Assistant Professor Nga Lee “Sally” Ng won the 2016 Kenneth T. Whitby Award from the American Association for Aerosol Research (AAAR).

The annual award recognizes outstanding contributions to aerosol science and technology by a young scientist.

Ng, who holds joint appointments in Georgia Tech’s School of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering and the School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, has published more than 55 papers since receiving her PhD in 2007 from California Institute of Technology.

Before joining Georgia Tech, she was pivotal in developing aerosol mass spectrometry technologies and data analysis techniques in the private sector. Her work at Aerodyne Research led to instruments that reduced the cost of monitoring and measuring aerosols in the atmosphere. The technology has since been implemented at sites worldwide.

Ng’s work has advanced current understanding of secondary organic aerosols (SOA) formation mechanisms and their effects on air quality and health. At Tech, Ng has focused on understanding the intricate interactions between biogenic and anthropogenic aerosol emissions, which affect SOA. She has provided some of the first direct observations and mechanistic insights into the roles of anthropogenic pollutants on the formation of SOA from trees.

Her research has led to discoveries of aerosol pollution in the southeastern United States and insights on the effectiveness of sulfur dioxide scrubbers at power plants and the significance of diurnal transitions on the fate of certain nitrogen-based aerosols.

The Whitby Award, Ng says, “is a tremendous affirmation of my research work. I am very grateful to those who have supported me and my research over the years, including the many great mentors whom I am fortunate to have, my research group, and my colleagues.”