I'm often blown away by the work of our faculty at UC San Diego. So I was not surprised when I read this week that two of our professors were among only 13 recipients of the Newton Award for Transformative Ideas during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Professor of Mathematics Melvin Leok and Assistant Professor in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Boris Kramer were selected from 548 submissions, from 184 institutions throughout 41 states and the District of Columbia. Their proposal to study and efficiently simulate complex interconnected systems for long-term analysis caught the attention of some of our nation's leading engineers, mathematicians and scientists.

The award, named in honor of Sir Isaac Newton’s achievements in mathematics, optics, and gravitation during the Great Plague of London in 1665, sought “transformative ideas” to resolve challenges, advance frontiers, and set new paradigms in research of immense potential benefit to the U.S. Department of Defense and the nation at large during the COVID-19 pandemic.