links can be made more reliable through the use of signal relays that provides the receiver with “diversity” – extra information that can ameliorate signal fading. His seminal papers on the subject, published in 2003-2005, established the fundamental promise and limitations of cooperative relaying and have been cited by hundreds of communications researchers. Cooperative communications and cooperative diversity are now common session topics at international conferences on digital communications.
Prof. Laneman came to Notre Dame in 2002 after receiving his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He received an S.M. from MIT in 1997 and B.S. degrees in electrical engineering and computer science from Washington University in St. Louis, MO in 1995.