This year's Furth Fund awardees

May 14, 2021

Andrea Pickel, assistant professor of mechanical engineering is one of this year’s recipients of University Furth Fund awards, which foster the development of promising scientists in the natural and biological sciences.

Established through the generosity of Valerie and Frank Furth, the fund provides early career scientists with $12,500 to support their research through purchase of new equipment, for example, or funding the work of their graduate students or postdocs.

Pickel’s research focuses on quantifying temperature and heat flow at the nanoscale using sophisticated optical techniques. The Furth Fund award will support a PhD student conducting research in high-throughput optical super-resolution nanothermometry. Read more about her lab.

“Based on her strong publication track record, scientific maturity, and excellent communications skills, we were thrilled to recruit her,” says Renato Perucchio, professor and chair of mechanical engineering. Since then, he adds, Pickel has shown “exceptional creativity and tenacity” in applying her expertise to entirely new areas and initiating collaborations that build on University strengths in high energy density physics and quantum optics.