Chang, Woteki, and Kostic for research

By By Ina Kadic

Daily Staff Writer

Three ISU professors have been awarded fellowships by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Carl Chang, professor and chairman of computer science; Catherine Woteki, dean of the College of Agriculture; and Nenad Kostic, professor of chemistry, will be honored at the 2005 AAAS meeting in Washington on Feb. 17-21.

Chang, who has been recognized for his research in computer science and software engineering, said he has been involved in three main areas of computer science.

Chang has researched requirements of the evolution of software engineering and has evaluated the computer science curriculum in an effort to improve it.

He will also be recognized for his volunteer services as president of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Computer Society.

“I’m grateful for the honor because computer science does not always get recognition, since it is a relatively young field,” Chang said.

Woteki has been recognized for two of her contributions — health, and nutrition and food safety.

“I have been working on a decade-long review of what we know about nutrition and the recommended level of food intake,” Woteki said.

“Second, I have worked with an important new science-based inspection system for meat and poultry.”

Woteki said the inspection system was created to reduce disease-causing micro-organisms.

She said she was surprised by the award, and she will be attending the ceremony in February.

Kostic has been acknowledged for his work on two lines of research in chemistry — mechanisms by which protein can exchange electrons with each other, and the molecule mechanism of reaction to exchange electrons.

“I have also worked on the function of artificial enzymes to cut proteins, which help explain how compounds bind to proteins,” Kostic said.

He said he is honored to receive recognition for the quality of his research.