Tuesday, December 16, 2008Volume 8, Issue 5
MCL to Host Workshop on EELS and EFTEM
Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) users who are interested in learning more about Energy-Loss Spectroscopy (EELS) and Energy-Filtering Transmission Electron Microscopy (EFTEM) are invited to participate in a free workshop hosted by MCL on Thursday morning, January 8, 2009. The half-day workshop will be presented by MCL TEM Lab Manager Dr. Joe Kulik and will be followed up the next day (January 9, 2009) with instrument hands-on demonstrations for workshop participants.
EELS is a spectroscopic method in the TEM that is utilized to acquire data on qualitative and quantitative chemical analysis, electronic structure information, and dielectric function measurements. It is a powerful tool for analyzing the micro- and nano-structures of various materials. EFTEM is a related technique in which the image obtained in the TEM is energy filtered. Applications include chemical mapping and energy-filtered diffraction. For more information about the workshop or to register, please contact Dr. Kulik Validate to view contact info (814-865-0344 / 196 MRI Bldg).
Low Temperature Laser Processing Solves a Problem in Smart Materials Manufacturing
If researchers could integrate some of the active materials, such as perovskites, that have been developed in recent years for microsensor, actuator, and transducer applications directly onto a flexible polymer substrate or a CMOS integrated circuit, it would provide them with the ability to make new devices or shrink current electronics into smaller packages.
The problem is that in order to make these perovskite thin films highly functional, they must be crystallized, and that requires high temperatures. Polymers and computer chips can’t withstand the kind of high temperature processing that crystallization requires. Prof. Susan Trolier-McKinstry and her group have been working on this seemingly intractable problem, one that researchers in the field of Random Access Memory have tried for ten years to solve without success. She believes Dr. Srowthi Bharadwaja, a research associate in her group, has come up with a viable solution at last, one that is ready to move up to an industrial scale with little delay.
Trolier-McKinstry is director of the W.M. Keck Smart Materials Integration Laboratory in the Materials Research Institute and leads the Center of Excellence in Piezoelectric Materials and Devices. Trolier-McKinstry and Srowthi Bharadwaja explained their breakthrough and its significance.
Staff Spotlight
Meet Elaine Sanders, MCL’s High Energy Administrative Assistant
The small blue sign on the door of 207 MRL Building says “Materials Characterization Laboratory Administrative Office … If you see light inside, please knock and enter.” Behind that door, MCL Administrative Assistant Elaine Sanders is fielding a dozen inquiries, pushing paperwork, ordering new equipment, projecting income and expenses, organizing short courses – and a myriad of other projects at any given time. Her role in MRI’s Materials Characterization Lab (MCL) is to handle the flurry of logistical and administrative activity related to the daily operation and long-term planning efforts of the facility. Sanders does whatever it takes to ensure that MCL is a well-organized and smoothly running resource for the Penn State research community.
Sanders joined MRI in March 2006 in the newly created MCL administrative assistant position. Prior to joining MRI, she spent seventeen years in the Eberly College of Science Office of Alumni Relations and Development and then several years in the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics. The MCL job posting caught her eye as a way to continue working with faculty and students she had worked with in previous positions at the University. It also presented a nice fit with her business administration degree, because essentially she is managing the “small business” that MCL is within the MRI organization.
A native of Milesburg, a small town just northeast of State College, Sanders now lives just beyond Milesburg in the rural village of Runville with her husband Marvin and their three-year- old son Brady. In her spare time, she helps with marketing activities for Bachman Homes in Boalsburg, the company for which her husband works, and she enjoys using Facebook to keep in touch with friends and colleagues.
If you have any questions about MCL, stop by her office. The lights are on, just knock and enter.
New Course on Fracture Mechanics to be Offered in Spring 2009
Interested in learning about fracture mechanics? Dr. Christopher Muhlstein will teach a new three-credit course (MatSE 597A) in Spring 2009 on Advanced Topics in Mechanical Behavior-Crack Tips.
This "journal club" style class will explore the fundamental and historical bases of linear elastic fracture. The course will focus on the critical review of about a dozen of the seminal journal publications in engineering fracture mechanics. For each paper, the first step will be an overview of the topic of the paper and how to approach the individual reading that will be presented by the professor. The subsequent, student-conducted discussion section will address key questions set by the instructor and the others in the class. Finally, the third session for each work will be a "wrap up" session (headed by the professor) to clarify questions about the interpretation and/or context of the article.
The course is scheduled for M W F 11:15A - 12:05P during the Spring 2009 semester. There are no official prerequisites, but prior coursework in mechanical behavior and/or fracture mechanics is recommended. For more information, please contact Dr. Muhlstein:
Christopher L. Muhlstein, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Corning Faculty Fellow
Department of Materials Science and Engineering 202B Steidle Building
phone: 814-865-1523
fax: 814-865-2917
email:
Validate to view contact info
Grants and Contracts
Materials research accounted for more than $4.5 million in contracts and grants for October and 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 OSP Strategic Information Management System.
- Uchino, Kenji; Loss Mechanisms in Piezoelectric Single Crystals and Ceramics; Office of Naval Research
- Gopalan, Venkatraman; Center for Optical Technologies; University
- Dillon, Gregory; Composite Marine Impeller Cost Growth 3; Industry
- Dillon, Gregory; Composite Manufacturing Technology for Reduced Cost Impeller; Industry
- Werner, Douglas; Mayer, Theresa; Engineering Materials with Customized Electromagnetic Properties (CET); Industry
- Yin, Shizhuo; Liu, Zhiwen; Reichard, Karl M; Long-range Standoff Mobile IED Detection Using Mobile Glass Generated THz Waves; Office of Naval Research
- Mueller, Karl; Pantano, Carlo; GOALI: Understantind Oxide-Polymer Interfaces to Enable Green Coating Technology; National Science Foundation
- Song, Chunshan; Lvov, Serguei N; Solid Oxide Fuel Cells Operating on Alternative and Renewable Fuels; U.S. Department of Energy
For a complete list of the contracts and grants for August and September go to:
http://www.mri.psu.edu/awardsOct_Nov.asp
Seminars
January 14, 1:30 PM
189 MRL Building
The Secret Life of Ferroic Domain Walls
Prof. Venkat Gopalan, MatSE Dept., Penn State
January 28, 1:30 PM
189 MRL Building
Laser Annealing of Films
Dr. Srowthi Bharadwaja, Research Associate, Penn State MRI
February 4, 1:30 PM
189 MRL Building
Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting
Prof. George A Lesieutre, Aerospace Engineering, Penn State
More Seminars: http://www.mri.psu.edu/seminars.asp
