This is the highest honour bestowed by the US government on science and engineering professionals in the early stages of their independent research careers.

A total of 105 people, including Salahuddin, have been named for the prestigious award this year, according to a White House press release on Thursday.

The awards were initiated in 1996 by the then US president Bill Clinton.

Salahuddin, an associate professor at University of California, Berkeley, receives the honour for low-energy microprocessors for computers.

Congratulating the award nominees, US President Barack Obama said, “These early-career scientists are leading the way in our efforts to confront and understand challenges from climate change to our health and wellness.”’

“We congratulate these accomplished individuals and encourage them to continue to serve as an example of the incredible promise and ingenuity of the American people.”

Salahuddin received his BSc in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) in 2003 and PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Purdue University in 2007.

He joined the faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at University of California, Berkeley in 2008.

His research interests are in the fields of Physical Electronics; Design, Modeling and Analysis; Energy and Scientific Computing.

Salahuddin hails from Shariatpur in Bangladesh. His parents and sister live in Dhaka. His wife, Tanvin Zaman, has completed her master’s from the University of California, Berkeley.