Vietnamese-American Associate Professor Vicky Thao D. Nguyen is among 100 prominent people who have been bestowed with U.S. President Barack Obama’s Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers in 2009, state media reported Dec 23. This is the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. Government for young professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers, the Vietnam News Agency said Wednesday. Associate Professor Nguyen, born in 1976, who migrated to the U.S. in 1986, focused on biomechanics dealing with the elasticity of polymers, the origin and development of biological cells and tissue recovery. Nguyen graduated as Bachelor of Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy at Stanford University and she has been a Senior Member of the Technical Staff of the Sandia National Laboratories for several years. Launched by President Clinton in February 1996, the award has been granted to the scientists and engineers for their studies in support of critical government missions.
