Howard University electrical engineering associate professor and director of graduate studies Su Yan, Ph.D. was recently announced as a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Early Career Award recipient for his research on randomized algorithms for solving large-scale and multiscale problems in electromagnetics and multiphysics. The $875,000 award will span over the course of five years.

According to the DOE’s Office of Science, the 2024 Early Career Research Program awards are critical to DOE’s longstanding efforts to develop the next generation of STEM leaders to solidify America’s role as the driver of science and innovation around the world. This year a combined total of $138 million will be awarded to a select number of only 91 researchers from across 50 universities and 12 DOE national laboratories.

This DOE award further fuels my passion for advancing innovative research and contributing to the field of advanced scientific computing.”

Yan becomes the first faculty member at Howard University to receive the DOE Early Career Award. He holds a unique position as a recipient of both the DOE Early Career Award and the NSF CAREER Award (2023).

“Advanced scientific computing methodologies serve as the foundation of numerous groundbreaking technologies. Accurate and efficient numerical modeling and simulation facilitate rapid technological advancement and design iteration. This award is a significant recognition of my commitment to advanced scientific computing research. Following my receipt of the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Early Career Award in 2023, this DOE award further fuels my passion for advancing innovative research and contributing to the field of advanced scientific computing,” said Yan. “I am deeply grateful for the unwavering support of my mentors, colleagues, and the DOE. I am humbled and honored to receive this recognition.”

Yan’s research work promises to open new avenues in energy research that could lead to sustainable solutions for the nation’s energy needs. The DOE award will assist Yan in advancing his cutting-edge research, which aligns with the agency’s mission to develop transformative science and energy technologies.

An overall research goal to develop, implement, validate, and apply parallel randomized algorithms for solving large-scale and multi-scale problems in electromagnetics and multiphysics will prove to be crucial in understanding electromagnetic and optical wave interactions with matter. Such interactions are fundamental to numerous modern sciences and technologies, such as 5G/6G communication systems, intelligent antenna and sensing systems, reconfigurable metasurface (specially designed surface with self-adjusting properties) developments, electrical and electronic device optimization, and clean energy innovations.

Yan is a senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, a full member of the U.S. National Committee for the International Union of Radio Science Commission B, and a life member serving on the Board of Directors of the Applied Computational Electromagnetics Society (ACES). In addition to his DOE Early Career Award and NSF CAREER Award, Yan received the ACES Early Career Award (2020) for his contributions to linear and nonlinear electromagnetic and multiphysics modeling and simulation methods.