Thursday, February 1, 2007Volume 7, Issue 1
Director's Message
Happy New Year and Best Wishes for 2007! MRI had an accomplished and productive 2006, and I thank all faculty, staff and students for the important role each of you played in this success. There was also considerable change in 2006. So let me give you a brief summary of the year in review, and then a glimpse of what we hope to achieve in the year ahead.
In 2006, MRI appointed two new associate directors with responsibility for managing our core user facilities. Prof Beth Dickey is now providing leadership for the Materials Characterization Labs. Prof Theresa Mayer has assumed leadership of the Nanofab and responsibility for its role in the NSF National Nanofabrication Infrastructure Network. Beth and Theresa join Prof Mike Lanagan as MRI associate directors.
The Nanofab was formally incorporated into the MRI effective July 2006 (formerly, the Nanofab was administered by the College of Engineering). A key advantage of this merger is the ability to integrate the MCL and Nanofab facilities into a more cohesive unit where staff support, equipment maintenance and service to industry is efficient. Our primary goal is to provide functional core facilities, with professional equipment maintenance and training, so that faculty, students and industry can focus on the research.
This merger has facilitated and motivated the development a new website and brochure to publicize Penn State's extensive nanotechnology activities and expertise. If you have not seen the brochure and website, I encourage you to visit http://www.gonano.psu.edu to learn more about nano at Penn State.
The preliminary design of the new Materials Building is well underway. The core facilities have more or less been mapped out now. An increase in budget and square footage is anticipated, but the final decision is still pending. The optimal balance between functionality and efficiency in the building is proving difficult to target, but we are fortunate to have a cadre of dedicated and forward-thinking faculty and staff who are currently engaging these issues.
The NSF Annual Report of research expenditures confirmed our status as #1 in materials, and with the help of the Industrial Research Office, we moved up a notch to #2 for industry sponsored research. In 2006, we also won two MURIs, a NIRT, an MRI and several multi-investigator DOE Grants in solar, hydrogen, bio and other renewables. These large, multi-investigator programs and equipment proposals are exceedingly important to our visibility and leadership in the field of materials, and the institutional equipment grants equally important for maintaining our core facilities. I strongly urge all of you to participate in these proposal submissions whenever your interest and/or expertise is relevant. Sometimes it will require your donating time and energy for the good of the entire materials community, but be assured, we are implementing processes to minimize the busy work and let you focus on the technical content. I also encourage you to engage any opportunities to support and/or collaborate with the industrial sector. MRI and IRO are available to help you make the contacts and prepare the proposals.
On the agenda for 2007 is serious run at an NSF-ERC, recognizing that it may take a 2-3 year commitment to the topic and team before we can win one. It is for this reason that we are taking a more careful and serious look at the possible themes and teams, and their match to Penn State's strategic research goals, where such a long term investment is justified. Also in the works for 2007 is a new MRI website design that should be easier to navigate, and will offer a wider range of useful tools and information. And once the integration of MCL and the Nanofab is complete, we will produce an MRI facilities brochure highlighting our capabilities in characterization and fabrication.
Finally, please mark April 10 and 11 on your calendar for Materials Day 2007. You will receive the advance program and request for posters shortly. I'll look forward to seeing you there.
Carlo
MCL Update from Associate Director Beth Dickey
If asked what I would consider to be the most satisfying aspect of my new role in 2006 as an Associate Director of MRI, I would immediately say getting to know the 20+ staff of the Materials Characterization Laboratory (MCL). I had worked with several staff members quite extensively as an MCL user, but I became more directly aware of the breadth of their responsibilities and the profound dedication with which they carry out their jobs. Much of what the staff members do is behind the scenes, but collectively they contribute an enormous amount to our research, educational and outreach missions across six different colleges at University Park and Hershey. If you haven't yet noticed, staff spotlights are now a regular feature of eMaterials. I would encourage you to take the opportunity to read these and get to know some of our MCL staff members and their role in MRI better.
Faculty Spotlight
"Penn State Poised to Become Energy U." With strong programs in a number of fields of energy research, Penn State is a contender for the title of the nation's Energy University, says Dr. Yaw Yeboah, head of the Department of Energy and Geoenvironmental Engineering.
Staff Spotlight
As manager of the transmission electron microscope facility, Joe Kulik, Ph.D., is in charge of four major pieces of equipment that are important to the success of many research projects at Penn State.
News of Note
New Tool Housed at the MCL in Hosler:
A new tool for studying crystalline materials at the atomic level has arrived on campus and is housed in the Materials Characterization Lab at Hosler Building. The first of its kind on campus, the Microfocus X-Ray Diffractometer has several unique abilities.
Universities as drivers for Economic Transformation
Both the Bush Administration and incoming Congressional Democrat leadership plan to put higher education under the spotlight in 2007, stressing issues of accessibility and cost containment. While their approaches to the problems will be different, both sides agree universities will play even greater roles in maintaining U.S. economic leadership in the 21st century than they have in the past.
Conference Results
Hydrogen Day 2006 was about more than just hydrogen this year, though there was plenty to learn about the prospects for a hydrogen-based future. As Bruce Logan, director of Penn State's H2E Center, made clear in his opening remarks, this year's Hydrogen Day focused on the challenges of both producing alternative energy and dealing with environmental issues.
Recognition
New MRI awards honor staff and faculty as ambassadors and inspirations at December banquet
In a banquet held in the ballroom of the Ramada Inn, State College, Dec. 15, 2006, the Materials Research Institute honored four recipients with its inaugural Ambassador and Inspiration Awards. MRI Director Carlo Pantano presented staff electron microprobe analyst Mark Angelone with the Inspiration Award, which recognizes university members who inspire and motivate others while fostering excellence in achievements and performance. The faculty Inspiration Award winner was Judith Todd, P.B. Breneman Department Head of Engineering Science and Mechanics, who was commended for inspiring and supporting young faculty.
The Ambassador Award honors those who foster creativity, exhibit innovation, and improve the overall work environment at the MRI. The awards went to David Snyder, technical director of materials design and process technology and head of the novel crystals department at the Electro-Optic Center, and Kathy Gummo, staff assistant for the MRI and Particulate Materials Center.
Contracts and Grants
Materials research accounted for more than $8 million in contracts and grants for the months of November and December! 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.
-Brown, Nicole R; Richard, Thomas L; Catchmark, Jeffrey M; USDA National Needs Fellowship for Nanoscale Science and Engineering in Forest Resources, U.S. Department of Agriculture
-Castleman, JR, Albert W; Sen, Ayusman; Weiss, Paul S; Superatoms as Building Blocks of New Materials, U.S. Department of the Army
Flemish, Joseph R; High Power SiC PiN Diode Manufacturing, U.S. Department of the Navy
-Horn, Mark W; Dickey, Elizabeth C; Allara, David L; Ashok, S; Gopalan, Venkatraman; Jackson, Thomas N; Trolier-Mckinstry, Susan E; Growth, Characterization and Modeling of Monolithic Silicon Microbotometer Materials for Uncooled Infrared Detectors, U.S. Department of the Army
-Koopmann, Gary H; Rahn, Christopher; Jonson, Michael L; Peltier, Leonard J; System Control Architecture and Transducer Concepts for Underwater Port Protection, U.S. Department of the Navy
-Kuo, Kenneth K; Yetter, Richard A; Yang, Vigor; Costanzo, Francesco; Fundamental Understanding of Propellant/Nozzle Interaction to Mitigate Erosion for Very High Pressure Propellant Applications - MURI, U.S. Department of the Navy
-Mench, Matthew M; CAREER: Sensor for Early Detection of Failure in Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) Fuel Cells, National Science Foundation
-Winograd, Nicholas; Ewing, Andrew G; Molecular Imaging of Biomaterials - Single Cells, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
For a complete list of the contracts and grants for November and December go to: http://www.mri.psu.edu/awards.asp?awardperiod=0612
Upcoming Conferences and Workshops
cyrtoTEM Workshop
http://www.mri.psu.edu/conferences/cryoTEM/index.asp
March 23, 2007
The HUB-Robeson Center
Materials Day 2007
http://www.mri.psu.edu/events/materialsday/
Tuesday, April 10, 2007, 3:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007, 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel
The 3rd Symposium on Infrared Materials and Technologies
http://www.mri.psu.edu/conferences/SIMT/index.asp
Monday, May 21 and Tuesday, May 22, 2007
The Ramada Inn & Conference Center
State College, PA
WIEN2K Workshop
http://www.mri.psu.edu/conferences/wien/index.asp
June 11-14, 2007
The Pennsylvania State University
316 Hammond Building
State College, Pennsylvania
