NIST and JILA Fellow Ana Maria Rey
Theorist Ana Maria Rey has been given the 2013 “Great Minds in STEM” Most Promising Scientist Award. The honor is also known as the HENAAC (Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Awards Conference) Award.
The Most Promising Scientist Award is an early career award for Hispanic-American researchers. Rey is a top young AMO theorist who has made important contributions to NIST and JILA in the fields of ultracold atoms, ultracold molecules, atomic clocks, quantum information, and other areas.
Rey and her group often get directly involved in planning the details of experiments. Their work has made possible many breakthroughs in AMO physics, precision measurement, and quantum simulation. The Rey group is well known for its insightful suggestions for improving laboratory experiments.
Rey came to JILA in 2008 as a Columbian citizen, with the intention of becoming a NIST employee when she receives U.S. citizenship within the next couple of years. She is currently an employee of the University of Colorado and a NIST associate.
Rey will receive the award at the 25th annual Hispanic Engineer National Achievement Awards Conference, which will be held October 3–5 in New Orleans.
The Physics Frontiers Centers (PFC) program supports university-based centers and institutes where the collective efforts of a larger group of individuals can enable transformational advances in the most promising research areas. The program is designed to foster major breakthroughs at the intellectual frontiers of physics by providing needed resources such as combinations of talents, skills, disciplines, and/or specialized infrastructure, not usually available to individual investigators or small groups, in an environment in which the collective efforts of the larger group can be shown to be seminal to promoting significant progress in the science and the education of students. PFCs also include creative, substantive activities aimed at enhancing education, broadening participation of traditionally underrepresented groups, and outreach to the scientific community and general public.