Monday, September 13, 2004Volume 4, Issue 7
Director's Message
The support of student, faculty and Center research in materials and related technologies is central to MRI's mission. This year, the University will establish its next five-year strategic plan, and so the time is right to reflect on our progress, adjust our course, and set aside resources for new initiatives. One of our successes has been the establishment of a collegial, active University-wide community in materials, and to further enhance and take advantage of it, I encourage all faculty and staff to participate in this five-year strategic planning process. Within the broad area of materials research, activities that support or are focused on nanotechnology, energy, electronic materials, and biological materials - and/or their commercialization - will be of most relevance to the MRI strategic plan. I will be contacting you shortly with some questions relevant to new directions and initiatives for MRI, but of course, you are welcome at any time to send me your thoughts and specific ideas.
One of the most important inputs for this process is timely information about your current research activities and the technology areas they impact. Your colleagues, the MRI staff, and the Penn State administration will depend upon that information to assess our strengths and near-term opportunities. There is a simple on-line form that will serve to update our directory AND to update your one-page research profile on the MRI website. Please visit the MRI website at: http://www.mri.psu.edu and click on the "Directory"in the menu bar. You can browse for your one-page research profile or, to get an idea as to what your colleagues have written, view the profiles of other faculty members. Once you are ready to complete the form, return to the "Directory" page and click on the link "Update Your Profile." You can login using your Penn State User Id and Password to complete the form. This will not take much time, and is an important criteria for MRI affiliation.
My best wishes for another successful academic year.
Carlo Pantano
Keystone Chapter of IMAPS Sponsoring a Meeting
The Keystone Chapter of the International Microelectronic and Packaging Society (IMAPS) will sponsor a meeting on Thursday, September 23, 2004 in Room 189,MRL Penn State. There will be a featured speaker, student poster presentation (with cash prizes), and a buffet lunch.
Pre-registered students who present a poster may attend and eat lunch free, and there is a nominal fee for others. It is acceptable for an existing poster to be presented.
If you would like to attend, please RSVP to Joanne Aller at 865-2896 no later than September 20, 2004.
MatSE Taylor Lecture
Please mark your calendars for the GEMS Seminar Series on September 16 and the MatSE Taylor Lecture on September 17. Both will be held in 117 Hub Auditorium. Dr. Robert Langer from MIT will present the Taylor Lecture this year.
Moving Sponsored Research to the Commercial Arena
An Expanded Funding Opportunity from the Life Sciences Greenhouse of Central PennsylvaniaSeptember 29, 4:00 p.m.
At the Penn Stater, Senate Suites
The goal of the Life Sciences Greenhouse of Central PA (LSGPA) is to focus and accelerate the development of life sciences technologies, to develop new startup companies, and to enhance existing companies in central Pennsylvania. To accomplish this, LSGPA has established a Technology Development Fund to help commercialize discoveries in the Life Sciences.
White House Issues Updated Research Priorities for 2006 Budget
Homeland Security R&D remains the Administration's top research focus with space provided in the memo to single out several priorities areas:
- enhancing prevention, detection, treatment, and remediation of nuclear, chemical and biological (particularly genetically modified) threats;
- planning for and initiating recapitalization efforts to ensure continuing state-of-the-art capability to test and evaluate next-generation medical countermeasures;
- enabling the development of a biosurveillance network integrating human, animal, plant and environmental surveillance and laboratory networks
- addressing shortfalls in the development of new drugs and vaccines against foreign animal disease threats; and
- pursuing social and behavioral studies to anticipate, counter, and diffuse threats to our homeland security.
Useful Stats: Industry's Share of Academic R&D 2000-2002, by State
For many states, increasing industrial R&D within the state's academic research institutions is a priority. Some state tech-based economic development agencies offer financial assistance, such as matching grants to foster greater university-industry research collaboration. Some offer tax credits to companies for research expenditures within the state higher education community. As an institution, Penn State ranks 3rd in industrial support of research and the state is ranked 3rd also nationally.
In most cases, industrially supported R&D will be for advanced research that most likely is closer to commercialization or supports technologies already in production.
Contracts and Grants
Materials research accounted for more than $6.4 million in contracts and grants for the month of August! 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; NNIN, Cornell University
Garrison, Barbara J; ITR - (ASE) - (sim): Mesoscale Modeling of Laser Ablation of Polymers, National Science Foundation
Grimes, Craig A; Pishko, Michael V; SST: Ricin Quantification in Aqueous Media, National Science Foundation
Hahm, Jong-in; Silicon nanowire field effect transistor arrays as advanced biothreat sensors, National Science Foundation
Harris, Karl A; Management of the Electro-Optics Manufacturing Technology, U.S. Department of the Navy
Heaney, Peter J; Komarneni, Sridhar; Time-Resolved Diffraction Studies of Aqueous Cation Exchange and Hydrothermal Synthesis of Metal Oxide Clay Minerals, National Science Foundation
Hellmann, JR, John R; Scheetz, Barry E; Cement Based, Low Temperature-Cured Proppants, Industry
Hellmann, JR, John R; Scheetz, Barry E; Proppants Engineered from Discarded Industrial Materials, Industry
Lenahan, Patrick M; Identifying the Physical and Chemical Nature of Atomic Scale Defects Which Limit the Performance of High-k Gate MOS Systems, Industry
Pishko, Michael V; Microfabricated Multianalyte Sensor Arrays for Metabolite Monitoring, U.S. Department of the Army
Pishko, Michael V; Grimes, Craig A; Vibrating Nanostructures for Prevention of Biofouling on Implanted Devices, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
For a complete list of the contracts and grants for August go to:
http://www.mri.psu.edu/awards.asp?awardperiod=0408
Funding Opportunities
- Nano Business Competition
The International Nanotechnology Business Idea Competition is interested in Business Ideas that are based upon or enabled by nanotechnology, and which will provide a superior means of meeting a market need.The successful Nanotechnology Business Ideas are expected to provide strong arguments that they will bring a product or service to market in a reasonable time.
The International Nanotechnology Business Idea Competition, whose deadline was extended from Sept. 1 to give researchers additional time to enter, will award cash prizes of $50,000, $15,000 and $10,000 to the best ideas.
- NSF Grant Opportunities for Academic Liaison with Industry (GOALI)
Highlights for having a successful GOALI program:
Special interest is focused on affording the opportunity for: (1) faculty, postdoctoral fellows and students to conduct research and gain experience with production processes in an industrial setting, (2) industrial scientists and engineers to bring industry's perspective and integrative skills to academe, and (3) interdisciplinary university-industry teams to conduct long-term projects. This initiative targets high-risk/high-gain research with a focus on fundamental topics that would not have been undertaken by industry, new approaches to solving generic problems, development of innovative collaborative industry-university educational programs, and direct transfer of new knowledge between academe and industry. - DOD -ONR: Research Tools Design Consortia - white papers 9/20/04 - Deadline: 11/18/2004
- NSF -Major Research Instrumentation - Deadline: 1/27/2005
- NSF -Nanoscale Science and Engineering (NSE) - see site for deadline details
Materials Seminars
Thursday, September 16, 2004
1:10 PM - 117 HUB
"Advanced Materials: Discovery to Communication"
Gregory Yurek, American Superconductor
Series - GEMS Seminar Series
Notes - Lecture 1 of 4
1:50 PM - 117 HUB
"Materials Breakthroughs in Medicine and Healthcare"
Angelo Scopelianos, Johnson & Johnson
Series - GEMS Seminar Series
Notes - Lecture 2 of 4
2:45 PM - 117 HUB
"Politics vs. Science: The Impact of Global Health, Safety and Environmental Legislation on the Electronics Industry"
William Varnell, Polyclad Laminates
Series - GEMS Seminar Series
Notes - Lecture 3 of 4
3:25 PM - 117 HUB
"Driving Profitable Growth Through Innovation at Bayer"
Robert Kumpf, Bayer Material Science
Series - GEMS Seminar Series
Notes - Lecture 4 of 4
For a complete list of upcoming materials-related seminars go to:
http://www.mri.psu.edu/seminars.asp
