2022 Waterman Award

About This Grant

The National Science Foundation (NSF) named Dr. Lara A. Thompson, Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of the District of Columbia, one of three 2022 Alan T. Waterman Award recipients. This award is NSF's highest honor that annually recognizes an outstanding researcher who is 40 years or younger or not more than 10 years beyond receipt of the Ph.D. degree, by December 31 of the year of the nomination. The award funds the recipient's research in any field of science or engineering. This year, each awardee will receive a $1 million grant over a five-year period for further advanced study in his or her field. Dr. Thompson is recognized for her innovative research that combines multidisciplinary approaches in engineering, sensor technology, and sensory-motor physiology to investigate and improve clinical diagnostics on human posture, gait, and balance for those impaired by age, trauma, and disease. The revolutionary approaches developed by Thompson are advancing the field of rehabilitation engineering and biomechanics and improving the quality-of-life for mobility impaired populations. Dr. Thompson has trailblazed new research initiatives and educational programs and spearheaded new infrastructure tied to biomedical engineering. In many of her 59 publications, undergraduate research assistants are co-authors. She received a Diverse Issues in Higher Education Emerging Scholar National Award in 2017 and a Black Engineer of the Year STEM innovator Award in 2019. She was a featured alumna in the Fall 2019 edition of Harvard Otolaryngology magazine: "Finding the right balance between research and medicine." She was a featured scientist in three U.S. National Science Foundation events: 1) a 2021 distinguished panel discussion titled "Black Scientists & Engineers at Our Nation's HBCUs: Making American History Now;" 2) the 2020 Presentation to Congress: Broadening Participation in STEM sponsored by the United States House Committee on Science, Space and Technology; and 3) the 2019 "Science Nation" video "Research immerses HBCU undergrads in biomedical engineering." Dr. Thompson earned her Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Massachusetts Lowell, followed by a Master of Science degree in aeronautical and astronautical engineering at Stanford University and a doctoral degree in biomedical engineering from the Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology. Her doctoral research was the first to demonstrate that a vestibular-based sensory prosthetic can improve the ability to maintain balance. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.