News
2012
On February 6, it was announced that Prof. Alex Jen has been elected a 2012 Fellow of the Materials Research Society (MRS).
Solar Energy Grant for Christine Luscombe
Christine Luscombe, in collaboration with two other UW professors, has received a 3-year grant from Research Corporation for Science Advancement (RCSA) in the field of solar energy conversion to fund a project to supercharge solar panel technology.
Peter Pauzauskie Wins AFSOR Young Investigator Award
Assistant Professor Peter Pauzauskie has won an 3-year, $360,000 Young Investigator Award from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFSOR) to support his research into Laser Refrigeration of Optically-Insulated Cryophotonic Nanocrystals.
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Xiaodong Xu Wins NSF Career Award
Xiaodong Xu, assistant professor in MSE and Physics, has won a 5-year, $700,000 NSF Career Award from the National Science Foundation to support his research into the quantum electronic and optoelectronic phenomena of graphene.
Marco Rolandi Wins NSF Career Award
Marco Rolandi (link:http://faculty.washington.edu/rolandi/), UW assistant professor of materials science and engineering, won a five-year, $550,000 CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to support his research on bioprotonic transistors. Rolandi’s work holds promise for developing biocompatible electronic devices for future medical applications.
2011
Bonnie Dunbar - COE Distinguished Service Award
MSE alumna Dr. Bonnie Dunbar has been selected to receive the 2012 College of Engineering Distinguished Service Award.
Krishnan Received 2012 IEEE Fink Prize
Professor Kannan M. Krishnan receives the 2012 IEEE Donald G. Fink Prize Paper Award for his article “Biomedical Nanomagnetics: A Spin Through Possibilities in Imaging, Diagnostics and Therapy”. See full article for details.
Rolandi’s Research Featured on Cover of Advanced Materials
The latest results from Marco Rolandi’s group on “A Chitin Nanofiber Ink for Airbrushing, Replica Molding, and Microcontact Printing of Self-assembled Macro-, Micro-, and Nanostructures” are featured on the inside front cover Advanced Materials (41/2011). Click here for the full article.
(link: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adma.201190164/abstractRolandi: Bridging The Gap Between Human And Machine
The UW Daily reports on the Rolandi Group's use of squid compound to let machines communicate with life. They have discovered a way to use an organic compound extracted from squid in order to create a transistor that may one day be compatible with biological systems, bridging the gap between human and machine. Follow the link to read the story.
MSE Senior Merten Receives COE S-STEM Scholarship
MSE senior Elizabeth Merten has been awarded a College of Engineering S-STEM Scholarship for the 2011-12 academic year. This scholarship is offered to a very small number of students who show exceptional promise as future scholars and leaders in engineering disciplines. The S-STEM Scholar Program, funded by the National Science Foundation, is designed to help support recipients in their academic endeavors by providing financial as well as academic support.
Rolandi Group: Proton-based Transistors
Marco Rolandi and his group have made a splash in the national media recently for their work with Proton-based Transistors that can communicate directly with living things. Click on the title link to see coverage in New York Time, Nature Communications, IEEE Spectrum and other sources.
Zhang Group: Fighting Cancer with Scorpions
The work of Miqin Zhang's group is mentioned in a Fox News article on the latest research in the fight against cancer. See article here.
Marco Rolandi: Designing Scientific Figures
Marco Rolandi teamed up with UW colleagues from Visual Communication Design and Human-Centered Design & Communication on the paper, “A Brief Guide to Designing Effective Figures for the Scientific Paper”. The paper is highlighted on the American Ceramic Society website, at Materials View, and at Chemical World Blog. Your can also read the Materials View Interview with Marco here.
Xiaodong Xu Wins DARPA Award
Assistant Professor Xiaodong Xu (MSE & Physics) is the recipient of a 2011 DARPA Young Faculty Award for his work in the area of Quantum Science and Technology. Click on link for details.
ASM Materials Education Foundation presents 2011 Scholarships
The ASM Foundation has announced scholarship awards to two MSE department seniors for the 2011-12 academic year. Alex Henson will receive receive the William Park Woodside Founder’s Scholarship. This award provides one year of full tuition, up to $10,000. Chase Ruebel will receive a William & Mary Dyrkacz Scholarship of $6,000. Click on link for details.
Alex Jen Elected to Washington State Academy of Sciences
On July 25, 2011, the Washington State Academy of Sciences (WSAS) announced the election of 24 new members, including Alex Jen, in recognition of their distinguished and continuing scientific achievements. The new members will be inducted into the WSAS at the 4th annual meeting to be held at the Museum of Flight in Seattle on September 22nd. Those elected today bring the total number of active members to 154. The Washington State Academy of Sciences was established by the Washington State Legislature to provides expert scientific and engineering analysis to inform public policy-making, and works to increase the role and visibility of science in the State of Washington.
Alex Jen Elected Fellow of ACS
On July 8th, it was announced that Prof. Alex Jen has been elected a 2011 Fellow of the American Chemical Society (ACS). The Fellows program recognizes members of ACS for outstanding achievements in and contributions to Science, the Profession, and the Society. The 2011 Fellows will be honored at a special ceremony during the ACS National Meeting in Denver on Monday, August 29, 2011.
High Ranking for UW Materials Research
According to Thomson Reuters Global Research Report: Materials Science & Technology, published in June 2011, UW's materials research in the past 10 years has received an extremely high rating. It has been ranked #17 in the world (#5 in the U.S.) in total citations. It has also been ranked #1 in the world in total impact of citations, which means our published papers are very high quality and have received the most citations per paper. Click here for full story.
Materials Scientist John W. Cahn to Receive 27th Annual Kyoto Prize
On June 24th, it was announced that Dr. John Cahn, Emeritus Senior Fellow at NIST and UW Affiliate Professor (MSE and Physics), will receive the $625,000 Kyoto prize for Lifetime Achievement in “Advanced Technology” on November 10, 2011, in Kyoto, Japan. Click on above link for full story.
Yadong Yin Named #2 Top Materials Scientist
MSE alum Yadong Yin (PhD MSE 2002) was named #2 Top Materials Scientist For 2000-10 by Thomson Reuters based on citation impact scores.
MSE Team Wins UW-Business Plan Award
MSE graduate students Matt Ferguson and Amit Khandhar, along their team members Shivang Dave (Bioengineering ) and Garrett Leischner (MBA), have received the $5,000 Fenwick & West Finalist Prize in the 2011 UW-Business Plan Competition.
Polymer Solar Cells Go Into Space
The polymer solar cells developed in the MSE department have taken a leap into space. As part of the Materials International Space Station Experiments (MISSE) experimental package carried out in collaboration with Boeing, the polymer solar cells developed in Prof. Alex Jen’s research lab are being deployed to the International Space Station (ISS) via the Space Shuttle Endeavor’s STS-134 launch mission on May 16, 2011.
Krishnan Group Highlighted on IOP Medical Physics Website
The Kannan Krishnan Research Group research, specifically that of graduate students Matt Ferguson and Amit Khandhar, involves the emerging technique of Magnetic Particle Imaging that could potentially compete with MPRI and PET. Their presentation at the recent SPIE Medical Imaging conference in Florida, has been highlighted in the IOP Medical Physics Web Site in a Talking Point Article.
UWTV - UW360: Advancements in Solar Energy
The March 2011 edition of UW360 includes a story on solar energy research being conducted by Alex Jen of MSE and David Ginger of EE. This link goes to the video on YouTube.
Jen Named Editor, IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics
Alex Jen has been named and editor of the IEEE Journal of Photovoltaics. He will be responsible for manuscripts in the Organic /Hybrid Photovoltaic Cells area including polymer, hybrid and dye sensitized solar cells, new device concepts including quantum dots, carbon nanotubes, and graphene composites, tandem cells, modeling, synthesis and evaluation of new materials; high performance contacts; lifetime degradation and mechanisms.
Luscombe's Dimmable Windows Research
Prof. Christine Luscombe's collaborative work on dimmable windows with solar panels has been highlighted by UW Today. Click here for full article.
2010
Stoebe to Receive COE Diamond Award
Prof. Emeritus Thomas G. Stoebehas been selected to receive the 2011 Distinguished Service Award from the College of Engineering.
Rolandi’s Research Featured on the Cover of Advanced Materials
The latest results from Marco Rolandi’s group and co-workers on “Scanning-probe direct-write of germanium nanostructures” are featured on the cover Advanced Materials (41/2010). Click here for the full article.
Kannan Krishnan
Prof. Krishnan has been been elected to a 3-year term on the Administrative Committee of the IEEE Magnetics Society starting January 2011. The 'AdCom' is responsible for the operations of the Society. It shall provide administrative support for those who directly manage Society activities. It charges the officers and committee Chairs with their specific responsibilities and authority where not specifically covered by the Bylaws or the Constitution and ensures that Society activities are conducted in a manner that advances the professional interests of the membership and the IEEE in general.
Four New Faculty Members Join MSE
The MSE Faculty has experienced unprecented growth this fall as four new faculty members join our Department. The new professors are Assistant Professor Peter Pauzauskie, Assistant Professor Xiaodong Xu, Research Assistant Professor Qifeng Zhang, and Research Professor Candan Tamerler. Click here for more info
September 27, 2010
NRC Assessment of Research Doctorate Programs
9-27-10 | Dean Matt O'Donnell and Chair Alex Jen voice concerns about accuracy of data used in National Research Council Assessment of Research Doctorate Programs.
Miqin Zhang in the Media This Month August 2010 | ScienceDaily | Deathstalker Scorpion Venon Could Improve Gene Therapy for Brain Cancer
More coverage of Prof. Zhang's work with scorpion venon and brain cancer. August 2010 | ACS News Service| Deathstalker Scorpion Venon Could Improve Gene Therapy for Brain Cancer
Prof. Zhang and her colleagues discuss a new approach to gene therapy for brain cancer.
August 2010 | FoxNews | Killer Animals, Life-Saving Cures: Why Venom is Good for You
Prof. Zhang explains how scorpion venom can be useful in treating brain cancer.
Tom Stoebe Selected for ASM Award
Prof. Emeritus Thomas G. Stoebehas been selected to receive the ASM Albert Easton White Distinguished Teacher Award in 2012. The citation reads: “Prof. Thomas Gaines Stoebe is recognized as an inspirational and enthusiastic leader who has demonstrated significant accomplishments in the teaching and research of materials science and engineering.”
Christine Luscombe Named COE Faculty Innovator
Prof. Christine Luscombe was the recipient of the College of Engineering's Faculty Innovator: Junior Award, presented at the June 2010 Community of Innovators Award ceremony.
Mehmet Sarikaya in the Media This Month
June 2010 | New York Times | Team's Work Uses a Virus to Convert Methane to Ethylene. Prof. Sarikaya is quoted in a NYT article regarding an engineered virus that may help produce ethylene more efficiently
James Williams Receives Diamond Award
MSE alum Prof. James Williams (BS MetE 62, MS MetE 64, PhD MetE 68) ) is the recipient of the College of Engineering's 2010 Diamond Award for Distinguished Achievement in Academia presented May 7th at the Diamonds Award Banquet.
March 2010 | UW MSE
Marco Rolandi Receives 3M Grant
Prof. Marco Rolandi has been awarded a 3M Nontenured Faculty Grant to pursue research in spatially controlled synthesis of graphene nanoribbons for flexible electronics.. This award is administered by 3M’s Research and Development in partnership with their Corporate Giving Program and recognizes outstanding new faculty for the quality and pertinence of research. It is intended to encourage recipients to remain in academia, teach, conduct research and develop an awareness of science in an industrial setting. Prof. Rolandi joined the Materials Science & Engineering Department in autumn 2008 as a tenure-track assistant professor.
Christine Luscombe Wins Sloan Fellowship
Prof. Christine Luscombe is among 118 recipients of Sloan Research Fellowships for 2010. The award is made by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, which "seek to stimulate fundamental research by early-career scientists and scholars of outstanding promise." They are awarded in recognition of fellows' distinguished performance and the potential to make substantial contributions to their field.
Kannan Krishnan Join AEEE Magnetic Letters Board
Kannan Krishnan has accepted an invitation to join the editoral board of AEEE Magnetic Letters. Launched in January 2010, IEEE Magnetics Letters is a rapid-publication, primarily electronic, peer-reviewed journal dedicated exclusively to magnetics articles of substantial current interest.
Kannan Krishnan, Fulbright Roster of Specialists
Kannan Krishnan has been selected by the Fulbright Specialist Program to serve as a candidate on the Fulbright Specialist Roster in the fields of Education and Materials Science. His first assignment is in Egypt . . .
January 2010 | UW MSE
Mehmet Sarikaya, GEMSEC Research
The research of Professor Mehmet Sarikaya and his colleagues has been featured in recent media outlets. Sarikaya and his colleagues are creating a new field at the confluence of materials science, computation and biology (MORE)
2009
November 2009 | UW MSE
Kannan Krishnan, Elected APS Fellow
At its November 2009 meeting, the Council of the American Physical Society elected Prof. Kannan M. Krishnan to Fellowship in the American Physical Society in recognition of his original and creative work in magnetism and electron microscopy elucidating growth mechanisms and the role of microstructure in determining fundamental properties of thin films, nanoscale structures and devices.
Mehmet Sarikaya ACS Nano Interview
Sarikaya was interviewed, along with Zhenan Bao of Stanford University, on Molecular Recognition for ACS-Nano journal. Listen to audio file "Episode 23: ACS Nano June 2009"at http://pubs.acs.org/page/ancac3/audio/index.html
May 2009 | UW MSE
MSE plans to upgrade undergraduate learning labs
The department plans to raise $200,000 in private giving to upgrade the 20-year-old undergraduate learning labs. If the campaign is successful, these funds would be matched with $50,000 from the UW’s College of Engineering.
April 2009 | UW News
Stinging cancer with nanoscience
By combining nanoparticles with a scorpion venom compound already being investigated for treating brain cancer, UW researchers led by Miqin Zhang found they could cut the spread of cancerous cells by 98 percent, compared to 45 percent for the scorpion venom alone.
February 2009 | Xconomy
Jen poised to launch Soluxra thin-film solar cell company
Alex Jen and colleagues plan to launch Soluxra in the summer. The company will specialize in thin-film polymer solar cells. The semi-transparent plastic films, which Jen said can be printed in a similar process to newspaper printing, are highly adaptable.
December 2008 | KUOW
Sarikaya discusses biomimetics with KUOW
Mehmet Sarikaya, UW professor of materials science and engineering, discussed biomimetics on Dec. 17 with KUOW's Steve Scher and author Janine Benyus on the "Weekday" program on KUOW 94.9 FM radio.
December 2008 | UW MSE
Student's eye on bringing clean energy to developing world
Tricia Bull, fellow MSE doctoral student Brad Macleod and eight students from other U.S. universities visited Kanpur, India in December 2008 to study organic optoelectronics such as OPVs in an intensive two-week program called the International Winter School for Graduate Students (iWSG).
December 2008 | UW MSE
Christine Luscombe teaches write stuff
Christine Luscombe is using part of the $495,000 CAREER Award she received from the National Science Foundation in early 2008 to develop a writing program for seniors in her “Introduction to Polymer Science and Engineering” class.
November 2008 | UW MSE
MSE teams with Intel on organic photovoltaics
Intel Research Seattle and three MSE professors are collaborating on a project to improve the efficiency and stability of organic photovoltaics, a promising technology that may one day help meet the world’s growing demand for energy.
November 2008 | UW MSE
Jen named Fellow of ACS PMSE Division
Alex Jen, MSE chair, has been named a Fellow of the American Chemical Society’s Polymeric Materials Science and Engineering (PMSE) Division. Fellows of PMSE are selected based on their significant contributions to the science and engineering of polymeric materials.
October 2008 | UW MSE
Brush receives NSF grant to research metallic foams
Lucien Brush is a principal investigator on a collaborative research project funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to understand and predict the behavior of metallic foams. The project is titled “Dynamics and Stability of Metallic Foams: Network Modeling.”
October 2008 | UW MSE
Bordia elected to ACerS Board of Directors
Raj Bordia has been elected to the American Ceramic Society's (ACerS) Board of Directors. Bordia began his two-year term in October 2008. "I am honored to be selected to this important position by my peers," Bordia said.
October 2008 | UW MSE
Krishnan named Magnetics Society Distinguished Lecturer
Kannan M. Krishnan has been named the Distinguished Lecturer for 2009 by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Magnetics Society. Lecturers are selected for their outstanding achievements in magnetics research and excellent communication skills.
August 2008 | UW MSE
Marco Rolandi joined the faculty in August 2008 as an assistant professor, bringing the department his finely-tuned curiosity in nanoscale phenomena. Rolandi comes to UW from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of California, Berkeley, where he worked as a postdoctoral research fellow since 2005.
May 2008 | MRS Bulletin
Sarikaya co-edits MRS Bulletin on molecular biomimetics
Mehmet Sarikaya and Candan Tamerler, chair of the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics at Istanbul Technical University (ITU), co-edited the May 2008 issue of the Material Research Society’s MRS Bulletin. The topic of the special issue is molecular biomimetics.
April 2008 | UW MSE
NIMS opens Overseas Operation Office at the UW
Japan’s National Institute of Materials Science (NIMS) opened an Overseas Operation Office in April 2008 in the UW Roosevelt Commons Building, establishing UW as an international crossroads for materials research and development.
April 2008 | UW MSE
UW receives $900,000 Solar America Initiative grant
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) plans to invest $900,000 in solar energy research at the UW as part of the Solar America Initiative (SAI), which aims to make solar energy cost-competitive with conventional sources of electricity by 2015. “We plan to use interfacial engineering to improve the efficiency of polymer-based photovoltaic devices,” said Alex Jen, MSE chair.
April 2008 | UW MSE
Krishnan receives Rockefeller Foundation residency
Kannan M. Krishnan has been named the recipient of a prestigious Rockefeller Foundation Scholarly Residency at the Bellagio Center in Lake Como, Italy. Krishnan’s one-month residency will begin on Monday, Sept. 22, 2008. The Rockefeller Foundation chooses scholars who have demonstrated a history of significant achievement in their respective fields. More...
April 2008 | UW MSE
Bordia receives Humboldt Research Award
Raj Bordia, UW professor of materials science and engineering, has been awarded a Humboldt Research Award for senior scientists by Germany’s Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. The international honor, one of the most prestigious given by Germany, recognizes Bordia’s career accomplishments in materials science and engineering.
April 2008 | UW MSE
Luscombe wins DARPA Young Faculty Award
Christine Luscombe won a Young Faculty Award from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to support her research on organic photovoltaic devices. Luscombe, one of 39 researchers nationwide to win a Young Faculty Award in 2008, will receive $150,000 to support her research group.
April 2008 | UW News
Popcorn-ball design doubles solar cell efficiency
A new approach is able to create a dramatic improvement in cheap solar cells now being developed in laboratories. By using a popcorn-ball design -- tiny kernels clumped into much larger porous spheres -- UW researchers led by Guozhong Cao are able to manipulate light and more than double the efficiency of converting solar energy to electricity.
February 2008 | UW MSE
Micron invests additional $775,000 in materials research lab
Micron invested an additional $775,000 in the Micron Laboratory for Combinatorial Materials Exploration at UW in February. The funds will help the lab pursue its goal to test new combinations of materials for use in smaller and smaller microchips.
January 2008 | UW MSE
Luscombe wins $495,000 CAREER Award from NSF
Christine Luscombe, UW assistant professor of materials science and engineering, won a five-year, $495,000 CAREER Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to support her research on organic polymers. Luscombe’s work holds promise for improving electronic displays, solar cells and more.
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