A Johns Hopkins faculty member is one of the first six
grant recipients in a new Department of
Defense program aimed at supporting outstanding U.S.
university scientists and engineers as they
advance defense technology research in core science and
engineering disciplines.
Carey Priebe, a professor of applied mathematics and
statistics in the Whiting School of
Engineering, will receive up to $3 million over five years
through the new National Security Science
and Engineering Faculty Fellows Program. He and the five
other awardees were selected from more
than 350 applicants.
Priebe, who also is a lead research scientist at the
Johns Hopkins-based Human Language
Technology Center of Excellence, hopes to use his grant to
"revolutionize the future of data analysis."
Supported by the federal grant, Priebe will seek ways
to make predictions about research that
scientists are conducting or planning to conduct, leading
to forecasts that are not immediately
apparent from their published work.
For example, a mathematical or computer model would
analyze a journal article and compare it
to work of various scientists and engineers, finding
connections that could not otherwise be made
about social networks and the propensity to perform certain
kinds of research. This technique could
help the Department of Defense foresee technological
innovations and avoid being caught by surprise
when researchers announce new findings. An added benefit to
the world of research, Priebe said, is
that this social networking could identify scientists who
are researching a problem and link them with
those who could have a solution.
In an announcement of the grant awards, William Rees,
deputy undersecretary of defense for
laboratories and basic sciences, said the new program will
provide scientists outside the federal
government with opportunities to "participate fully in the
DoD research enterprise and share their
knowledge and insight with DoD military and civilian
leaders, researchers in DoD laboratories and the
national security science and engineering community."
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