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Rutgers professor wins coveted science, engineering fellowship

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  • Rutgers professor wins coveted science, engineering fellowship

    The Star-Ledger (Newark, New Jersey)
    January 6, 2008 Sunday
    MIDDLESEX EDITION



    Rutgers professor wins coveted science, engineering fellowship
    MIDDLESEX DIARY

    by CHRISTOPHER DELA CRUZ, STAR-LEDGER STAFF

    Emil Yuzbashyan 36, Plainsboro Accomplishment

    Rutgers physicist Emil Yuzbashyan was recently honored with a Packard
    Foundation Fellowship for Science and Engineering, which provides
    $625,000 in research funding for five years. This is the first time
    the Packard Foundation has awarded the coveted fellowship to a Rutgers
    University professor.

    A love of science

    Yuzbashyan studies properties of matter at temperatures close to
    absolute zero - the point where all motion ceases. Understanding how
    particles interact under these conditions can help promote powerful
    new technologies such as quantum devices and superconductivity.

    Yuzbashyan also worked on a new theory related to the concept of
    superfluidity, or how a liquid cooled to near absolute zero can flow
    in a closed loop without any outside sources of energy sustaining
    that motion.

    For Yuzbashyan, his pursuit of scientific truths is a source of
    happiness and fulfillment.

    "There is a certain kind of pleasure you get when you understand
    something," said Yuzbashyan. "You go into something, then you work on
    it, work on it, then suddenly you realize how it all works."

    An immigrant's journey

    Yuzbashyan grew up in Armenia and earned a master of science degree
    from the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology in 1995. He later
    worked at Russia's Joint Institute for Nuclear Research.

    For Yuzbashyan, though, there came a point where he had to move to
    America in order to continue his work.

    "U.S. is the best country to do science," said Yuzbashyan. "If you
    want to do real physics, this is the place to be."

    Yuzbashyan was a nomadic professor jumping from place to place, first
    teaching at the University of Chicago, then Princeton University. He
    finally settled at Rutgers University.

    Yuzbashyan said he didn't have too much of a cultural shock, other
    than observing America's obsession with drinking lots of Coca-Cola.

    Yuzbashyan's wife, Natalia, arrived in the United States with
    Yuzbashyan. Also a science professor, she college-hopped from
    Princeton to Boston and now California. "One thing that was a
    cultural shock - long-distance relationships," said Yuzbashyan.
    "Russians and Armenians don't have many long-distance relationships."

    Hobbies

    Yuzbashyan enjoys reading, especially about history. He is most
    interested in learning about "extreme periods" like the French
    Revolution. He also plays chess.

    Favorite scientists

    Yuzbashyan said he most admires Albert Einstein. "It's amazing the
    level of insight he had."

    Yuzbashyan said the greatest living American scientist is Paul
    Anderson from Princeton University.

    Family

    Wife, Natalia, 36.

    From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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