Friday, August 6, 2004Volume 4, Issue 6
Director's Message
MRI ANNUAL PICNIC
Friday, August 27, 2004
12:00 noon - 6:00 p.m.
Pine Grove Mill's Lions Club
Great Food Served 1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Lots of Fun: Obstacle Course, Milk Bottle Knock Down, Ballon Darts, Volleyball, Baseball, Horse Shoes
MRI Items will be available:
- T-Shirts (short sleeve $5.00 and long sleeve $7.00)
- Hats $5.00
For directions to the Pine Grove Mill's Lions Club go to: http://www.mri.psu.edu/ematerials/v02i12/Map.pdf
Regards,
Carlo Pantano
Faculty Spotlight
Dr. Elena Semouchkina's research interests focus on new engineered dielectric materials and structures for the next generation of cell phones, medical imaging systems, and radar applications. The critical requirement for faster wireless data transmission has prompted development of new materials and components for high frequencies. Elena's research integrates fundamental study of electromagnetic wave interaction with non-uniform media, approbation of new ideas in engineering hybrid ceramic materials, and development of innovative devices vital for advanced wireless communication systems. The goal of her research is to find new ways to enhance functionality and reduce size of the devices by affecting wave propagation processes in their circuitry through integration diverse dielectric and magnetic materials in the design. Recent achievements in low-temperature co-fired ceramics (LTCC) technology open up the opportunities to co-process diverse ceramics, which makes these approaches feasible.
She recently received the NSF ADVANCE Fellows Award for her project "Materials Integration Concepts for Electronic and Photonic Devices." The goal of the ADVANCE program is to increase the participation of women in science and engineering through the advancement of women in academic careers. Fellows Awards enable individuals who demonstrate high potential, to develop active, full-time, independent careers at institutions of higher learning, providing for three-year funding to support their research and educational activities. Only 20 to 40 Fellows Awards distributed through all science and engineering fields supported by NSF are given annually nationwide. The NSF review panel regarded Elena's project as an excellent and outstanding one, capable to advance knowledge at the interface of the physics, material science and electrical engineering disciplines.
For the full story go to: http://www.mri.psu.edu/Articles/ElenaSemouchkina/
Mechanical Testing Laboratory (MTL)
Announcing the Mechanical Testing Laboratory (MTL) facility located in Steidle Building. Faculty, researchers or students interested in using MTL equipment, should contact David Shelleman at 5-0634. David will arrange training for those who need it as well as provide consultation regarding individual testing needs.
The Goal of the MTL is to provide a well maintained, user friendly testing facility allowing mechanical evaluation of materials on length scales from nanometers to meters
Equipment is on hand to measure:
- Nanomechanical Behavior (nanoscale elements such as molecules, cells, NEMS)
- Micromechanical Behavior (e.g., MEMS, thin films, and coatings
- Mechanical Behavior (bulk materials - ceramics, metals, polymers, composites)
Contracts and Grants
Materials research accounted for more than $10.7 million in contracts and grants for the months of June and July! 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.
Adair, James H; Singh, Jogender; Synthesis of NanoTabular Particulates for IR obscuration, National Science Foundation
Castleman, JR, Albert W; Solvated salts and acids: Contributions to basic understanding of nucleation, particle growth and aerosol chemistry, National Science Foundation
Dickey, Elizabeth C; Catchmark, Jeffrey M; Heaney, Peter J; MRI: Acquisition of Focused Ion Beam Instrument for Multidisciplinary Research and Education, National Science Foundation
Foley, Henry C; Vannice, M A; Castleman, JR, Albert W; Eklund, Peter C; Crespi, Vincent H; Control of Nanostructures Via Metal-Carbon Interactions Over Multiple Length Scale Via Metal and Metal Carbide Nanojunctions and Nanowelds, National Science Foundation
Fonash, Stephen J; Hallacher, Paul M; 2003/2004 Pennsylvania NMT Partnership, COP: Department of Community and Economic Development
Mallouk, Thomas E; Techniques and Tools to Enhance Blind and Visually Impaired Students Participation in High School Level and General Chemistry Laboratory Classes, National Science Foundation
Mc Grath, Robert T; Keystone Alliance (KA) for Homeland Security, COP: Department of Community and Economic Development
Schlom, Darrell G; Chen, Long Q; Gopalan, Venkat; Trolier-Mckinstry, Susan E; Hu, Xin; NIRT: Artificially Engineered Nanoscale Ferroelectrics, National Science Foundation
Schlom, Darrell G; Quantum Information Processing with Ferroelectrically Coupled Quantum Dots, Pittsburgh, University of
Snyder, Alan J; Pae, Walter E; Haluck, Randy S; Weiss, William J; Electroactive Polymers for Biomedical Application, Industry
Tikalsky, Paul J; Statewide High Performance Concrete Initiatives, COP: Department of Transportation
Wang, Chao-Yang; Development of Direct Methanol Fuel Cells Running on 17 M Methanol, Industry
For a complete list of the contracts and grants for June and July go to: http://www.mri.psu.edu/awards.asp?awardperiod=0407
Funding Opportunities
- DOE - Novel High Temperature Materials for In-Situ Sensing - Deadline: 10/5/2004
- MISC - Semiconductor Research Corp: Device Sciences (DS) Memory Technologies Research - Deadline: 8/16/2004
Materials Seminars
Thursday, August 12, 2004
10:00 AM - 250 MRL Bldg
"UV-Visible spectrometry"
Scott Atkinson, Materials Characterization Lab
Series - MCL Summer Open House
Notes - www.mri.psu.edu/mcl
For a complete list of upcoming materials-related seminars go to:
http://www.mri.psu.edu/seminars.asp
