The Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) is the highest honor bestowed by the United States Government to outstanding scientists and engineers who are beginning their independent research careers and who show exceptional promise for leadership in science and technology.
Established in 1996, the PECASE acknowledges the contributions scientists and engineers have made to the advancement of science, technology, education, and mathematics (STEM) education and to community service as demonstrated through scientific leadership, public education, and community outreach.
For pushing the frontiers of quantum science through groundbreaking research, including manipulating individual light particles to strongly interact—something they do not naturally do, and which was recognized by “Physics World” as one of the top ten breakthroughs of 2013.
Dr. Alexey Gorshkov is recognized for his world-leading research in quantum science which has inspired a stunning array of ideas, insights and additional research on exotic states of matter in institutes around the world. Dr. Gorshkov has drawn international attention for his groundbreaking work in which he showed how a system typically used to study atomic behavior could be used instead to actually trick one particle of light (a photon) into strongly interacting with a second. Achieving such strong photon-photon interactions is one of the holy grails for quantum optics and was selected by Physics World as one of the top ten breakthroughs of 2013. This work has laid the theoretical foundation for an entirely new suite of devices that rely on the strong interactions between photons to perform logical operations, much as electrons do in current electronics.