[BNC-all] MONDAY MEMO

Mon Dec 10 11:04:34 EST 2007

MONDAY MEMO, December 10, 2007

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1. Announcements
****************

1.1: The Birck Center Holiday Schedule has been posted around the building
and has been inserted here for your reference.  If you have any questions,
please contact John Weaver.

1.2:  MaryJo Totten will be on vacation the week of December 24 and will
return on
         January 2.  if you need keys, please plan on seeing MaryJo before
December 21. 
         All mail and and packages will be handled as usual during the
holiday break.

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2. Seminars
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2.1:  Monday, December 10, 2:30PM, POTR 234  Fu Room: ³Introduction to the
Object Oriented Finite Element Modeling of Material Microstructures,² by R.
Edwin Garcia.
ABSTRACT:  The determination of macroscopic properties of a material in
terms of the underlying mesoscopic characteristics is of fundamental
importance to Materials Science. Moreover, the engineering of the shape,
size, spatial distribution, and local interactions of the phases and shapes
that conform a material or device component is of paramount interest for the
advancement and improvement of technology. In this context, an introduction
to the Finite Element Method is presented, and practical rules of thumb are
introduced in order to develop high-quality numerical representation of
materials. An overview of a recently added nanoHUB application is presented:
the Object Oriented Finite Element analysis (OOF), which starts from an
image of the microstructure and ends with results from finite element
calculations. The program reads an image (or sequence of images) and assigns
material properties to microscopic features. Upon creating a mesh, the
topological complexity of the microstructure is resolved by using automated
mesh adapting and refining tools. With the resultant mesh, virtual tests are
preformed to deduce macrscopic behavior, filed localization, etc. OOF is
designed for materials scientists with little or no computational
background. It can solve for a wide range of physicals. Example applications
include rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, thermoelectric generators,
ferroelectric materials, just to mention a few.
BIO:  R. Edwin García is an Assistant Professor in Materials Engineering at
Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana (2005-present). He earned the
Physics degree at the National University of Mexico in 1996. He obtained his
Masters in Materials Science (in 2000) and his Ph.D. in Materials Science
and Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2003. Edwin
García held a postdoctoral appointment at the Center for Theoretical and
Computational Materials Science at the National Institute of Standards and
Technology, in Gaithersburg, Maryland, before being appointed to his current
position. His research includes the theoretical and numerical modeling of
materials of complex microstructural features, such as ferroelectric films
for actuators and random access memory applications, as well as materials
and devices for alternative energy and power sources, such as rechargeable
lithium battery electrode materials, solid oxide fuel cells, nanodots,
nanowires, and polycrystalline thermoelectric oxides for thermal energy
recovery, and computational analysis and design of semiconducting alloys for
Solid-State based Light Emitting Devices.

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3. Birck Visitors
********************

3.1:  Monday and Tuesday, December 10 and 11, Tim Fisher¹s ThermalHub
meeting w/meals held in the Atrium
3.2:  Tuesday, December 11, 9:25-9:45AM:  PU Office of the Dean of Students
3.3:  Tuesday, December 11, 2:00PM:  Prof. Steve Abel, Pharmacy Practice,
IUPUI
3.4:  Tuesday, December 11, 3:30PM:  Project Lead the Way

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4.  Funding Opportunities
*********************

4.1:  This message is being sent to the Discovery Park e-list at the request
of Cris King, Director, Research Development Services in the Office of the
Vice President for Research.
Discovery Park has initiated a competition for seed grant proposals with a
total of $300,000 allocated to fund seed grants of up to $50,000 each for
proposals that catalyze new high impact activities at Purdue. This program
is not meant to fund complete projects, but rather to provide the necessary
support to start new efforts that will be supported longer term by other
funding sources.  Each proposal must include a letter from the Discovery
Park center(s) from which the project will receive support.  All funded
project teams are expected subsequently to submit a proposal to an external
funding agency through Discovery Park, or to receive support from an outside
organization (e.g., company) for continuation of the project effort.
For this competition, the deadlines are as follows:
Letters of Intent (required) are due Wednesday, January 2.
Proposals are due Tuesday, January 15.
The guidelines and application process for this competition may be found at
http://www.purdue.edu/research/vpr/funding/dpseedgrants.shtml
<http://www.purdue.edu/research/vpr/funding/dpseedgrants.shtml>
<http://www.purdue.edu/research/vpr/funding/dpseedgrants.shtml
<http://www.purdue.edu/research/vpr/funding/dpseedgrants.shtml>
<http://www.purdue.edu/research/vpr/funding/dpseedgrants.shtml >  > .

4.2: Discovery NSF Fellowship Callout for STEM Ph.D. Students:  January 9,
2008; BRNG 1245; 4:30‹5:30pm.  The Discovery Learning Center in Discovery
Park offers opportunity for doctoral students in the STEM disciplines
Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) to apply for a one-year fellowship
funded by the National Science Foundation and Purdue University. Fellows
serve as ³visiting scientists² in a program designed to instill the
excitement of learning science into middle school classrooms. Teamed with
6th, 7th, and 8th grade science teachers, a diverse group of fellows will
develop and teach inquiry-based lessons geared toward the science of
everyday NSF requires applicants to be U.S. citizens.

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5.  Life on the Outside
*********************

5.1:  Wellness Presentation: ³Relaxation Techniques,² Tuesday, December 11,
121:00, MRGN 121.  Stressful situations can cause emotional and physical
harm, but certain relaxation techniques may help ease the pain.  Identify
your stressors, learn ways to prevent them, and practice techniques for
complete relaxation.  Bring your own lunch and enjoy this presentation by
Amber Simons ‹ just in time for shopping, working, preparing, partying, and
all the other fun and stressful events this season can bring.

Deborah S. Starewich
Administrative Assistant to Timothy D. Sands, Director
Birck Nanotechnology Center
Purdue University

765-494-3509
dstarewi at ecn.purdue.edu

http://www.nano.purdue.edu/

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