It is our pleasure to announce the recipient of the 2019 OMEx Emerging Researcher Best Paper Prize.

The winning paper, Optical engineering of polymer materials and composites for simultaneous color and thermal management [1], was written by Luis Marcelo Lozano from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and his colleagues. The paper discussed the development of organic-inorganic films that simultaneously provide ultra-light weight, conformability, either visual coloring or transparency on demand, and passive thermal management via both conduction and radiation. The selection committee was particularly impressed by the significant impact the results may have on thermal engineering as well as the thoroughness and depth of the work.

This prize recognizes a student or early-career researcher (within five years of earning his/her highest degree) who is the first author of a paper that a committee of OMEx editors judged to be outstanding. The selection committee was again chaired by Deputy Editor Juejun Hu, and consists of associate editors representing a range of topics across the scope of the Journal. They were responsible for identifying a winner from among all the papers published in 2019 based on criteria including the scientific significance, quality, and presentation of the results.

Luis Marcelo Lozano is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the Mechanical Engineering department at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a postdoctoral researcher in the School of Engineering and Sciences at Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico. He received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Guanajuato, Mexico in 2010, and in 2013 he completed a master's degree in Nanosciences and Materials at the Institute of Scientific and Technological Research of San Luis Potosi, Mexico. In 2017, he received his Ph.D. in Engineering Sciences from Tecnologico de Monterrey, Mexico. His current research focuses on the development of high thermal conductivity polymers and polymer composites applied to passive thermal management. More generally, his research interests include nanomaterials, polymers, energy, sustainability, photonics and heat transfer.

Please join us in congratulating Luis on his selection as the winner of the 2019 Optical Materials Express Emerging Researcher Best Paper Prize!