Tuesday, September 24, 2002Volume 2, Issue 14
Director's Message
Many of you are already aware that our NSF Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC) will be augmented with another award that will double its size this year. The Directors (Chan, Crespi and Weiss) will briefly describe the expanded MRSEC, now called the "Center for Nanomolecular Structures" at the MRI Fall Faculty Meeting on October 1st (at 3:30 p.m., 189 MRL Bldg.). There will be a wine and hors d'oeuvres reception to celebrate this accomplishment immediately following the faculty meeting. I hope to see you all there. There will also be updates on new equipment, facilities, and other research activities.
To view pictures from the MRI picnic go to:
http://www.mri.psu.edu/ematerials/v02i14/photos.html
Were you able to attend the 2nd Annual MRI Picnic last month? There was a welcome threat of rain, but it did not deter over 300 attendees from enjoying some good food, conversation, and recreation. We tried a new venue this summer (the Lion's Club in Pine Grove Mills) that met with everyone's approval. We will return there next year. Please plan for it.
Best Regards,
Carlo Pantano
MRI Faculty Spotlight
Taking a lesson from the silk production of spiders, Ayusman Sen, Professor of Chemistry, is developing materials and methods for production of new polymer fibers, bundles, tapes, and sheets on the nanometer scale under the National Science Foundation's NIRT Award entitled "Nanoreactor Processes for Manufacturing Oriented Materials." Along with his co-principal investigators, Seong Kim (Chem. Eng.), Paul Weiss (Chem.), Hank Foley (Chem. Eng.), Steve Fonash (ESM), Sen is looking to produce polymers comprised of aligned chains, which will possess increased strength over conventionally produced bulk polymers.
For the full story go to:
http://www.mri.psu.edu/articles/AyusmanSen/
2002-2003 Seed Grant Awards
Listed below are the 2002-2003 Seed Grant Awards, which will be jointly funded and administered by MRI and MRSEC.
Interfaces in Heterostructured Nanowires and Microdisks
By: Elizabeth Dickey, ESM
Modeling the Dynamic Response of Nanowire Structures for Integrated Nanomechanical Biosensor Arrays
By: Gary L. Gray, ESM; and Francesco Costanzo, ESM
TiO2 Nanotube Hydrogen Sensors
By: Craig Grimes, EE
Catalytic Polymerization Inside Nanochannels
By: Seong Kim, CHE
Nanostructures of Magnetic Oxide with Anomalous Magnetoresistance Effect
By: Qi Li, Phys.
E-beam Lithography for Synthesis and Characterization of Metal and Semiconducting Nanowires
By: Theresa Mayer, EE; Joan Redwing, MSE; Moses Chan, Phys.; and Ari Mizel, Phys.
Nanofab Activities
By: Peter Schiffer, Phys.; and Nitin Samarth, Phys.
Ionic Composites
By: Ayusman Sen, Chem.
Patterning Signaling Complexes in Live Cells and Model Membranes
By: Erin Sheets, Chem.
Implementation of a Wet-Cell Collection-Mode Near-Field Optical Microscope for Imaging the Actin and
Myosin Molecular Interaction
By: Joseph Stitt, ARL; Venkatraman Gopalan, MSE; Lars G. Larsson, Physiology; and Richard Tutwiler, ARL
Freestanding Nanomechanical Structures
By: Srinivas Tadigadapa, EE; and Moses Chan, Phys.
Semiconducting Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Nanostructures for Optoelectronics
By: Qing Wang, MSE
Superconducting and Magnetic Nanowires
By: Jinguo Wang, MRI; and Minglian Tian
New Faculty
We would like to welcome new faculty who have joined Penn State University with an interest in materials research. Checkout their Web sites and learn about their research interests.
Lawrence Friedman, Assistant Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics, College of Engineering
Email:
Validate to view address
Web Page: http://www.esm.psu.edu/
**(computational modeling of dislocations and plasticity)
Allen Kimel, Lecturer, Materials Science & Engineering, College of Earth & Mineral Sciences
Email:
Validate to view address
Web Page: http://www.matse.psu.edu/
**(ceramic processing)
Matthew Mench, Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering
Email:
Validate to view address
**(fuel cells and combustion)
Christopher Muhlstein, Assistant Professor of Materials Science & Engineering, College of Earth & Mineral Sciences
Email:
Validate to view address
**(physical metallurgy and MEMS)
Albert Segall, Associate Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics, College of Engineering
Email:
Validate to view address
Web Page: http://www.esm.psu.edu/
**(thermal shock and wear)
Erin Sheets, Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Eberly College of Science
Email:
Validate to view address
**(nano-bio for cell surfaces)
Judith Todd, Professor, P. B. Breneman Chair, Head of Engineering Science and Mechanics, College of Engineering
Email:
Validate to view address
**(mechanics of materials and NDE)
Qing Wang, Assistant Professor of Materials Science & Engineering, College of Earth & Mineral Sciences
Email:
Validate to view address
**(optical polymers and nanofabrication)
PA Nano 2002
The six research universities in Pennsylvania will host PA Nanotechnology 2002 on October 3-4. This forum is intended to inform our state legislators about the potential educational, economic and societal benefits of our nanotechnology research. There will be six technical panel sessions designed to create a roadmap for future state investments in Nanotechnology. I encourage you to attend and to be vocal about your work and its potential impact. There are complementary housing and travel scholarships for graduate students to attend as well (email ars2@psu.edu ASAP if you would like to nominate one of your students).
Hydrogen Center
Are you interested in hydrogen production technology (including the use of bacteria or bio-reactors), hydrogen storage materials, or fuel cells? Then checkout the Penn State Hydrogen Energy Center at http://www.engr.psu.edu/ce/enve/h2e/h2e-main.htm which is in the formative stages under the leadership of Professor Bruce Logan.
There is a seed grant program currently underway that may offer you the opportunity to get involved in this fast growing, PA friendly, new fuel economy.
Materials Seminars
Tuesday, September 24, 2002Time: 11:15 AMThursday, September 26, 2002
Location: 108 Wartik Laboratory
Title: Toward Plastic Electronics: Patterned Electroactive Organic Materials Using Polymer-on-Polymer Stamping
Speaker: Dr. Paula Hammond, MIT
Time: 11:15 AMThursday, October 03, 2002
Location: 22 Deike Bldg
Title: The Scientific Opportunities Underpinning Thermal Barrier Coating Systems
Speaker: David Clarke, Professor of Materials, University of California at Santa Barbara
Time: 11:15 AM
Location: 22 Deike Bldg
Title: Towards Nanoscale Optoelectronics: Directing and Self Assembly of Conjugated Polymers
Speaker: Qing Wang, Asst. Professor of MATSE, PSU
