
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, April 23, 1990                   TAG: 9004230212
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

SCIENCE AWARD

VIRGINIA TECH'S engineering program already is well-regarded in the nation, and now respect for it should go even higher. A chemical-engineering professor, Mark E. Davis, is this year's recipient of the National Science Foundation's Alan T. Waterman Award. Winning this award puts him in excellent company in the scientific community.

Scientists from the nation's elite universities dominate the list of previous winners. By having a Waterman-award winner on its staff, Tech joins the likes of Columbia, Stanford, Harvard, Princeton and the University of California at Berkeley.

The Waterman award, established by Congress in 1975, recognizes a young scientist in any field. Davis is the first engineer to receive a Waterman, which bestows a monetary award as well as a medal. The recipient qualifies for grants of up to $500,000 for as many as three years of research.

Davis specializes in molecular sieves, microscopic crystals that crack apart and reform the heavy molecules of crude oil into the lighter molecules in gasoline, heating oil, etc. In 1987, Davis and a collaborator at Dow Chemical Co. developed a sieve that promises to make it possible to extract more gasoline from each barrel of crude oil.

The benefits to the public of such a discovery are obvious. The National Science Foundation is wise to encourage Davis' work. May his Waterman grants lead to fruitful research.

by CNB