U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
10/15/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/15/2026 13:45
Three U.S. Naval Research Laboratory Experts Receive Sigma Xi Chapter Awards
NEWS | Oct. 15, 2026
Three U.S. Naval Research Laboratory Experts Receive Sigma Xi Chapter Awards
By U.S. Naval Research Laboratory Corporate Communications
Washington D.C - Three U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) experts received the 2025 NRL Edison Chapter of Sigma Xi awards during a ceremony April 9.
Sigma Xi is the international honor society of science and engineering with chapters at colleges and universities, government laboratories, and industry research centers around the world.
This is the 71st year that the NRL Edison Chapter of Sigma Xi began the tradition of annual awards. Since 1955, there have been 80 winners of the Pure Science award, 77 winners of the Applied Science Award, and 29 winners of the Young Investigator award, which started later in 2000.
"The list of winners is inspiring," said NRL Commanding Officer Capt. Randy Cruz during the ceremony referring to past award recipients including W. A. Zisman, Jerome Karle, HA Hauptman, Isabela Karle, and Tom Reinecke. "This year's honorees are no exception to the long list of amazing accomplishments."
The 2025 awardees are:
Pure Science: Paul Ray, Ph.D.
Ray was selected for his world-leading contributions to the discovery and characterization of millisecond pulsars and pioneering their use in alternative position, navigation, and timing techniques.
Ray is an astrophysicist and Head of NRL's High Energy Astrophysics and Applications Section. He started at NRL in 1995 as a National Research Council (NRC) Research Associateships Program postdoctoral and became a civil servant in 1997.
At NRL he has worked on radio, X-ray, and gamma-ray astronomy, building instruments and detector systems, participating in NASA and Department of War Space Test Program space missions, and leads a research group studying pulsars and other neutron stars with the aim of understanding their astrophysics as well as their applications as natural clocks.
Applied Science: Rafael Gattass, Ph.D.
Gattass was recognized for his innovations and discoveries which have greatly advanced the field of linear and nonlinear fiber optics and fiber-based laser sources.
Gattass joined the NRL Optical Devices Section in 2009 and pursues research in novel optical fibers, laser sources and exploring non-linear optical phenomena for efficient frequency conversion. He has been awarded 20 patents, and his work has been recognized with over 7,000 citations.
Young Investigator: Tanya Tschirhart, Ph.D.
Tschirhart was selected for her contribution to biomanufacturing and pioneering development of electrogenetics in bacterial systems.
Tschirhart joined NRL as an American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) postdoctoral fellow, working at the NRL Center for Biomolecular Science and Engineering (CBMSE) to develop synthetic biology and bioelectronics tools for more precise control of bacterial function and bioproduction.
Since 2019, she has worked as a research biologist at CBMSE, where her research focuses on uncovering the fundamentals of bacterial genomic and metabolic function and leveraging these insights to develop improved biohybrid and biomanufacturing technologies for the Navy.
About the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
NRL is a scientific and engineering command dedicated to research that drives innovative advances for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps from the seafloor to space and in the information domain. NRL is located in Washington, D.C. with major field sites in Stennis Space Center, Mississippi; Key West, Florida; Monterey, California.
NRL offers several mechanisms for collaborating with the broader scientific community, within and outside of the Federal government. These include Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs), LP-CRADAs, Educational Partnership Agreements, agreements under the authority of 10 USC 4892, licensing agreements, FAR contracts, and other applicable agreements.
For more information, contact NRL Corporate Communications at (202) 480-3746 or [email protected]. Please reference package number at top of press release.
Sigma Xi is the international honor society of science and engineering with chapters at colleges and universities, government laboratories, and industry research centers around the world.
This is the 71st year that the NRL Edison Chapter of Sigma Xi began the tradition of annual awards. Since 1955, there have been 80 winners of the Pure Science award, 77 winners of the Applied Science Award, and 29 winners of the Young Investigator award, which started later in 2000.
"The list of winners is inspiring," said NRL Commanding Officer Capt. Randy Cruz during the ceremony referring to past award recipients including W. A. Zisman, Jerome Karle, HA Hauptman, Isabela Karle, and Tom Reinecke. "This year's honorees are no exception to the long list of amazing accomplishments."
The 2025 awardees are:
Pure Science: Paul Ray, Ph.D.
Ray was selected for his world-leading contributions to the discovery and characterization of millisecond pulsars and pioneering their use in alternative position, navigation, and timing techniques.
Ray is an astrophysicist and Head of NRL's High Energy Astrophysics and Applications Section. He started at NRL in 1995 as a National Research Council (NRC) Research Associateships Program postdoctoral and became a civil servant in 1997.
At NRL he has worked on radio, X-ray, and gamma-ray astronomy, building instruments and detector systems, participating in NASA and Department of War Space Test Program space missions, and leads a research group studying pulsars and other neutron stars with the aim of understanding their astrophysics as well as their applications as natural clocks.
Applied Science: Rafael Gattass, Ph.D.
Gattass was recognized for his innovations and discoveries which have greatly advanced the field of linear and nonlinear fiber optics and fiber-based laser sources.
Gattass joined the NRL Optical Devices Section in 2009 and pursues research in novel optical fibers, laser sources and exploring non-linear optical phenomena for efficient frequency conversion. He has been awarded 20 patents, and his work has been recognized with over 7,000 citations.
Young Investigator: Tanya Tschirhart, Ph.D.
Tschirhart was selected for her contribution to biomanufacturing and pioneering development of electrogenetics in bacterial systems.
Tschirhart joined NRL as an American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) postdoctoral fellow, working at the NRL Center for Biomolecular Science and Engineering (CBMSE) to develop synthetic biology and bioelectronics tools for more precise control of bacterial function and bioproduction.
Since 2019, she has worked as a research biologist at CBMSE, where her research focuses on uncovering the fundamentals of bacterial genomic and metabolic function and leveraging these insights to develop improved biohybrid and biomanufacturing technologies for the Navy.
About the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
NRL is a scientific and engineering command dedicated to research that drives innovative advances for the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps from the seafloor to space and in the information domain. NRL is located in Washington, D.C. with major field sites in Stennis Space Center, Mississippi; Key West, Florida; Monterey, California.
NRL offers several mechanisms for collaborating with the broader scientific community, within and outside of the Federal government. These include Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs), LP-CRADAs, Educational Partnership Agreements, agreements under the authority of 10 USC 4892, licensing agreements, FAR contracts, and other applicable agreements.
For more information, contact NRL Corporate Communications at (202) 480-3746 or [email protected]. Please reference package number at top of press release.
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