[BNC-all] MONDAY MEMO, 02.18.08

[Starewich, Deborah S.]

WEEKLY MEMO, February 18, 2008


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1. Announcements
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1.1:  TOWN HALL MEETING, Thursday, 02.21.08, 1:30, BRK 1001.

1.2:  ATTN faculty, staff, and users of BNC: There is an online source for Powerpoint presentations, posters, and other publications under the "Resources" menu on the Birck website.  
Templates, graphics, logos, and pictures are stored on the "Visual/Presentation Resources" page for easy one-click downloading.

http://www.purdue.edu/dp/Nanotechnology/Resources/PPT_resources.php

Several additional resources are also available, including equipment information, ordering information, a boilerplate for the Birck facilities, a FAQ section, room reservations, and much more. Please bookmark the page when you have a chance. 

http://www.purdue.edu/dp/Nanotechnology/Resources/fac_resources.php


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2.  TOURS/VISITORS
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2.1:  Monday, 02.18.08, 1:00-3:00:  Purdue’s for Me visitors – admitted students and their parents; please make them feel welcome.
2.2:  Tuesday, 02.19.08, 1:30-3:30:  Dr. George Elvin, Director, and Ashley VanOsdol, Marketing Director, Green Technology Forum.  Tour to take place at 3:30 beginning at BRK 1027A.
2.3:  Thursday, 02.21.08, 4:00-5:00:  University of Louisville Micro/Nano Technology Department.


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3.  SEMINARS
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3.1:  Tuesday, February 19, 2008, 1:30PM, Food Science Bldg, Morgan Boardroom (2nd floor): “Novel Applications of Magnetic Resonance Imaging to Moisture Transportation in Foods and Other Consumer Products,” by Yong Pan, Principal Scientist The Procter & Gamble Company, Mason Research Center, Mason, OH
ABSTRACT:  Non-medical applications of Magnetic Resonance Imaging have gained increasing attention in recent years.  Its non-invasive and 3-D nature makes it ideal to study moisture and water transportation in various product matrices.  With our Bruker 500 MHz and 300 MHz micro- and mini-imaging spectrometers along with a Biospect 200 large bore imager, various spectroscopy-based imaging techniques were used to investigate the relationship between structural characteristics and quality of products such as French fries, coffee beans, fresh vegetables and flowers.  Quantitative imaging of fluid transportation in real time allows us to extract intrinsic property parameters such as partially saturated permeability and diffusion coefficients, which are used for modeling of fluid partitioning and drying.  Preliminary work on Magnetic Resonance Thermography, Flowing Imaging and Rheo NMR will also be discussed in the context of process understanding and modeling.

3.2:  Tuesday, February 19, 2008, 4:00PM, BRK 2001:  “Plasmonic Metamaterials: Unusual Optics and Applications, by Igor Smolyaninov, Advanced Technologies, BAE Systems.
ABSTRACT:  Surface plasmon-polaritons (or plasmons) are collective excitations of the conduction electrons and the electromagnetic field on the surface of such good metals as gold and silver. Near the frequency of surface plasmon resonance, plasmons may perceive regular dielectrics as negative index metamaterials.  As a result, unusual microscopy, lithography, and wave-guiding devices may be realized.  Nonlinear optics of these metamaterials is also extremely interesting.  I will describe recent experiments on plasmon-induced inverse Faraday effect in plasmonic metamaterials.  The plasmonic control of the spins opens new interesting avenues for all-optical ultrafast control of the magnetization at a nanometer length scale.
BIO:  Igor Smolyaninov is a Principal Electronic Engineer at BAE Systems.  He received his PhD from the Kapitza Institute for Physical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences.  He has published six review articles and more than 80 journal papers in various areas of nanophotonics, low temperature physics, and optical wireless communication.

3.3:  Thursday, February 21, 2008, 3:30 refreshments, PHYS 242; 4:00 seminar, PHYS 223, “Recollections of Oppenheimer and Schwinger,” Edward Gerjuoy, University of Pittsburgh.
The career of J. Robert Oppenheimer, who was born on April 22, 1904, was celebrated in a June, 2004 Los Alamos Symposium, wherein I recalled my experiences as a Ph.D. student of Oppenheimer's in Berkeley, California during the period August 1938 to January 1942. I shall recount some of these recollections, concentrating on conveying a portrait of Oppenheimer as creator and inspiration of probably the most important pre-war United States school of theoretical physics. During a portion of this period (the 1940 academic year) Julian Schwinger, who shared the 1965 Nobel Prize for the development of the modern formulation of quantum electrodynamics and deservedly has been termed a genius, was employed as what today would be termed Oppenheimer's post doc. Therefore, especially because Schwinger now seems almost forgotten although he died less than thirteen years ago (on July 16, 1994), I also will recall some of Schwinger's interactions with Oppenheimer and Oppenheimer's students including myself, in an attempt to convey some comprehension of Schwinger's astonishing theoretical physics talents.

3.4:  Friday, February 22, 2008, 3:30 refreshments, 3:45 seminar, ARMS 1010:  “Nanoscale Surface Energy Modulation Via Probe Tips as a Route Towards Controlled Nanomanufacturing,” Dr. Curtis Taylor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Virginia Commonwealth University.
ABSTRACT:  The development of practical, low-cost nanomanufacturing tools and processes that are capable of atomic-level control is one of the greatest challenges to the commercialization of nanotechnology and the harnessing of its unique benefits. In order to enable the full potential of recent discoveries and advances in understanding matter at the nanoscale in the biological, chemical, electrical, mechanical, optical and other domains—new paradigms in manufacturing are needed. This presentation will highlight recent work on the exploration of nano probe tips to nanomechanically engineer and enable controlled nanomanufacturing—robust and repeatable nanofabrication of structures with atomic-level control of size, shape, spatial position, and chemical composition. Probe tips are used to indent or stamp the surface of a semiconductor to create nanoscale volumes of deformation, which modulate the growth surface strain, topology, and overall surface energy. These nanostamped features form a template that directs nucleation hence allowing for positional and size control of epitaxial quantum dots, nanoparticles, and nanowires. Scaling-up of this approach using thousands of highly parallel tips is extremely promising as a high-precision, low-cost, and low-complexity nanomanufacturing technology. Opportunities and important issues needed to assess the limits and further the viability of probes for nanomanufacturing will be discussed.
BIO:  Curtis Taylor is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) in Richmond, Virginia. Also, he is the Director of VCU’s NanoManufacturing (NanoMan) lab. He received his B.S. degree (1998) in mechanical engineering from the University of Maryland, and his M.S. (2002) and Ph.D. (2005) in electrical engineering and physics from the University of Arkansas. Before coming to Arkansas in 2000, he worked for one year as a software development project manager at Capital One Financial Corporation in Richmond, Virginia. Dr. Taylor has also held internship and research appointments at the Central Intelligence Agency, United Technologies Corporation, and the National Center for Electron Microscopy at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. Dr. Taylor’s research interests include nanomanufacturing for the production of novel nanoelectronic and quantum devices, nanomechanical characterization of materials for development and improved reliability of nanodevices, and nanobiomechanics for cell biology and tissue engineering.

3.5: Friday, February 22, 2008, 3:00 refreshments PHYS 242, 3:30 seminar PHYS 223, “Quantum Computation,” Edward Gerjuoy, University of Pittsburgh.
ABSTRACT: Quantum mechanics, as formulated more than 80 years ago by Schrodinger, Heisenberg, Dirac and other greats, is a wholly sufficient foundation for its modern interrelated subfields of quantum computation (qc)and quantum information (qi), which generally are lumped together into asingle subfield (qc/qi). In short qc/qi, though it has been exciting the attention of a very rapidly increasing number of physicists, involves no genuinely new physics. On the other hand some of the important featuresand implications of quantum mechanics had been only barely appreciated before the advent of qc/qi researches, about 25 years ago. The first portion of this talk will define the fundamental qc component, namely the qubit, and will describe some possible physical realizations of qubits. The talk then will focus on one alluded-to feature (entanglement) and one implication (the so-called no cloning theorem), which for unfathomable reasonsstill receive little or no attention in modern quantum mechanics texts.The talk will close with an explanation (as detailed as time permits) of how a qc computation actually is performed. This explanation will involvepertinent brief references, but no more than brief references, to the so-called Shor factoring algorithm, which provides the best known illustration of the potential power of qc; an adequate explication of Shor’s algorithm would require a full colloquium in itself. My entire talk shouldbe quite comprehensible to any graduate student who has taken an introductory course in quantum mechanics, even if only at the undergraduate level.


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4.  OPPORTUNITIES
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4.1: NIH grantsmanship opportunity 1 — Thursday, February 21, 2008, 8:30-10:30, STEW 202: “Grantsmanship for the NIH,” by Dr. Nancy Pilotte, Chief, Functional Neuroscience Research Branch, Division of Basic Neuroscience and Behavioral Research of the National Institute on Drug Abuse; this presentation will cover general grantsmanship issues for the NIH, and will be most appropriate for newer investigators. The second, from 2:30-4:00, will specifically cover research opportunities in neuroscience.

4.2: NIH grantsmanship opportunity 2 — Thursday, February 21, 2008, 2:30-4:00, MRGN 129: “Neuroscience Research,” by Dr. Nancy Pilotte, Chief, Functional Neuroscience Research Branch, Division of Basic Neuroscience and Behavioral Research of the National Institute on Drug Abuse; this presentation will specifically cover research opportunities in neuroscience.

4.3: NSF: A new solicitation has been released for the Nanotechnology Undergraduate Education (NUE) in Engineering program, which “aims at introducing nanoscale science, engineering, and technology through a variety of interdisciplinary approaches into undergraduate engineering education.  The focus of this year’s competition is on nanoscale engineering education with relevance to devices and systems and/or on the societal, ethical, economic and/or environmental issues relevant to nanotechnology.”  The request for proposals is available at http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2008/nsf08544/nsf08544.htm.
For this competition, Purdue may submit one proposal as lead institution, with a second proposal allowed only if it is focused on the societal, ethical, economic and/or environmental issues relevant to nanotechnology.  Internal deadlines are as follows: Monday, March 10: Letters of Intent due to the OVPR; Monday, April 7: Preproposals due to the OVPR; Thursday, April 10: Preproposal rankings due to the OVPR.
Please note:  Letters of intent, preproposals, and rankings to the OVPR should be e-mailed to OVPRlimited at purdue.edu. Purdue's limited submission policy and template for letters of intent may be found at http://dagon.admin.purdue.edu/cgi-bin/lsid.cgi. For any case in which the number of internal letters of intent received is no more than the number of proposals allowed by the sponsor, the OVPR will notify the PI that an internal preproposal will be unnecessary.

4.4: Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs):  The Department’s FY09 budget has been released earlier this week.  In addition, you may find Undersecretary of Science Dr. Orbach’s budget rollout presentation at: http://www.science.doe.gov/Budget_and_Planning/Budget_Rollouts/RLO%20SC%20FY%202009-2-04-08-v1%20final.pdf?ReleaseNumber=mr20080124-00. 
 
There are significant increases in the BES budget as compared to the FY08 appropriations, especially in high priority research areas identified in the series of Basic Research Needs workshops.  As an implementation strategy, BES will institute the Energy Frontier Research Centers (EFRCs), which will bring together the skills and talents of multiple investigators to enable research of a scope and complexity that would not be possible with the standard individual investigator or small group award.  While such centers were under consideration in BES for a few years, it wasn't until the FY2009 request that we will have available sufficient new budget authority to solidify and execute an EFRC plan at the level of funding needed to do a proper job. 
 
You may find specific details of the EFRCs at the BES website, http://www.sc.doe.gov/bes/EFRC.html.  In brief, the EFRC awards are expected to be in the $2–5 million range annually for an initial 5-year period.  A Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) will be issued later in FY 2008 to request applications from the scientific community for the establishment of the initial suite of EFRCs.  It is anticipated that approximately $100 million will be available for multiple EFRC awards starting in FY 2009.  Please monitor the ERFC website for news/updates on the FOA.  In addition, we plan on putting out web-announcements for single-PI and small group awards for the remaining research increases (~ $60 million) as part of the core research solicitation.




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5.  LIFE ON THE OUTSIDE
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5.1:  Police to offer defense course:  A Rape Aggression Defense (R.A.D.) System course is being offered by the Purdue Police Department in February.  The course is free and is offered at the Police Department (TERY) Conference Room, 205 South Martin Jischke Drive, from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. on the following dates:  Friday, Feb. 22; Monday, Feb. 25; and Wednesday, Feb. 27.  The program is a 12-hour, self-defense-system course designed primarily for women. P articipants must be 12 years of age or older. Attendance at all sessions is required for successful completion of this course.  More information about the course may be found at this web site address: http://www.purdue.edu/police/programs/types/rad.htm.  For additional information or to register for the course, please send an e-mail to sasheppard at purdue.edu.

5.2:  NEED A JOB?  The laboratory of Dr. Eric Lagally in the Michael Smith Laboratories at the University of British Columbia designs and develops integrated microfluidics for molecular diagnostics, including selection and evolution of affinity reagents and detection of bacterial pathogens. A postdoctoral researcher is needed to lead efforts to develop a suite of integrated microfluidic systems for the detection of various cancers using novel electrochemical biosensors.  Applicants should posses a PhD in Chemistry, Biomedical Engineering, or a related field and should not be more than 3 years from the receipt of their PhD  Desirable skills include electrochemical detection methods (CV, ACV), molecular biology methods, tissue culture methods, and microfabrication techniques.  The anticipated start date is April 1, 2008.  Review of the applications will start from February 15, 2008 and will continue until the position is filled. Qualified applicants should submit their CV, copies of recent published work, and three letters of reference.  Applications should be directed by mail to:  Dr. Eric Lagally; Michael Smith Laboratories; The University of British Columbia; #301 – 2185 East Mall; Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4; or via email to lagally at msl.ubc.ca.  Initial appointment will be for a period of one year with the opportunity for reappointment for up to two additional years.  Salary is commensurate with qualifications and experience.  UBC hires on the basis of merit and is committed to employment equity.  All qualified persons to apply; however, Canadians and permanent residents of Canada will be given priority.

5.3:  Raggs to Riches Fashion Show:  Monday, 02.25.08, 6:00PM, Christina and Company Education Center; $5.00 admission paid in advance; $7.00 at the door.  For additional information, phone 448-1811. 


Deborah S. Starewich
Administrative Assistant to Tim Sands, Director
Birck Nanotechnology Center
Purdue University
1205 W. State Street
West Lafayette IN  47907-2057

765-494-3509
Fax 765-496-8383

www.nano.purdue.edu

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