Department of Materials Science & Engineering

Materials Science and Engineering News Archive

2012

April 23-25, 2012 Cohen Lectures: Knut Urban, JARA & Peter Gruenberg Institute
April 23, 4 p.m. Allen Center 164, “Diving into the World of Atoms -Picometer Electron Microscopy ”
April 24, 4 p.m. Tech L211, "Pushing the Frontiers- Insight into Transmission Electron Microscopy"
April 25, 4 p.m. Tech L211, "The White Spot on the Map- Complex Metallic Alloys"

4/17/2012 Greg Olson , has been elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. More.

4/16/2012 Graduate students Kayla Culver and Alex Hryn (Odom), have been awarded National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowships.

3/30/2012 Graduate students Mike Geier (Hersam), Sarah Howell (Lauhon), Kyle Luck (Hersam & T. Marks), Michael Rawlings (Dunand) and Lauren Sturdy (Shull) have been awarded NSF Graduate Research Fellowships. Graduate student Niki Mansukhani (Hersam) and alumnus Ryan Brock received honorable mention.

3/20/2012 David Seidman has been elected a Fellow of the Microscopy Society of America (MSA).

3/18/2012 Niles North H.S. junior Haley Sproull has been selected as a finalist in the 2012 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) for her study of Sr sequestration in plants, mentored by graduate student Chantel Tester in the Joester group. More.

3/15/2012 The Hersam group and coworkers in France have developed a process for making flexible graphene transistors. More.

2/20/2012 Mark Hersam and coworkers have developed a new method for oxidizing graphene. More.

2/14/2012 Tech L211 4p.m., Dorn Lecture: Pulickel Ajayan, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science, Rice University "Nano-engineered materials:opportunities and challenges"

2/9/2012 Samuel Stupp and Tobin Marks have been elected as members of the National Academy of Engineering. More.>

2/6/2012 Mark Hersam has been selected as a 2012 MRS Fellow.

2/5/2012 David Dunand has been awarded the Materials Science and Engineering A -2012 Journal Prize.

2/5/2012 Katherine Faber was awarded the 2012 Toldeo Glass and Ceramics Award from the Michigan/Northwest Ohio Section of the American Ceramic Society.

1/12/2012 EurekAlert has posted an interview with post-doctoral fellow Yifeng Liao describing his research on metal-on-metal hip replacements with Laurence Marks and Joshua Jacobs. Go here to view the video (in Chinese) or read the text (in English).

2011

12/23/2011 Laurence Marks, Joshua Jacobs and colleagues at NU, Rush University Medical Center in Chicago and University of Duisberg-Essen in Germany have determined that graphitic carbon is a key element in a lubricating layer that forms on metal-on-metal hip implants. More.

12/15/2011 Mark Hersam has been named a Fellow of SPIE, the international society for optics and photonics.

Tuesday, November 22, 4p.m.Tech L211, Stephen J. Harris, General Motors R&D, "Transport and Failure in Li-ion Batteries.”

Tuesday, November 15, 4p.m.Tech L211, Andrew Steckl, University of Cincinnati, "The Engineering of DNA for Device Applications.”

Wednesday, November 9, 6:30p.m. Tech L211, Professor Mark Hersam, "The Age of Carbon: Buckeyballs, Nanotubes, Graphene and Beyond," a special lecture sponsored by the MatSci Club and Materials Advantage Chapter. All students are welcome. Refreshments will be served.

Tuesday, November 8, 4p.m.Tech L211, Julia Greer, California Institute of Technology, "SIZE MATTERS: Mechanical Properties of Nano-Sized Solids”

Tuesday, October 25, 4p.m. L211, The 2011 Morris E. Fine Lecture, John Allison, Univeresity of Michigan, "Integrated Computational Materials Engineering (ICME): The Next Big Thing in Materials”

Tuesday, September 27, 4p.m. Ryan Family Auditorium, Technological Institute: Dreyfus Prize in the Chemical Sciences Lecture, Tobin J. Marks, "Catalysis at the Intersection of Chemistry, Materials Science, and Biology"

9/26/2011 Alum Christopher A. Schuh (Ph.D. Dunand, 2001) has been named head of the MIT Department of Materials Science and Engineering, effective October 12, 2011.

9/26/2011 Erik Luijten and graduate students Bernard Beckerman and Wei Qu have contributed modeling results to new research that reveals how a steroid found in sharks may be able to fight a range of virus infections in humans, through electrostatic binding to cell membranes. The research is published in the September 20 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and has been featured in a wide variety of news outlets, including National Geographic, BBC News, the LA Times, and C&E News.

7/27/2011 Emilie Ringe, Richard Van Duyne and Laurence Marks describe use of the Wulff construction to determine shape of alloy nanoparticles based on size and composition. Go to article in ACS Nanoletters.

7/18/2011 Mark Hersam has been awarded a $1 million grant from the W.M. Keck Foundation to pursue research on graphene. More

7/16/2011 Recent alumna Emma Dutton (B.S. 2011) is the recipient of a 2011-2012 Alumnae of Northwestern Univeresity Graduate Fellowship. Emma is pursuing a Master of Science in Journalism from the Medill school of Journalism. More

6/16/2011 Graduate students Heather Arnold (Hersam) and Sarah Miller (Faber)have received NASA Space Technology Research Fellowships.

6/13/2011 Study of prehistoric Cahokian metallurgy by alum Matt Chastain, grad student Alix Deymier-Black, David Dunand and co-authors in anthropology was published in the Journal of Archeological Science. The work is profiled in an article and video. More.

6/10/2011 Blast-reistant materials design: freshmen though grad students are involved in design projects led by Greg Olson. More.

6/8/2011 Hilliard Undergraduate Awards were presented at the final Senior Project Symposium on June 8th. Winner of the award for Research and Design is Alvin Tan for his project "All-Carbon Composites for Energy Applications" with the Huang group. Winner of award for Leadership, Scholarship and Service is Ryan Brock who is completing BS/MS degrees with the Hersam group and has served as President of Tau Beta Pi and Slivka Residential College, and has been active as coordinator and participant in the M.E.S.S. outreach project.

6/3/2011 On May 24th ten MatSci Club members visited 4th grade classes at Dawes Elementary school to demonstrate materials properties. More

June 1, 2, 3 Cohen Lectures 4p.m., L211 Emily Carter, Princeton University: June 1 - Contributing to Efficient Power Generation: Atomic-scale Insight into Thermal Barrier Coatings from Quantum Mechanics; June 2 - Quantum Mechanical Evaluation of Energy Conversion Materials for Generating Electricity and Fuels; June 3 - Quantum Simulations of Materials at the Mesoscale: Physics, Algorithms, and Applications

Tuesday, May 24, 4p.m. L211: “Materials Challenges for Electrochemical Energy Storage & Conversion," Shirley Meng, University of California at San Diego.

5/26/2011 Senior Ryan Brock (Hersam) has won the 2011 Harold B. Gotaas Undergraduate Research Award, one of three endowed awards to be presented at Convocation. Finalists in the McCormick-wide competition also included MSE seniors Tejas Shastry (Hersam), Alvin Tan (Huang), Anthony Tan (Faber) and ME senior Grace Wittman (Voorhees). More

Thursday, May 19th, 9a.m. - 5p.m. Hilliard Symposium Keynote: Dmitry Shashkov, President & CEO H.C. Starck Group, “Engineer in Business: Notes from ‘The Dark Side,’” followed by senior graduate student presentations.

Tuesday, May 10, 4p.m. L211: “Dramatic nano-fluidic properties of carbon nanotube membranes as a platform for protein channel mimetics," Bruce Hinds, University of Kentucky.

May 3 4p.m. L211: “Size-induced Shifts in the Thermodynamics of Oxide Equilibria," Alexandra Navrotsky, University of California at Davis.

5/1/2011 Ph.D. candidate Laura Cote (Huang) has been awarded a highly competitive Josephine de Karman Fellowship. More

4/28/2011 Samples from the Hersam group are on-board the space shuttle Endeavor. More

4/28/2011 Ph.D. candidate Bryce Meredig (Wolverton) has been awarded a Presidential Fellowship, the most prestigious fellowship offered by Northwestern. More

4/21/2011 Monica Olvera de la Cruz and William Kung discuss how to make the perfect hard-boiled egg - with a materials perspective - on WBEZ "848." More

April 19 4p.m. L211: “ "Adhesive Complex Coacervates Inspired by the Sandcastle Worm," Russell Stewart , University of Utah.

4/17/2011 Ph.D. students Heather Arnold (Hersam), Lauryn Baranowski (Hersam), James Riley (Lauhon) and Catherine Tupper (Brinson/Dunand) have been selected to receive 2011 National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellowships.

4/14/2011 Ph.D. candidate Laura Cote (Huang) has has won a prestigious PEO (Philanthropic Educational Organization) scholar award.

4/13/2011 Senior Alvin Tan (Huang) won first place in the undergraduate competition at the Chicago ASM meeting on April 12th for his poster "Graphene Oxide Nanocolloids." Alvin was also awarded the ASM Chicago Regional Chapter Award for outstanding undergraduate students pursuing a materials science career.

Tuesday, April 12, 4p.m. L211: “Dynamical Process in Low-Dimensional Electonic Materials: from Phase Transition to Atomic Diffusion," Junqiao Wu, University of California at Berkeley.

4/7/2011 John Gibbs (Voorhees) has received a DOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Stewardship Science Graduate Fellowship.

4/7/2011 Martin McBriarty (Bedzyk) has received a Fulbright Scholarship and will spend the 2011-2012 academic year at the Fritz Haber Institute in Berlin.

4/5/2011 NSF Graduate Research Fellowships have been awarded to graduate students Bernard Beckerman, Dana Frankel, Andrew Koltonov and Catherine Tupper, senior Anthony Tan and alumnus Phillip Barton (UCSB). Students cited for Honorable Mention include graduate students Heather Arnold, Peter Bocchini, Kayla Culver, Alex Hryn, Adam Jakus, Arpus Nagaraja, Michael Rawlings and John Thompson, senior Tejas Shastry and alumni Christopher Liman (USCB) and Matthew Chastain (MIT-Archeology).

4/5/2011 Peter Bocchini(Seidman/Dunand) has been awarded one of only five NASA Aeronautics Scholarships.

Tuesday, April 5, 4p.m. L211: “They call it 'free energy;' so, hey, why pay?", Jim DoYoreo, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

4/4/2011 Derk Joester, Minna Krejci and co-workers at Argonne have published results that quantify how Closterium moniliferum, one of the bright green algae often seen in ponds, sequesters strontium. They are using this understanding to think about a practical sequestration system for nuclear waste. More.

Tuesday, March 29, 4p.m. L211: “In situ experiments in X ray tomography applied to cellular materials ,” Eric Maire, Harvard University

3/8/2011 Monica Olvera de la Cruz and co-workers discover new shapes for microcompartments — molecular shells made of proteins that can encapsulate cellular components. More. Go directly to the article.

3/3/2011 David Seidman has been named to the Editorial Advisory Board of Materials Today.

Tuesday, March 8, 4p.m. L211: “Exploring the What, When, Where and Why of Materials Synthesis,” Paul Fuoss, Materials Science Division, Argonne National Laboratory

3/1/2011 TMS Awards: Two MSE faculty received awards at the recent TMS meeting in San Diego. Peter Voorhees was awarded the Bruce Chalmers Award for "theoretical and experimental research that has significantly deepened our understanding of the coarsening of the solid phase in liquid-solid systems, and the directional solidification of concentrated multicomponent systems." David Seidman was awarded the Institute of Metals Robert Franklin Mehl Award in recognition of his outstanding scientific leadership; he presented the corresponding lecture.

Escbach Lecture: Tuesday, March 1, 4p.m. L211: “Patterned Materials via Competing Interactions,” Francisco Solis, Arizona State University

2/24/2011 Graduate students Francisco Lopez (Lauhon group) and Jaemyung Kim (Huang group), have been selected to receive MRS graduate student awards at the Spring MRS Meeting in San Francisco.

2/22/2011 Tech L211, 4p.m. “Energy Storage for Transportation,” Michael Thackeray, Argonne National Lab

2/22/2011 A new strategy developed by Laurence Marks and co-workers for synthesis of catalytic nanoparticles is described in the February issue of NanoLetters. More. Go directly to the article.

2/21/2011 Justice Alaboson (Hersam group) has been awarded an IBM Graduate Fellowship.

2/15/2011 Jiaxing Huang is one of four NU faculty honored with a prestigious early-career Sloan Research Fellowship for 2011 from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. more

2/15/2011 Dow Lecture: Tuesday, February 15th, 4p.m. L211: “Nanogenerator for Self-powering Nanosystems and Piezotronics for MEMS,” Zhong-Lin Wang, Georgia Institute of Technology

2/6/2011 Tobin Marks has been elected as an Honorary Fellow to the Indian Academy of Science. more

1/31/2011 Alumna Michelle Seitz (PhD Faber/ Shull) was awarded third place in the Quadrant Thesis Award competition at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich, Switzerland. more

1/25/20 "Direct Observation of Tribological Recrystallization" by the L. Marks group is one of the Top 10 Downloaded articles in Philosophical Magazine Letters. Go to the article.

1/24/2011 "Tunable assembly of graphene oxide surfactant sheets: wrinkles, overlaps and impacts on thin film properties" by the Huang group was one of the top ten most-read articles from the online version of Soft Matter for December 2010. more

1/19/2011 Vinayak Dravid and Jiaqing He are co-authors of Nature Chemistry article discussing nanostructured materials with a high thermoelectric figure of merit. More.

1/14/2011 “Supracolloidal Reaction Kinetics of Janus Spheres,” Chen, Whitmer, Jiang, Bae, Luijten and Granick. Link to the article; Link to NU press release

1/13/2011 Derk Joester discusses biomineralization of chiton teeth on NPR. Listen to the podcast.

1/9/2011 Vinayak Dravid has been elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He is being honored for his pioneering research on nanotechnology, nanometrology, and the structure and response of materials.

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