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eMaterials Newsletters

 

Friday, June 27, 2003Volume 3, Issue 8

 

Director's Message

Join the next WUN Advanced Materials Group on line seminar.

 

Tuesday, July 15, 2003
12:00 p.m. - 108 Wartik

Opportunities for Collaboration with the University of Sheffield
in Ceramics, Glass and Cement Research.

Prof. Bill Lee, Immobilisation Science Laboratory
Dept. of Engineering Materials, University of Sheffield

 

Abstract

The Department of Engineering Materials at the University of Sheffield is the leading university centre for ceramics research in the UK containing e.g. the Sorby Centre for Electron Microscopy housing 10 SEMs and TEMs, the Immobilisation Science Laboratory (ISL) a team of 25 researching immobilising toxic and nuclear waste in ceramic, cement and glass wasteforms and the EPSRC Portfolio Partnership (PP) in Functional and Structural Ceramics which funds 9 academics for 5 years at a level of nearly $10M.

 

Ceramics and related research in the University of Sheffield will be briefly described and opportunities for funded collaboration highlighted. These include PhD student exchange via the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN) and ISL or PP funded visiting fellowships for PhDs, post docs or more senior academics working in relevant areas.

http://www.shef.ac.uk/materials/staff/welee01.html

 

Regards,
Carlo Pantano

Pennsylvania to Support Clean Energy Tech with New Fund

Breaking new technologies into traditional markets can be challenging, particularly in the energy field it seems. To help overcome that hurdle, the State of Pennsylvania has undertaken a $5 million initiative to help finance the implementation of clean and renewable energy technologies such as biomass and wind power. The initiative, Pennsylvania Energy Harvest, will help improve air quality, preserve land and protect local watersheds while providing economic opportunities for the state's agricultural community.

 

Pennsylvania Energy Harvest mixes money from the state's Clean Air Fund, Growing Greener Program, and U.S. Department of Energy grant funding. The initiative is designed to encourage clean and renewable energy demonstration projects that will have real and measurable impacts on pollution reduction, environmental quality and energy generation, rather than projects that focus solely on public outreach and communication. Among some of the projects that could qualify for funding:

 

 

Pennsylvania Energy Harvest is part of the plan to get Pennsylvania to meet 10 percent of its energy needs with "green" power by encouraging more state agencies to use energy sources such as those above. Some of the sources are not truly renewable but still offer environmental benefits. Twelve agencies currently participate.

 

The state's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Acting Secretary Kathleen McGinty said DEP and state government in general will continue to look at ways to encourage the development of green power, including regulatory enticements and other credits or incentives. One way, she said, will be to put the state's resources to work to encourage energy innovation by expanding the state's Green Power program.

 

Former Pennsylvania Governors Tom Ridge and Mark Schweiker instituted the program to require state facilities to meet 5 percent of their energy needs through renewable energy sources. Gov. Ed Rendell has pledged to increase that goal.

 

The Pennsylvania Energy Harvest grant program is open to farmers, local governments, conservation districts, nonprofit organizations, farms, businesses and school districts, colleges and universities. The deadline to apply is Sept. 19, 2003. For more information, type "2003 Energy Harvest Grant" in the PA Keyword field at:
http://www.state.pa.us

Research Focus: H2 Adsorption On Carbon Nanotubes

Carbon nanotube materials show tremendous promise as a safe, lightweight method for storing hydrogen. The U.S. Department of Energy has estimated that 6-7 wt% hydrogen at room temperature is the minimum amount required for nanotubes to be practical for ground transportation technology. \Researchers from around the world have reported 10 wt% to as much as 50 wt% hydrogen in carbon nanotubes using a variety of processing approaches. Many of the reports claiming more than 6 wt% have proven impossible to reproduce and have been attributed to measurement errors. There is also strong suspicion that subtle differences in the carbon nanostructure can impact hydrogen adsorption.

 

For the complete article go to:
http://www.mri.psu.edu/ematerials/v03i08/article.pdf

REMINDER: Summer Get-Togethers

If you have an idea for a collaborative program and are willing to champion the effort, let us know and we will schedule a slot for you. If there are topics already scheduled for discussion that are of interest to you, feel free to contact the speaker/discussion leader and/or bring a few view graphs to the get-together. These are initiatives in the formative stages. We welcome your interests and contributions to the effort.

 

Faculty Contracts and Grants

Materials research accounted for more than $10.6 million in contracts and grants for the month of May! The largest of these contracts and grants (those greater than $200K) are listed below, along with a link to the complete list of contracts and grants. These data are provided by OSPs Strategic Information Management System.

 

Allara, David L; Quantum Computation Using Self-Assembled Molecular Spin Arrays, U.S. Department of the Army

 

Dickey, Elizabeth C; Multiple Length Scale Experimentation and Modeling of Grain Boundary Segregation in Ionic Materials, National Science Foundation

 

Fonash, Stephen J; Hallacher, Paul M; Feller, Irwin; Grabowski, Barbara L; Dana, Thomas M; Horn, Mark W; ATE Regional Center for Nanofabrication Manufacturing Education, National Science Foundation

 

Randall, Clive A; BME Interface Characterization in State of the Art X7R Capacitors, Industry

 

Schobert, Harold H; Boehman, Andre L; Eser, Semih; Song, Chunshan; Santoro, Robert J; Micci, Michael M;

Yang, Vigor; Advanced Thermally Stable Coal-Based Jet Fuels, U.S. Department of the Air Force

 

Schriempf, John T; Geathers, Eliot; Enhancement of High Power Laser Diode Arrays, U.S. Department of the Navy

 

Shrout, Thomas R; Tutwiler, Richard L; A Digital Ultrasound Facility for Transducer Evaluation, U.S. Department of the Navy

 

Mark Your Calendars

MRI Picnic

The Third Annual MRI Picnic has been scheduled for the afternoon of August 22nd. All are invited. Details to follow.

 

Nanoparticulate Workshop

The FALL 03 Nanoparticulate Workshop will be held October 12-14, 2003. The workshop will focus on "Dispersion of Nanoparticulates in Liquids" with presentations given by internationally known speakers.

 

As details progress - more information will be sent.

Materials Seminars

Monday, June 30, 2003

Time: 12:00 PM
Location: 339 Davey Lab
Title: Patterned Ferroelectrics
Speaker: Susan Trolier-McKinstry, Penn State

Tuesday, July 08, 2003

Time: 10:45 AM
Location: 250 MRL
Title: Inkjet Droplet formation: Device Designs, Fabrication and Applications
Speaker: Dr. Hue L. Le, Pico Jet Inc.

For a complete list of upcoming materials-related seminars go to:
http://www.mri.psu.edu/seminars.asp

Funding Opportunities

 

ARO topic areas

  1. Hybrid Synthetic Biopolymers for Multifunctional Materials
  2. Hybrid Bio-Mechanical Systems
  3. Space-Time Processing for Enhanced Mobile Ad-Hoc Wireless Networking
  4. Design and Processing of Electret Structures
  5. Giga-Hertz Electromagnetic Wave Science and Devices for Advanced Battlefield Communications
  6. Micro Hovering Aerial Vehicles with an Invertebrate Vision Inspired Navigation System
  7. Nano-Engineered Energetic Materials
  8. Human Signatures for Personnel Detection

 

ONR topic areas

  1. Epitaxial Multifunction Materials and Applications (EMMA)
  2. Coupled Observation, Adaptive Sampling, and Forecast in the Real Environment
  3. Friction and Wear under Very High Electromagnetic Stress (Electromagnetic Launchers)
  4. Fundamental Understanding of Propellant/Nozzle Interaction to Mitigate Erosion for Very High Pressure Missile Propellant Applications
  5. Fatal Circulatory Collapse in Late-Phase Hemorrhagic Shock

 

AFOSR topic areas

  1. Electromagnetics of Antennas and Arrays Designed Using Novel Electronic Materials and Conformal to Large Complex Bodies
  2. Nanoscale Design of Structures for Prediction and Control of Cellular Response
  3. The NanoPhysics of Electron Dynamics Near Surfaces: Key to Tomorrow's HPM Weapons
  4. Nanostructured Multi-Functional Surfaces Enabling Air and Space Vehicle Tribology
  5. Laser Cooling for Solid-State Cryogenic Refrigeration
  6. Characterization and Prediction of Turbulent Transport Properties in Nonequilibrium Flows
  7. Combined Cycle Propulsion for Efficient Hypersonic Cruise and Economic Access to Space
  8. Nanophotonics and Plasmon Optics for Optical Networks, Sources and Sensors