Friday, December 5, 2003Volume 3, Issue 15
Materials Day 2004
Materials Day at Penn State
April 14 & 15, 2004
HUB-Robeson, Alumni Hall
Please mark your calendars and plan to attend and participate in this campus-wide event
U.S. Science & Engineering Labor Demands are an Urgent IssueFunding Opps
New figures on the proportion of foreign-born workers in science and technology occupations suggest the federal government must "act now" to meet future needs in science, engineering and technology fields, a new National Science Board (NSB) report argues. A sampling from 2000 census figures indicates a larger than previously known percentage of degree-holding, foreign-born professionals working in the U.S. in science and engineering (S&E) occupations, states NSB, the governing board for the National Science Foundation (NSF). Meanwhile, the number of H1-B visas issued to foreign-born workers in science and technology has declined.
According to NSF's figures, derived from the 1990 census, estimates of foreign-born workers in 1999 holding bachelor's degrees represented 11 percent of the total population in S&E-classified occupations. Foreign-born individuals with master's degrees held 19 percent of the S&E occupations held by master's recipients overall. Foreign-born Ph.D.s represented 29 percent of those positions.
DOE Update
DOE Releases 20-Year Strategic Plan
Last week, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Spencer Abraham outlined the Office of Science's 20-year science facility plan, a roadmap or "wish list" for future scientific facilities to support the department's basic science and research missions. The plan prioritizes new, major scientific facilities and upgrades to current facilities.
The 28 big-ticket facilities cover the range of science supported by the DOE's Office of Science, including fusion energy, materials science, biological and environmental science, high energy physics, nuclear physics and advanced scientific computation.
Twelve facilities earn recognition as near-term priorities. Priority one is ITER, an international collaboration to build the first fusion science experiment capable of producing a self-sustaining fusion reaction, called a "burning plasma." Priority two is an UltraScale Scientific Computing Capability, to be located at multiple sites, that would increase by a factor of 100 the computing capability available to support open scientific research.
Workshop
Materials for High Temperature PEM Fuel Cells
Sponsored by:
The Pennsylvania State University
Materials Research Institute
&
The Energy Institute
December 11, 2003
8:30 a.m - 5:00 p.m.
C213 Coal Utilization Laboratory, University Park PA 16802
Objectives:
- Review the current R&D on HT PEM fuel cells at Penn State
- Identify avenues for enhancing on-campus collaborations in the area of new materials for HT PEM fuel cells
- Consider further opportunities to collaborate with other research institutions and industry
- Identify possible sources of funding and support for further development of new materials for HT PEM fuel cells at Penn State
Faculty Grants & Contracts
Materials research accounted for more than $2.2 million in contracts and grants for the month of November! 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.
Fonash, Stephen J; Catchmark, Jeffrey M; NSF National Nanofabrication Users Network, Cornell University
Shrout, Thomas R; Novel Piezo Materials for High Performance Actuators and Transducers, U.S. Department of the Navy
Wang, Chao-Yang; Design, Fabrication, Characterization and Simulation of Catalyst Layer for PEM Fuel Cells, Industry
For a complete list of the contracts and grants for November go to:
http://www.mri.psu.edu/awards.asp?awardperiod=0311
Materials Seminars
Monday, December 08, 2003Time: 11:00 AMTuesday, December 09, 2003
Location: 250 MRL Building
Title: Ceramic - Latex Composite Coatings
Speaker: Lorraine F. Francis, University of Minnesota
Time: 11:30 AMTuesday, December 09, 2003
Location: 108 Wartik
Title: Piezoelectric Films in MEMS
Speaker: Dr. Susan Trolier-McKinstry, Penn State University
Series: Chemical Engineering seminar
Notes: Refreshments will be served 15 minutes prior to each seminar outside the room.
Time: 12:00 PMWednesday, December 10, 2003
Location: 202 Steidle
Title: Ceramic Powder Synthesis by the Organic-Inorganic Steric Entrapment Method
Speaker: Trudi Kriven, University of Illinois
Series: WUN Seminar
Notes: Teleconference presentation
Time: 3:35 PMThursday, December 11, 2003
Location: 114 Earth-Engineering Sciences
Title: Sustainability as an Engineering eithic
Speaker: Christopher Uhl, Penn State
Series: Engineering Science & Mechanics Seminar
Time: 1:15 PM
Location: 26 Hosler
Title: New Developments in Lithographic Patterning: Steps to Three-dimensional Microfabrication
Speaker: Christopher Ober, Cornell University
Series: Materials Science & Engineering seminar
For a complete list of upcoming materials-related seminars go to:
http://www.mri.psu.edu/seminars.asp
