[BNC-all] WEEKLY MEMO, 09.29.08

[Deborah S. Starewich]

WEEKLY MEMO, September 29, 2008
Submit items for memo of October 6 2008 by 5 PM on FRIDAY, 10.03.08, to
dstarewi at purdue.edu
 
 
******************
1.  ANNOUNCEMENTS
******************
 
1.1:  NONE
 
 
*************
2.  NSAC NEWS
*************
 
2.1:  NSAC meeting and picnic, October 1st, 5:30 pm, at Squirrel Park
(southeast corner of State Street and Airport Road ‹ just to the west of
Birck).  NSAC (Nanotechnology Student Advisory Council) is holding its
monthly meeting at Squirrel Park.  A short meeting to discuss ways NSAC can
help improve research at Birck will be followed by a picnic.  All Birck
students, faculty, and staff are invited to both the NSAC meeting and
picnic.  So that we can order enough food, please let us know if you are
coming by signing-up on the following website:
http://www.evite.com/app/publicUrl/ZJGPLWNGLQDBFPPCNEPP/NSAC_PICNIC.  Please
RSVP by Friday, Sept. 26th.  For more information, visit
<http://bncnano.freeforums.org/ <http://bncnano.freeforums.org/> > ‹The NSAC
committee, Caitlin Burger, Cara Smith, John Wilcox, and Laura Biedermann
 
 
********************
3.  TOURS/VISITORS
********************
 
3.1:  Monday, 09.29.08, 10:35AM:  North Montgomery High School Physics
Class, with Caitlin Burger.
 
3.2:  Monday, 09.29.08, 10:45AM:  Patrick Wang, with Tim Sands.
 
 
************************************************
4.  SEMINARS/WORKSHOPS
     see item #6 below for descriptions, abstracts, and bios
************************************************
 
4.1:  Wednesday, 10.01.08, 12:00PM, MRGN 129:  Ethics and Science
Discussion, ³Ethics on the Frontiers of Livestock Science,² by Dr. Paul
Thompson, WW. Kellogg Chair in Agricultural, Food, and Community Ethics,
Michigan State University.
 
4.2:  Wednesday, 10.01.08, 5:30PM, MRGN 121:  Bioethics Seminar Series, ³The
Opposite of Human Enhancement: Nanotechnology and the Blind Chicken
Problem,² Dr. Paul Thompson, WW. Kellogg Chair in Agricultural, Food, and
Community Ethics, Michigan State University.
 
4.3:  Thursday, 10.02.08, 8:30AM, BRK 1001:  ³Control of nanogap dimensions
in selectively etched nanowire heterostructures,² by Manuel DaSilva; defense
presentation.
 
4.4:  Thursday, 10.02.08, 10:30AM, BRK 1001:  ³Self-assembly of
Nanostructures on AFM Probes and Their Applicability to In Situ Measurements
and Manipulations of Soft Biomaterials,² by Mehdi M. Yazdanpanah,
ElectroOptions Research Institute and Nanotechnology Center, University of
Louisville, and NaugaNeedles LLC.
 
4.5:  Mark your calendars:  Friday, 10.10.08, 9:00AM-3:00PM, Burton D.
Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship: ³Consumers and Technology Symposium.²
 
4.6:  6th International Nanomedicine and Drug Delivery Symposium, Saturday
and Sunday, 10.18 and 10.19.08, Toronto, Canada.  REGISTER TODAY!
http://www.nanodds.org. Registration spaces are limited! Registration
deadline: September 30th, 2008.
 
4.7:  2009 World Congress on Computer Science and Information Engineering
(CSIE 2009), 03.31.09 to 04.02.09, Los Angeles/Anaheim, USA.
http://world-research-institutes.org/conferences/CSIE/2009
 
 
****************
5.  OPPORTUNITIES
****************
 
5.1:  New collaborative funding opportunity announced through the Indiana
Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (CTSI), a NIH-funded institute
led by the Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM) and Purdue
University West Lafayette.  This new seed grant opportunity, similar in
scope to the former CBR program, is entitled Collaboration in
Biomedical/Translational Research (CBR/CTR) Pilot Grant Program.  The
CBR/CTR awards are to foster collaborations between researchers at IU and
Purdue to conduct translational research projects that have the potential to
develop into larger, continuing, externally funded research programs.
Proposed projects should have participation by two (or more) principal
investigators representing at least two of the sponsoring affiliates for
this program.  Sponsoring affiliates include:  IU School of Medicine (IUSM);
IUPUI (non-IUSM); IU Bloomington; Purdue University (West Lafayette).  The
program will provide a total of $600,000 to fund collaborative proposals of
up to $75,000 each.  The deadline for receipt of proposals is December 1.
Guidelines, are available, complete with all forms and submission
instructions, at http://www.indianactsi.org/funding/cbrctr
<http://www.indianactsi.org/funding/cbrctr> .  And at the Purdue OVPR Seed
Grants website at 
http://www.purdue.edu/Research/vpr/funding/seedgrants.shtml
<http://www.purdue.edu/Research/vpr/funding/seedgrants.shtml> .
 
 
*******************************
6.  ABSTRACTS/BIOS/DESCRIPTIONS
     for seminars/workshops lists above
*******************************
 
6.1:  Wednesday, 10.01.08, 12:00PM, MRGN 129:  Ethics and Science
Discussion, ³Ethics on the Frontiers of Livestock Science,² by Dr. Paul
Thompson, WW. Kellogg Chair in Agricultural, Food, and Community Ethics,
Michigan State University.
We¹re excited to remind you of a new ethics and science opportunity this
year: the Ethics and Science seminar series.  These small informal
lunch-time seminars are an excellent opportunity for students to engage in
dialogue with our distinguished guests.  This will be available on our
website at www.purdue.edu/bioethics <http://www.purdue.edu/bioethics
<http://www.purdue.edu/bioethics> > .
 
6.2:  Wednesday, 10.01.08, 5:30PM, MRGN 121:  Bioethics Seminar Series, ³The
Opposite of Human Enhancement: Nanotechnology and the Blind Chicken
Problem,² Dr. Paul Thompson, WW. Kellogg Chair in Agricultural, Food, and
Community Ethics, Michigan State University.
More information is available on our website at www.purdue.edu/bioethics
<file:////www.purdue.edu/bioethics
<file://localhost/www.purdue.edu/bioethics> >.
 
6.3:  Thursday, 10.02.08, 10:30AM, BRK 1001:  ³Self-assembly of
Nanostructures on AFM Probes and Their Applicability to In Situ Measurements
and Manipulations of Soft Biomaterials,² by Mehdi M. Yazdanpanah,
ElectroOptions Research Institute and Nanotechnology Center, University of
Louisville, and NaugaNeedles LLC.
ABSTRACT:  Supercooled liquid gallium (Ga) spontaneously alloys at room
temperature   with metal thin films (including Ag, Co, Pt, Fe) resulting in
rapid self-assembly of nanostructures (including Ag2Ga needles, CoGa3 rods,
and Ga6Pt and Ga3Fe plates). Individual Ga-M nanos-tructures have been
grown at selected locations on surfaces and directed to grow in a desired
direction by first coating the surface (e.g. AFM tip) with one   of the
above metals, dipping the surface into a melted Ga droplet, and retracting
the surface normal to the droplet forming a meniscus. The nanostructure then
grows and is oriented along the axis of the meniscus.  This is now used
routinely by our group to   form very flexible, rugged and securely attached
Ag2Ga nanoneedles of constant diameter (in the range of 25 to 500 nm) and
from 5-110 microns long on AFM tips, as well as on tipless cantilevers,
resonating fork, sharpened tungsten probes, glass micropipettes and
sidewalls of vertically micromachined silicon and glass.  The nanoneedles
have stiffnesses that are well matched to the viscoelastic properties of
complex fluids and biological materials, are electrically conductive and
have had their sidewalls coated with a thin insulator by a subsequent
operation. We are in the process of developing, evaluating and integrating
this technology into platforms for combined electrochemical and viscoelastic
probing of live cells, bacterial biofilms and subcellular organelles within
live cells.  Specific progress towards this system includes our recent
demonstrations of using Ag2Ga nanoneedle-tipped probes (1) to make precise
AFM measurements of surface tension, contact angle, evaporation rate, and
shear viscosity of polymeric liquids, (2) to draw individual polymeric and
protein nanofibers, and (3) to puncture individual live cells and measure
viscoelastic response (by AFM force-distance spectroscopy) as the probe
punctures the cell membrane, is extended all the way through the cytosol,
and then retracted from the cell.
BIO: Mehdi M. Yazdanpanah is a Research Faculty Scientist at the University
of Louisville (UofL) where his current research is devoted to developing
applications of the selectively nanostructured alloys for probing and
nanomanipulation of soft materials and live single cells. He holds a PhD in
Electrical Engineering with honors from UofL (2006), where he studied
directed self-assembly of nanostructures via Ga-M reactions. He also holds
the B.S. degree in Physics from Sharif University of Technology (1998) and
the M.S. degree in Physics from the Beheshti University, Iran (2001), where
he designed and built a scanning tunneling microscope (STM). Recently, he
founded NaugaNeedles LLC where he is developing commercial products and
applications of the selectively grown Ga-M nanostructures.
HOST: Ron Reifenberger/Laura Biederman (66494, rr at physics.purdue.edu)
 
6.4:  Mark your calendars:  Friday, October 10, 2008, 9:00AM-3:00PM, Burton
D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship:  ³Consumers and Technology
Symposium.²
€  Explore the effect of the information technology age on the consumer
€  Discover opportunities for collaboration on issues concerning technology
and its influence on the service economy
€  Keynote Speaker:  A. ³Parsu² Parasuraman, School of Business, University
of Miami: ³Technology Readiness and Its Implications for Technology-based
Customer Service²
€  Faculty Presenters:  Randy Woodson, Provost; Richard Buckius, Vice
President for Research¹ Shannon Amberg, College of Agriculture; Richard
Feinberg, College of Consumer and Family Sciences; Athula Kulatunga, College
of Technology; Joseph Pekny, Department of Chemical Engineering; Gene
Spafford, CERIAS
€  Poster Session:  Graduate students are invited to present research
related to consumers and technology. Prizes awarded. 
Contact
mailto:%20wailor at purdue.edu <mailto:%20wailor at purdue.edu>  to register for
the poster session.
€  Registration required by October 6; There is NO CHARGE to attend the
symposium. Lunch is included.
€  For information and to register, visit: www.conf.purdue.edu/CTS
<http://www.conf.purdue.edu/CTS>
 
6.5:  2009 World Congress on Computer Science and Information Engineering
(CSIE 2009), 03.31.09 to 04.02.09, Los Angeles/Anaheim, USA.
http://world-research-institutes.org/conferences/CSIE/2009
CALL FOR PAPERS, INVITED SESSIONS & EXPO: CSIE 2009 conference proceedings
will be published by the IEEE Computer Society and all papers in the
proceedings will be included in EI Compendex, ISTP, and IEEE Xplore.  CSIE
2009 intends to be a global forum for researchers and engineers to present
and discuss recent advances and new techniques in computer science and
information engineering.  CSIE 2009 consists of the following Technical
Symposiums: Communications & Mobile Computing Symposium; Computer
Applications Symposium; Computer Design & VLSI Symposium; Data Mining & Data
Engineering Symposium; Intelligent Systems Symposium; Multimedia & Signal
Processing Symposium; Software Engineering Symposium
     Invited sessions offer focused discussions on specialized topics.  A
prospective invited session organizer should send a proposal, including a
session title, a short synopsis, bio-sketch of the organizer with a
publication list, to the appropriate Symposium Chair (visit the conference
website for more details). In addition to research papers, CSIE 2009 also
seeks exhibitions of modern products and equipment for computer science and
information engineering.
     Important Dates:  Paper/Abstract Submission Deadline: September 30,
2008; Review Notification: November 15, 2008; Final Papers and Author
Registration Deadline: December 7, 2008
     Organizing Committee:  General Chair:  Adrian Martin, World Research
Institutes, USA; Program Chair:  Mark Burgin, University of California at
Los Angeles, USA; Symposium Chairs:  Masud H Chowdhury, University of
Illinois at Chicago, USA; Chan H. Ham, University of Central Florida, USA;
Simone Ludwig, University of Saskatchewan, Canada; Weilian Su, Naval
Postgraduate School, USA; Sumanth Yenduri, University of Southern
Mississippi, USA.  Publicity Chairs:  Nitin Upadhyay, Birla Institute of
Technology and Science (BITS), India; and David C. Wong, US Environmental
Protection Agency, USA.
 
 
***************
7.  JOB POSTINGS
***************
 
7.1:  Industrial Postdoctoral Fellow Position in Nanofabrication and
Nanotechnology, PicoCal; Location: Ann Arbor, Michigan; Phone: 734-913-2608;
Fax: 734-372-6318.
Overview:  A Postdoc position is available in December 2008/January 2009 to
develop MEMS probes for AFM/SPM, bio and other applications including some
very exciting applications in nanotech. Research in collaboration with major
universities including University of Michigan and Michigan State.
Opportunities for publications.  Possibility to serve as a PI on government
grants.  Founders are professors at major universities.
Requirements:  Candidate must have prior microfab expertise.  Work will be
conducted primarily in cleanroom of the U. of Mich. Microfab.  Process
development and characterization skills, ability to communicate well, write
proposals and reports, work independently, circuit design and testing,
design and execution of experiments are essential.  Prior experience with
SPM tools, labview, working at the U of M clean-room, PhD in Electrical
Engineering highly desirable.  Minimum 2-year commitment.
Responsibilities:  Mirofabrication, experimental set-up, product testing,
AFM/SPM operation, labview programming, product quality control, publication
writing, proposal grant writing, possibility for grant management.
Application:  Send resume and contact information of 3 references to
angelo at picocal.com
 
7.2:  Senior MEMS Engineer; RheoSense, Inc.; Location: San Ramon,
California; Phone: 925-866-3801; Fax: 925-866-3804.
Overview:  RheoSense is a worldwide leader in MEMS sensor technology for
precision flow management.  Our patented viscosity sensor is an enabling
technology for instrumentation and flow control and is successfully
implemented in a growing number of applications.  We are looking for a
highly motivated individual to contribute to our continued growth and
success.  This position involves development of MEMS products and processing
in a laboratory environment and coordination of the transfer of product and
process to larger scale production.
Requirements:  B.S. or higher in Electrical Engineering or similar
discipline with a proven track record of MEMS process development and
project management for at least five years.  An excellent knowledge of MEMS
processes, and sensor design and performance.  A willingness to roll up your
sleeves and an enthusiasm for your chosen work.  The desire to play a
leadership role in a small team of engineers dedicated to the goal of
advancing the future of fluid sensor technology.
Responsibilities:  Design and conduct experiments for process development
and improvement. Develop processes and implement tooling and equipment for
scaling up production.  Maintain accurate documentation of experiments and
processes.  Plan and coordinate product/process transfer from an R&D lab to
a MEMS foundry.  Work with and in support of our Senior Process Engineer.
Application:  If you are qualified for the requirements stated above, please
send your resume and salary requirements to hr at rheosense.com. Competitive
salary and benefits are offered.
 
7.3:  Bio-Mechanical Engineer at Northridge, CA.
Job Description:  Work closely with, and report directly to, the Director of
Engineering in fast-paced startup environment to provide mechanical and
electrical design expertise for the development of the company's biomedical
device products.  This could include designing, testing and validation of
new product, materials, and technologies.  Evaluate and qualify vendors for
product components; design new microcapillary and microfluidic BioMEMS
components; responsible for drawing, revising, maintaining CAD drawings and
electrical schematics to document product design; timely and accurate
record-keeping. 
Requirements:  Minimum MS degree in Biomedical Engineering, EE, ME,
Electro-mechanical engineering or Physics; PhD preferred.  0-5 yrs
engineering experience developing scientific measurement equipment,
preferably involving fluid flow in microfluidic and microcapillary
components; silicon & glass MEMS components.  Working knowledge of
mechanical design CAD software, such as AutoCAD; working knowledge of
electrical CAD software, such as PCAD.  Maintain accurate and detailed
documentation throughout all phases of research and development.  Ability to
perform multiple tasks efficiently and under self-direction; be able to
prioritize tasks based on company requirements. Excellent language and
technical writing skills in English.  Computer literate: skilled with word
processor, spreadsheet and e-mail software.  Ability to work closely with
other staff within a team environment.
Special requirements:  Must be able to sit/stand 8 hours per day.
Bend/stoop/reach on a regular basis during the work day.
Contact:  ctull at theracellinc.com
 
 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://eng.purdue.edu/ECN/mailman/archives/bnc-all/attachments/20080926/2c1389d0/attachment-0001.html 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: i092908 attach1.pdf
Type: application/pdf
Size: 374343 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://eng.purdue.edu/ECN/mailman/archives/bnc-all/attachments/20080926/2c1389d0/attachment-0001.pdf