Monday, November 6, 2006Volume 6, Issue 6
Director's Message
MRI has revamped its Awards Program to better reflect the contributions of the entire Materials Community.
We are seeking nominations by November 27, 2006 for two new Awards:
The MRI Ambassador Award honors a University member who promotes a positive work environment within their unit, and across the University's Materials Community. This person performs beyond the job description, exhibits innovation, fosters creativity, and looks for opportunities to enhance cross-university relationships and implement process improvements.
The MRI Innovation Award honors a University member who inspires and motivates others while fostering excellence in achievements and performance, encourages the growth of others, promotes diversity, provides superior customer service, and is viewed as an outstanding University contributor.
Please take the time to nominate a likely candidate for one of these special awards. Please note that 2 letters of support are needed in addition to the Nomination Form. The Awards will be presented at an MRI awards luncheon scheduled for December 15, 2006. The MRI Awards Committee will review the submissions. Questions regarding the award criteria should be directed to Donna Lucas. The Nomination forms can be found at:
- Ambassador Award: http://www.mri.psu.edu/ematerials/v06i05/MRI Ambassador Award.pdf
- Inspiration Award: http://www.mri.psu.edu/ematerials/v06i05/MRI Inspiration Award.pdf
Thanks for your attention,
Carlo Pantano
News of Note
Theresa Mayer appointed an associate director of MRI with responsibilities for the Nano Facilities Network
The Materials Research Institute has officially assumed management of the Penn State Nanofabrication Facility (Nanofab), located in the MRI Building. Now, the Penn State Nano Facilities Network represents the consolidation of the Nanofab, the Keck Smart Materials Integration Laboratory located in the MRL Building, and a new user node being established in the EE West clean room space that is made up of deep reactive Ion etchers, an FESEM, and other manufacturing and characterization tools requiring clean room capabilities. As an associate director of MRI, Prof. Theresa Mayer will assume overall management responsibility for these three facilities, with input from Susan Trolier-McKinstry in regard to the Keck facility and Srinivas Tadigadapa in regard to the etch facility in EE West. In addition, Mayer has assumed responsibility for the research and facilities portion of the Penn State NSF-NNIN.
Theresa is a professor of electrical engineering. Her research and teaching interests are in the areas of nanoscale electronic and optical devices.
Faculty Recognition
MRI Faculty member receives The American Ceramics Society Richard M. Fulrath Award.
Susan Trolier-McKinstry was presented the ACerS award at the 108th Annual Meeting held in conjunction with the Materials Science & Technology 2006 Conference and Exhibition held in Cincinnati, Ohio, October 15-19.
Susan Trolier-McKinstry is a professor of ceramic science and engineering, and director of the W. M. Keck Smart Materials Integration Laboratory at the Pennsylvania State University. Her main research interests include dielectric and piezoelectric thin films, the development of texture in bulk ceramic piezoelectrics, and spectroscopic ellipsometry. She obtained B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Ceramic Science at Penn State, and on graduation, joined the faculty there. She has held visiting appointments at the Hitachi Central Research Laboratory, the Army Research Laboratory, and the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne.
She is a Fellow of The American Ceramic Society, a senior member of IEEE, and a member of the Materials Research Society. She is past-president of both Keramos and the Ceramics Educational Council, and is co-chair of the committee revising the IEEE Standard on Ferroelectricity. She has served as vice-president for ferroelectrics of the IEEE Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control Society (UFFC), and was an elected member of that group's administrative committee. She is currently the President-Elect of the IEEE UFFC. Over the past several years, she has served as an organizer for the Fall 2003 MRS meeting, and the US-Japan Seminar on Dielectric and Piezoelectric Ceramics. She is the recipient of the Robert Coble Award of The American Ceramic Society, the Wilson Awards for Outstanding Teaching and Excellence in Research from Penn State's College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, the Materials Research Laboratory Outstanding Faculty Award, and a National Science Foundation Career grant.
Research Spotlight
Ultraviolet Light Reveals Secrets of Nanoscale Electronic Materials
Research by an international team of researchers led by Penn State professor of physics and materials science and engineering Xiaoxing Xi, appearing in the Sept. 15 issue of the journal Science, shows for the first time the conditions under which a nanomaterial can store a switchable electric field. The nanoscale material was fabricated in the lab of Penn State professor of materials science and engineering Darrell Schlom. This research will help determine how much data can be stored on next generation electronic devices. Read the complete press release from the Eberly College of Science: http://www.science.psu.edu/alert/Xi10-2006.htm
Meeting Outcomes - CrossOver 2006
The Huck Institutes' new director, Peter Hudson, introduced an engaging lineup of guest speakers and faculty presenters at CrossOver 2006, located this year in the University's HUB/Robeson Center. Faculty and industry came to learn from government representatives about funding opportunities and agency initiatives, to foster collaborations between materials and life scientists, and to engage with industry partners in technological collaborations.
Lance Haworth from the National Science Foundation Materials Division noted that though the bio and materials interface has been discussed in workshop settings since as early as 1990, NSF needs to begin providing more focus than in the past. "Biomaterials research has a direct impact on human longevity and quality of life," he said. "Funding for the biomaterials program will be fully implemented in FY 2007."
Mark Your Calendars
Materials Day 2007
Materials Day at Penn State
April 10 - April 11, 2007
Penn Stater Conference Center and Hotel
Please mark your calendars and plan to attend and participate in this campus-wide event.
View Materials Day 2006
Contracts and Grants
Materials research accounted for more than $12 million in contracts and grants for the months of September and October! 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.
Brenizer, JR., Jack S; Innovations and Enhancements for a Consortium of BIG-10 University Research and Training Reactors, U.S. Department of Energy
Chung, T C; Investigation of Functional PP Polymers and PP/Clay Mamocomposites and Processing and Applications of Long Chain Branches PP (LCBPP), Industry
Fonash, Stephen J; Catchmark, Jeffrey M; NNIN: National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network, Cornell University
Haque, Amanul; Nano-Mechanical Properties of Grain Boundries, National Science Foundation
Huang, Jun (Tony); NanoElectroMechanicalSystems (NEMS) Using Light-Driven Molecular Shuttles as Active Nanostructures, Case Western Reserve University
Kim, Seong H; Effects of Gas Absorption in Nano-Asperity Tribological Contacts, National Science Foundation
Koudela, Kevin L; Urban Target Warhead Interaction Simulation for Smart Fuze Development, United States Marine Corps
Lanagan, Michael; Zhang, Qiming; Randall, Clive A; Shrout, Thomas R; Wang, Qinglei; Unconventional Dielectric Materials and Structures for Ultra-High Performance Pulsed Power Capacitors, U.S. Department of the Navy
Maynard Jr, Julian D; Mahan, Gerald D; SBIR Phase II: Solid State Heat Pumps, Industry
Messing, Gary L; Ceramic Er: Y2O3 Composite for HEL Applications, Industry
Redwing, Ronald D; MPS Internship in Public Science Education-MPS-IPSE: Internships for Bringing Today's Science to Tomorrow's Scientists, National Science Foundation
Runt, James P; Simultaneous measurement of thermal and relazation properties for nanodevice reliability, U.S. Department of Commerce
Wang, Chao-Yang; Development of High Power Direct Methanol Fuel Cells, Industry
Wang, Kon-Well; Rahn, Christopher; Bakis, Charles E; Fluidic Flexible Matrix Composites for Autonomous Structural Tailoring, U.S. Department of the Air Force
Materials Seminars
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
3:35 PM - 114 EES Bldg
"Top surface imaging: Photopatterning, chemistry, and selective metallization of polymer and organosiloxane self-assembled monolayer films"
Walter J. Dressick, US Naval Research Laboratory
Series - Department of Engineering Science & Mechanics
Thursday, November 09, 2006
10:10 AM - 26 Hosler Building
"Towards High-Efficiency Low Cost Materials for Solar Energy Conversion and Storage"
Craig Grimes, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Materials Science & Engineering
Series - IGDP in Materials Science and Engineering Graduate Seminars
11:30 AM - 111 Wartik Laboratory
"Organic Thin Film Electronics: A Materials Engineering Perspective"
C. Daniel Frisbie, University of Minnesota
Series - Department of Chemical Engineering
Monday, November 13, 2006
12:00 PM - S-5 Osmond
"Controlling the Solid-State Microwave Irradiation Method to Prepare Inorganic Materials"
Jennifer Aitken
Series - MRSEC Seminar
