{"id":42659,"date":"2026-04-06T14:02:30","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T18:02:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/?p=42659"},"modified":"2026-04-06T14:04:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-06T18:04:17","slug":"two-ece-faculty-earn-prestigious-young-investigator-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/honors-awards\/two-ece-faculty-earn-prestigious-young-investigator-awards\/","title":{"rendered":"Two ECE faculty earn prestigious Young Investigator Awards"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Two University of Florida engineering professors have been recognized among the nation\u2019s top early-career researchers for their contributions to national defense and security.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Farimah Farahmandi, Ph.D., Walden C. Rhines Endowed Professor for Hardware Security, and Md Jahidul Islam, Ph.D., Yangbin Wang Rising Star Endowed Assistant Professor, in UF&#8217;s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), received the 2026 Young Investigator Award from the Office of Naval Research (ONR).&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The highly competitive program supports early-career scientists and engineers whose research shows exceptional promise for advancing naval capabilities. This year, just 23 researchers nationwide were selected, each receiving approximately $750,000 over three years to support defense-relevant research in areas such as artificial intelligence, autonomy and cybersecurity.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/ece.ufl.edu\/2026\/04\/03\/two-ece-faculty-earn-prestigious-young-investigator-awards\/\">Read full story on ECE News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two University of Florida engineering professors have been recognized among the nation\u2019s top early-career researchers for their contributions to national defense and security.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":42663,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"single-templates\/single-sidebar-none.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"featured_post":"off","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[15,43,57],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ece","category-honors-awards","category-stories"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Two ECE faculty earn prestigious Young Investigator Awards - News from Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/honors-awards\/two-ece-faculty-earn-prestigious-young-investigator-awards\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Two ECE faculty earn prestigious Young Investigator Awards - News from Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Two University of Florida engineering professors have been recognized among the nation\u2019s top early-career researchers for their contributions to national defense and security.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/honors-awards\/two-ece-faculty-earn-prestigious-young-investigator-awards\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"News from Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UFWertheim\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-06T18:02:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-06T18:04:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2026\/04\/malachowsky-entrance.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Zachrich Jeng, Sarah\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ufwertheim\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ufwertheim\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Zachrich Jeng, Sarah\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.eng.ufl.edu\\\/news\\\/honors-awards\\\/two-ece-faculty-earn-prestigious-young-investigator-awards\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.eng.ufl.edu\\\/news\\\/honors-awards\\\/two-ece-faculty-earn-prestigious-young-investigator-awards\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Zachrich Jeng, Sarah\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.eng.ufl.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0b1e439eb197ec59b8b5e64c8abcf7a7\"},\"headline\":\"Two ECE faculty earn prestigious Young Investigator Awards\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-06T18:02:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-06T18:04:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.eng.ufl.edu\\\/news\\\/honors-awards\\\/two-ece-faculty-earn-prestigious-young-investigator-awards\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":132,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.eng.ufl.edu\\\/news\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.eng.ufl.edu\\\/news\\\/honors-awards\\\/two-ece-faculty-earn-prestigious-young-investigator-awards\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.eng.ufl.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/249\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/malachowsky-entrance.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering\",\"Honors &amp; Awards\",\"Stories\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.eng.ufl.edu\\\/news\\\/honors-awards\\\/two-ece-faculty-earn-prestigious-young-investigator-awards\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.eng.ufl.edu\\\/news\\\/honors-awards\\\/two-ece-faculty-earn-prestigious-young-investigator-awards\\\/\",\"name\":\"Two ECE faculty earn prestigious Young Investigator Awards - News from Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.eng.ufl.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.eng.ufl.edu\\\/news\\\/honors-awards\\\/two-ece-faculty-earn-prestigious-young-investigator-awards\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.eng.ufl.edu\\\/news\\\/honors-awards\\\/two-ece-faculty-earn-prestigious-young-investigator-awards\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.eng.ufl.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/249\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/malachowsky-entrance.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-06T18:02:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-06T18:04:17+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.eng.ufl.edu\\\/news\\\/honors-awards\\\/two-ece-faculty-earn-prestigious-young-investigator-awards\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.eng.ufl.edu\\\/news\\\/honors-awards\\\/two-ece-faculty-earn-prestigious-young-investigator-awards\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.eng.ufl.edu\\\/news\\\/honors-awards\\\/two-ece-faculty-earn-prestigious-young-investigator-awards\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.eng.ufl.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/249\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/malachowsky-entrance.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.eng.ufl.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/249\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/malachowsky-entrance.jpg\",\"width\":2000,\"height\":1300,\"caption\":\"Entrance of Malachowsky Hall on the campus of the University of Florida\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.eng.ufl.edu\\\/news\\\/honors-awards\\\/two-ece-faculty-earn-prestigious-young-investigator-awards\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.eng.ufl.edu\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Two ECE faculty earn prestigious Young Investigator Awards\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.eng.ufl.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.eng.ufl.edu\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"News from Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.eng.ufl.edu\\\/news\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.eng.ufl.edu\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.eng.ufl.edu\\\/news\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.eng.ufl.edu\\\/news\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.eng.ufl.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.eng.ufl.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/249\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/hwcoe-avatar.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.eng.ufl.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/249\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/hwcoe-avatar.png\",\"width\":720,\"height\":720,\"caption\":\"Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.eng.ufl.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/UFWertheim\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/ufwertheim\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.eng.ufl.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/0b1e439eb197ec59b8b5e64c8abcf7a7\",\"name\":\"Zachrich Jeng, Sarah\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d7888e076c232465255e89642610ba5d3face1a9e94d7d151624fde5e97ea8fb?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d7888e076c232465255e89642610ba5d3face1a9e94d7d151624fde5e97ea8fb?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/d7888e076c232465255e89642610ba5d3face1a9e94d7d151624fde5e97ea8fb?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Zachrich Jeng, Sarah\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.eng.ufl.edu\\\/news\\\/author\\\/sarahz\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Two ECE faculty earn prestigious Young Investigator Awards - News from Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/honors-awards\/two-ece-faculty-earn-prestigious-young-investigator-awards\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Two ECE faculty earn prestigious Young Investigator Awards - News from Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering","og_description":"Two University of Florida engineering professors have been recognized among the nation\u2019s top early-career researchers for their contributions to national defense and security.\u00a0","og_url":"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/honors-awards\/two-ece-faculty-earn-prestigious-young-investigator-awards\/","og_site_name":"News from Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UFWertheim\/","article_published_time":"2026-04-06T18:02:30+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-04-06T18:04:17+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2000,"height":1300,"url":"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2026\/04\/malachowsky-entrance.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Zachrich Jeng, Sarah","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ufwertheim","twitter_site":"@ufwertheim","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Zachrich Jeng, Sarah","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/honors-awards\/two-ece-faculty-earn-prestigious-young-investigator-awards\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/honors-awards\/two-ece-faculty-earn-prestigious-young-investigator-awards\/"},"author":{"name":"Zachrich Jeng, Sarah","@id":"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/0b1e439eb197ec59b8b5e64c8abcf7a7"},"headline":"Two ECE faculty earn prestigious Young Investigator Awards","datePublished":"2026-04-06T18:02:30+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-06T18:04:17+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/honors-awards\/two-ece-faculty-earn-prestigious-young-investigator-awards\/"},"wordCount":132,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/honors-awards\/two-ece-faculty-earn-prestigious-young-investigator-awards\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2026\/04\/malachowsky-entrance.jpg","articleSection":["Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering","Honors &amp; Awards","Stories"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/honors-awards\/two-ece-faculty-earn-prestigious-young-investigator-awards\/","url":"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/honors-awards\/two-ece-faculty-earn-prestigious-young-investigator-awards\/","name":"Two ECE faculty earn prestigious Young Investigator Awards - News from Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/honors-awards\/two-ece-faculty-earn-prestigious-young-investigator-awards\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/honors-awards\/two-ece-faculty-earn-prestigious-young-investigator-awards\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2026\/04\/malachowsky-entrance.jpg","datePublished":"2026-04-06T18:02:30+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-06T18:04:17+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/honors-awards\/two-ece-faculty-earn-prestigious-young-investigator-awards\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/honors-awards\/two-ece-faculty-earn-prestigious-young-investigator-awards\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/honors-awards\/two-ece-faculty-earn-prestigious-young-investigator-awards\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2026\/04\/malachowsky-entrance.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2026\/04\/malachowsky-entrance.jpg","width":2000,"height":1300,"caption":"Entrance of Malachowsky Hall on the campus of the University of Florida"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/honors-awards\/two-ece-faculty-earn-prestigious-young-investigator-awards\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Two ECE faculty earn prestigious Young Investigator Awards"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/","name":"News from Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/#organization","name":"Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering","url":"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/07\/hwcoe-avatar.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/249\/2025\/07\/hwcoe-avatar.png","width":720,"height":720,"caption":"Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UFWertheim\/","https:\/\/x.com\/ufwertheim"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/0b1e439eb197ec59b8b5e64c8abcf7a7","name":"Zachrich Jeng, Sarah","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7888e076c232465255e89642610ba5d3face1a9e94d7d151624fde5e97ea8fb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7888e076c232465255e89642610ba5d3face1a9e94d7d151624fde5e97ea8fb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d7888e076c232465255e89642610ba5d3face1a9e94d7d151624fde5e97ea8fb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Zachrich Jeng, Sarah"},"url":"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/author\/sarahz\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42659"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42659\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42661,"href":"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42659\/revisions\/42661"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42663"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eng.ufl.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}