Braun is the Grainger Distinguished Chair in Engineering and the director of the Materials Research Laboratory at the U. of I., with appointments in other departments and institutes, including the Beckman Institute. His research group focuses on the synthesis of materials with carefully crafted 3D nano- and mesoscale architectures that have useful optical, electrochemical and thermal properties. For example, his group is developing new materials for high-energy and power-electrochemical energy storage systems such as fast-charging batteries and high-energy microbatteries. Braun is a Fellow of the Materials Research Society and is a recipient of numerous faculty and research awards.
Sottos is the head of materials science and engineering. She also is a Center for Advanced Study Professor and a Swanlund Chair at Illinois. She leads the Autonomous Materials Systems group at the Beckman Institute, and is affiliated with the Materials Research Laboratory, mechanical science and engineering and aerospace engineering. Her research focuses on polymers and composite materials capable of self-healing and regeneration; mechanochemically active polymers; and materials that can reliably store energy. She is a Fellow of the Society of Engineering Science and the Society for Experimental Mechanics. She was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in early 2020.
AAAS Fellows are a distinguished cadre of scientists, engineers and innovators who have been recognized for their achievements across disciplines, from research, teaching, and technology, to administration in academia, industry and government, to excellence in communicating and interpreting science to the public.
In a tradition stretching back to 1874, these individuals are elected annually by the AAAS Council. Newly elected Fellows are recognized for their extraordinary achievements at the ceremonial Fellows Forum, a time-honored event at the AAAS Annual Meeting where they are presented with a certificate and blue and gold rosette.
Eligible nominees are members whose efforts on behalf of the advancement of science or its applications are scientifically or socially distinguished and who have been a continuous AAAS member for at least four years leading up to the year of nomination. Fellows have included Thomas Edison, W.E.B DuBois, Maria Mitchell, Steven Chu, Ellen Ochoa and Irwin M. Jacobs.
Election as an AAAS Fellow is a lifetime honor and all Fellows are expected to meet the commonly held standards of professional ethics and scientific integrity.