President Donald Trump recognized two associate professors for their independent research in science and technology, according to a White House release Tuesday.

Trump awarded Chunlei Liang and Volker Sorger, both associate professors of engineering and applied science, with the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers. The award is the highest honor given by the U.S. government to scientists and engineers who are beginning their independent research careers, the release states.

“The PECASE acknowledges the contributions scientists and engineers have made to the advancement of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education and to community service as demonstrated by scientific leadership, public education and community outreach,” the statement read.

Each award recipient was nominated by a federal agency. Liang was nominated by the National Science Foundation, and Sorger was nominated by the Department of Defense.

Liang specializes in biomedical and mechanical engineering, thermal science, energy and magnetohydrodynamics – the study of electrically conducted fluids through a magnetic field.

He has also been recognized with the National Science Foundation’s CAREER Award, the D.C. Council of Engineering and Architectural Societies Young Engineer of the Year Award and the Office of Naval Research’s Young Investigator Program Award.

Sorger researches analog information processing within the fields of electrical and computer engineering, photonics and plasmonics – a study involving the combination of light and electrons in metals.

His work has been recognized with the GW Vice President for Research’s Early Career Award, the Hegarty Innovations Prize and the National Academy of Sciences’ Best Paper Prize of the Year. Sorger has also been published in more than 120 peer-reviewed publications and his research has been cited more than 7,000 times.