NanoMaterials Spring-Fall 2015

Advanced Materials Processing & Analysis Center | NanoScience Technology Center | Volume 7, Issue 1 • Spring-Fall 2015

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RESEARCH TO TECH COMMERCIALIZATION PG 7 NANOTECH JET FUEL ADDITIVE BY DR. SEAL’S RESEARCH GROUP LICENSED BY HELICON CHEMICAL CO.

FLEXIBLE SKIN-LIKE COLOR DISPLAY

BY DR. CHANDA’S RESEARCH GROUP LICENSED BY E-SKIN DISPLAYS INC., CA.

ALSO IN THIS EDITION: Faculty News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-7 Message from the Director . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Student News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8-10 Staff Spotlight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 New Hires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

FACULTY AWARDS & ACHIEVEMENTS

SANTRA WINS UCF EXCELLENCE IN RESEARCH AWARD Swadeshmukul Santra is a winner of the University of Central Florida’s 2015 Excellence in Research award.

Excellence in Research awards are given to individual faculty from each college at UCF, and one overall winner is selected among the combined research staff. Dr. Santra was chosen as the one and honored during UCF’s annual Founders’ Day ceremony in April 2015.

Winners are selected based on value and impact of their research within the discipline and to the society, recognition by their peers, publications and presentations, and external grant and contract support for their research.

Santra has a joint appointment in UCF’s NanoScience Technology Center and Department of Chemistry with a secondary appointment in Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences. His research focuses on quantum dot nanotechnology, nanomedicine, agricultural biocides, environmental nanotoxicology, and nanofiltration.

ZINKICIDE, SANTRA’S BACTERICIDE, FEATURED ON ABC WFTV CHANNEL 9 Swadeshmukul Santra’s invention, Zinkicide, has been recently featured by ABC WFTV Channel 9 on a segment about the Florida citrus industry’s fight for funding for research and testing to battle citrus greening.

Swadeshmukul Santra’s research into citrus greening also featured in a new article from The Huffington Post.

Santra was at a conference on citrus greening when this Zinkicide idea came to him that could save the state’s ailing citrus industry.

That light-bulb moment helped Santra, who works in UCF’s NanoScience Technology Center, to invent a zincbased liquid that is being tested as a potential treatment for deadly citrus greening. At stake is Florida’s $10.8 billion citrus industry. “It’s a 100-year-old disease,” Santra said.

“Nobody knows how to culture it in a lab, and there’s no cure available to growers yet.”

UCF CELEBRATING SCIENCE AND RESEARCH AT THE ANNUAL MILLIONAIRE GRANT CELEBRATION Under a sunset stroked sky in front of the University of Central Florida’s main administration building, university leaders celebrated the traits of tenacity, collaborative spirit, and commitment to excellence that UCF’s top grant earning researchers share. Three professors of NanoScience Technology Center—James Hickman, $1.89 million, Swadeshmukal Santra, $1.72 million and Aman Behal, $1.44 million were amongst twenty-nine researchers earned $1 million or more earning a bid into UCF’s Millionaires Club, which hosted the celebration earlier in November 2015.

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www.ampac.ucf.edu

FLEXIBLE SKIN-LIKE COLOR DISPLAY: THIN, WEARABLE AND CAPABLE OF ADVANCED CAMOUFLAGE

FLEXIBLE ‘SKIN-LIKE’ COLOR DISPLAY DEVELOPED A fully flexible color display inspired by chameleon skin was developed by Debashis Chanda’s research team from the NanoScience Technology Center at UCF. Daniel Franklin was the lead researcher working on the project. This technology is the first of its kind that makes use of the full red-blue-green color spectrum.

Future applications include providing instant camouflage for military clothing, color-changing functionality for regular clothing, and low-powered electronic screens. The team has been given a $300,000 grant by the National Science Foundation to develop the technology further.

INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION The research has been highlighted internationally by the National Science Foundation as part of its International Year of Light. The work appeared as a featured article in Nature Communications journal June 2015 issue, along with features in the BBC News, ABC News, NBC News, Daily Mail, ScienceDaily, Phys.org, Popular Science, EurekAlert, Orlando Sentinel, Times of India, Indian Express, Deccan Chronicle, The Hindu, and ZEE News. The technology has been licensed

by E-Skin Displays Inc., CA.

oscillation of electrons on the metallic surface. From there, the light that the surface absorbs and reflects changes, in turn affecting the colors that the eye perceives.

The voltage needed to power this display is low enough to be safe. A tiny battery will be able to power the process, similar to the battery of a cell phone.

INSPIRATION FROM NATURE The team drew inspiration from animals such as the octopus that can change color directly on their flexible skin, which covers their complex and organic shape.

The motivation was to see if a skin-like display similar to the observation from nature could be developed that distanced itself from the rigid and bulky LCD, LED, and CRT displays.

The technology developed delivers this flexible, stretchable and light-weight display with the thickness of human hair.

HOW IT WORKS Differing voltage levels are applied to change the color of the flexible surface display. The technology uses a nanostructured aluminum topped with liquid crystals. Voltage changes the angles of the liquid crystal molecules and consequently

www.nanoscience.ucf.edu

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OSCAR OF INVENTION AWARDED TO UCF TECHNOLOGY Jayan Thomas’ group invention (Energy storing and transmitting cables) won the R&D 100 Award for UCF. Zenan Yu, Julian Moore and Dr. Thomas are the inventors.

The R&D 100 Awards have a 50+ year history of recognizing excellence in innovation, earning the name the “Oscars of Invention.”

And at the annual event, the high rollers of the science and technology industry were honored on stage for their innovative, high-tech products and processes that

are, or will, make a difference in our everyday lives.

The awards recognize not only the efforts of the development team and partners, but provides a mark of excellence known to industry, government, and consumers. The R&D 100 Award assures potential customers that the product has successfully competed against other new tech in open competition.

The award is a positive message about a company’s product and achievements that can be shared with

customers, as demonstrated by previous winners Intel, MIT, and Mettler Toledo.

Photo: Rob Bernath, business development manager at the UCF Office of Technology

Transfer, and Jayan Thomas, UCF researcher, accept the R&D 100 Award honoring excellence in technology innovations at the annual awards banquet in Las Vegas.

NSTC & AMPAC FACULTY/STAFF PRESENT AT UCF SENSOR CONFERENCE On Friday, October 30, several NSTC and AMPAC Faculty and Staff presented at the UCF Sensor Conference.

The UCF Sensor Conference was a one-day workshop organized

by CREOL, The College of Optics and Photonics; the College of Engineering & Computer Science; and the NanoScience Technology Center, and featuring 28 presentations.

The Sensor Conference served as a forum for UCF faculty engaged in research in sensor technologies and related fields

to exchange ideas and explore possibilities for collaborative interdisciplinary research. The scope of the conference is broad, including electronic, integrated-photonic, optical fiber, thin-film, polymer, plasmonic, acoustic, thermal, mechanical (MEMS/NEMS), microfluidic, chemical, bio-sensors, and neuro-sensors. Technologies include single-chip, wireless, networked, smart, nano, remote, embedded, passive, and active sensors. Topics related to materials, manufacturing, and packaging are also included.

NANOTECH BRINGING ENORMOUS OPPORTUNITIES TO NEW PRODUCT AND BUSINESS DEV According to U.S. National Science Foundation estimates, by 2015 the annual global market for nanotechnology-related goods and services will top $1 trillion, thus making it one of the fastest-growing industries in history. There is an increasing demand from industry and academia for a well-trained workforce with

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both scientific background and professional skills to work in nanotechnologyrelated research, product development and commercialization.

The Professional Science Master’s in Nanotechnology program at the University of Central Florida provides students with scientific education in

nanotechnology and professional training in business and technology venture.

This program incorporates both the higher level scientific content and business and entrepreneurial components that are necessary to drive innovative ideas in nanotechnology product development.

The curriculum culminates with an internship that will provide work experience for each student. Students that complete this and professional skills to work efficiently and competitively in nanotechnology-oriented businesses and entities.

More About PSM in Nanotech at PSM.NANOSCIENCE.UCF.EDU

www.ampac.ucf.edu

“By 2015 the annual global market for nanotech goods and services will top $1 trillion”

LUSH PRIZE FOR SCIENCE James Hickman and Michael Shuler (Cornell University) won the 2015 Lush Prize for Science Award and received a 35,000 pound cash prize

FANG’S WORK NAMED KEY SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE

YONGHO SOHN, 2015 ASM FELLOW FEATURED ON JOURNAL OF MATERIALS SCIENCE COVER The August issue of the Journal of Materials Science features Jiyu Fang’s group research on synthesis of ultralight, superhydrophobic and superoleophilic “spongelike” aerogels.

Yongho Sohn was named an American Society for Metals International Fellow for 2015.

Receiving the status of ASM Fellow represents recognition of distinguished contributions in the field of materials science and engineering, along with developing a forum for leaders to serve as advisors to the Society.

Jiyu Fang’s article, “Light-harvesting J-Aggregate Nanotubes for Sensing Dopamine,” was recognized as a Key Scientific Article, in Global Medical Discovery, contributing to excellence in biomedical research.

GMD features papers of exceptional scientific importance. Emphasis is given to all aspects of medicine from basic science to clinical studies.

GMD is highly selective; invited articles are less than 0.1% of the published literature.

MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR Welcome to another news cycle.

I am pleased to see the university approval of our new M.S. program in Nanotechnology. Thanks to our faculty making this program a reality, we now join a handful of nano-education programs in the country and program enrollment consistently grows.

have an ongoing footprint in the National Institute of Health and AIMBE organizations. Kudos to Dr. Sohn for his selection to Fellow of ASM International. Congratulations to Dr. Hickman for winning the Lush prize and Dr. Thomas for receiving the R&D 100 award for UCF.

Our faculty continues to excel in exciting interdisciplinary nano-materials research ranging from preventing citrus disease, flexible skin-like display development to materials composition analysis using atomic vibration.

We continuously publish high impact papers including Nature Communications, Nature Nanotechnology, cover articles for journals, etc.

We all know Diane for her great service to NSTC and she completes her BS degree while working. Wonderful achievement, Diane!

NSTC/AMPAC are also developing technology for commercialization by licensing and creating new startups.

Our faculty are great mentors for our students in research and technology commercialization. Several studentled startups are creating national attention by winning competitive research grants.

This year we welcomed new faculty in materials and nano in the area of biomaterials, packaging, biophysics, energy materials and quantum dots and lasers. NSTC faculty

www.nanoscience.ucf.edu

Congratulations to our M.S. and Ph.D. graduates! We are proud of our students winning research awards in national and international arenas. Best wishes for their future journey in academic and industrial careers.

I hope you enjoy reading our Nanomaterials news.

Congratulations to our faculty, staff and students for their outstanding service to the AMPAC and NSTC centers and for their contributions to the growth of the Materials Science & Engineering, Nano, Chemistry, Physics, Optics and Bio programs at UCF. Go Knights!

Sudipta Seal, Pegasus Professor, Distinguished Professor Director, AMPAC and NSTC Interim Chair, Materials Science & Engineering Department

University

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HICKMAN CO-CHAIRS AIMBE/NIH WORKSHOP The “Fifth AIMBE/NIH Workshop on Validation and Qualification of New In Vitro Tools and Models for the Pre-clinical Drug Discovery Process” was held on February 12, 2015, at the NIH Campus, Lister Hill Auditorium, Bethesda, MD. This is the 5th workshop co-chaired and organized by James Hickman.

The workshop was a joint effort between The American Institute

for Medical and Biological Engineering, the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences that addressed the topic of validation and qualification of new in vitro tools and models for the pre-clinical drug discovery process. The overall goal of this workshop series was to develop guidelines for investigators developing new tools for the pre-clinical, and possibly clinical, drug development process on how to validate and qualify these new technologies so that they become useful, meaningful tools.

HUO’S RESEARCH FEATURED ON COVER OF APPLIED MATERIALS AND INTERFACES JOURNAL An article co-authored by Qun “Treen” Huo is featured on the cover of ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces Journal.

BALAEFF’S MANUSCRIPT ACCEPTED TO NANO RESEARCH MAGAZINE

T. Ignatova, A. Balaeff, M. Zheng, M. Blades, P. Stoeckl, and S. Rotkin, “Two-color spectroscopy of UV-excited ssDNA complex with a single-wall nanotube probe: Fast nucleobase autoionization mechanism”.

As a PI and and co-PI, Balaeff received three start-up awards of computational time at the NSF supercomputer resource XSEDE.

CHANDA INVITED TO SERVE ON EDITORIAL BOARD Debashis Chanda, P.h.D. has been invited to serve on the Editorial Board of Nature Publishing Group’s Scientific Reports journal, 2015

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The article, “Different Interaction Modes of Biomolecules with Citrate-Capped Gold Nanoparticles,” contains analysis that could lead to new biomarker discovery with diagnostic applications.

AMERICAN SCIENTIST MAGAZINE FEATURES CHANDA A magazine article, “Fabrication at the Nano Scale with Molds and Imprinting” featuring work by Debashis Chanda and his lab was published in the American Scientist Magazine.

The article mentions Chanda’s work on optical lithography through nanoimprinting technology, that provides a large throughput at low cost, as a solution to current challenges in the industry. The article also mentions the use of these optical lithography manufacturing methods by companies such as the Intel Corporation.

American Scientist is a bimonthly publication about science, engineering and technology published by Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society.

www.ampac.ucf.edu

RESEARCH TO TECH COMMERCIALIZATION NANOTECH BY DR. SEAL’S RESEARCH GROUP LICENSED BY HELICON CHEMICAL CO. A nanoparticle additive for jet and rocket fuels that was developed by Sudipta Seal and his research group has been licensed to a company established by a former university researcher.

Helicon Chemical Co., LLC, obtained exclusive rights to the technology that improves the dispersion and burning rates of solid fuel propellants.

“It makes them safer, more environmentally friendly and easier to use,” said Sudipta Seal, director of the University of Central Florida’s

Advanced Materials Processing and Analysis Center (AMPAC) and the NanoScience Technology Center and Interim Chair of Materials Science and Engineering “This is a very high-impact agreement.”

Seal and his team invented the technology in collaboration with Dr. Eric Petersen, a former professor at UCF who is now at Texas A&M University.

Seal’s team included David Reid, who at the time was a graduate student at AMPAC/MSE. Reid went on to launch Helicon Chemical.

The research was funded in part by contracts from the U.S. Department of Defense.

TETARD USING VIBRATIONS TO IDENTIFY MATERIALS’ COMPOSITION

It’s the latest licensing agreement facilitated by UCF’s Office of Technology Transfer within the Office of Research and Commercialization, which manages the university’s intellectual property assets and helps bring discoveries by faculty, staff and students to the marketplace. Among the benefits of licensing agreements are royalties paid to the inventor’s college, department and to the inventor.

“UCF has been very creative and innovative in helping these companies,” Seal said.

PROFESSIONAL SCIENCE MASTERS DAY SHOWCASED IN UCFTODAY

Laurene Tetard and her research team have developed a new method for identifying materials’ unique chemical vibrations and mapping their chemical properties at a much higher spatial resolution than ever before.

The new approach is able to identify materials based on differences in the vibration produced when they’re subjected to different wavelengths of light.

Results from the study will help reveal better methods for producing the most biofuel from cottonwood, the material examined using the new identification method, and help determine whether other plants are good candidates for biofuel production.

Other potential uses of the new identification method include studying the effect of new treatments on citrus trees to save them from bacterial diseases rapidly decimating the citrus industry and studying the fundamental photonically-induced processes in complex systems such as in solar cell materials or opto-electronic devices.

The research team included Laurene Tetard; Ali Passian, R.H. Farahi and Brian Davison, all of Oak Ridge National Laboratory; and Thomas Thundat of the University of Alberta.

ZHAI RECEIVES $297K AWARD Dr. Lei Zhai received $297,390 from the National Science Foundation for his research “Manufacturing Stable and Functional Hydrogel Nanofibers from Metal Ion Containing Polymer Blends”

www.nanoscience.ucf.edu

The impressive presentations by graduate students at the first Professional Science Masters Day were highlighted in a recent article by UCFToday.

PSM Nanotechnology students, Jennifer Parra and Robert Williamson, presented deliverables from their internships and discussed the benefits they were provided as part of a Professional Science Masters degree program. Parra interned at L’OREAL USA and Williamson interned at Sanford Burnham Medical Research Institute. The event was an opportunity for the students to showcase their abilities to potential employers and network with industry professionals in their chosen field.

The industry partners represented a variety of scientific companies around Central Florida with most attendees at the Director, CEO, or Company President level. It demonstrated the advantage of a PSM degree being designed for students who want to go directly into industry upon graduation and benefit from the hands-on internships.

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STUDENT NEWS

Student Researchers Honored at AVS MEETING The Annual Joint Symposium & Exhibition of the Florida Chapter of the AVS Science and Technology Society (FLAVS) and the Florida Society for Microscopy (FSM) was held March 9-10 at UCF. The Symposium consisted of a plenary lecture, technical sessions with invited and contributed presentations, a poster session including a student poster competition and an equipment exhibit for vendors to display surface analytical, vacuum, microscopy, thin film and microelectronic equipment.

NANOFLORIDA WINNERS RAJASEKARAN TAKES 1ST PLACE AT NANOFLORIDA 2014 Dr. Parthiban Rajasekaran took First Prize among oral presentations at NanoFlorida 2014. His presentation was titled “Chitosan-metal composites as a potential prophylactic antimicrobial feed additive for combating antimicrobial resistance.”

Rajasekaran is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Dr. Swadeshmukul Santra’s research group.

His research focus includes the study of basic interaction of agricultural pesticides with bacteria.

2015 STUDENT WINNERS First Prize: Hao Li, from UCF’s Advanced Materials Processing and Analysis Center.

Third Prize: Mikaeel Young, oral presentation category.

Young is a member of Dr. Swadeshmukul Santra’s research group, with a focus on mixed-valence, copper-loaded silica nanocomposite materials.

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Several NSTC and AMPAC researchers were recognized for their outstanding poster presentations in four categories.

COMPUTATIONAL AND EXPERIMENTAL MATERIALS SCIENCE Second Place: Le Zhou, Advisor: Yong-ho Sohn Third Place: Shashank Saraf, Advisor: Sudipta Seal Honorable Mention: Abraham Vazquez-Guardado, Advisor: Debashis Chanda

ENERGY-RELATED MATERIALS First Place: Zenan Yu, Advisor: Jayan Thomas Second Place: Matthew McInnis, Advisor: Lei Zhai Third Place: Abhishek Mehta, Advisor: Yong-ho Sohn

MATERIALS PROCESSING AND CHARACTERIZATION First Place: Narae Kang, Advisor: Saiful Khondaker Second Place: Swetha Barkam, Advisor: Sudipta Seal Third Place: Xiaochen Wang, Advisor: Lei Zhai Honorable Mention: Ankur Gupta, Advisor: Sudipta Seal Honorable Mention: Jinan Deng, Advisor: Jiyu Fang

UNDERGRADUATE First Place: Rameech McCormack, Advisor: Sudipta Seal Second Place: Eric Calkins, Advisor: Laurene Tetard Third Place: Antonia Bass, Advisor: Swadeshmukul Santra Honorable Mention: David Fox, Advisor: Lei Zhai Honorable Mention: Preeti Kumrah, Advisor: Swadeshmukul Santra

Pictured L-R: Shashank Saraf (2nd from left), Swetha Barkam, Ankur Gupta, and Rameech McCormack www.ampac.ucf.edu

STUDENTS WIN GRADUATE RESEARCH FORUM POSTER AWARDS The Graduate Research Forum features poster displays representing UCF’s diverse colleges and disciplines. The Research Forum is an opportunity for students to showcase their research and creative projects and to receive valuable feedback from faculty judges.

Four NSTC Students were recognized at the 2015 Graduate Research Forum with Poster Awards in the following categories:

ENG, COMP SCIENCE, AND MODELING AND SIMULATION First Place - Zenan Yu, Material Science and Engineering Energy Storing Electrical Cables Mentor/Co-Author: Jayan Thomas, Ph.D. Second Place - Yi Ding, Materials Science and Engineering Light-Matter Interaction at the Nanoscale Using Multi-Frequency Atomic Force Microscopy Mentor: Laurene Tetard, Ph.D.

MATHEMATICS AND PHYSICAL SCIENCES Honorable Mention - Daniel Franklin, Physics Color Tunable Metasurfaces for Reflective Displays Mentor: Debashis Chanda, Ph.D. Co-Author: Yuan Chen; Shin-Tson Wu; Debashis Chanda, Ph.D. Honorable Mention - Javaneh Boroumand, Physics Efficiency Enhancement in Thin-Film Solar Cells Mentor: Debashis Chanda, Ph.D.

HELLER AWARDED RAMP FELLOWSHIP Steven Heller has been awarded a Research and Mentoring Program (RAMP) fellowship with Sudipta Seal, Ph.D. as his advisor.

RAMP is designed to provide undergraduate students with research experience while working closely with a faculty mentor. In addition, the students participate in a variety of workshops designed to increase their awareness and knowledge of graduate school education. The aim of this program is to encourage more students from those populations who are traditionally underrepresented in graduate education to attend graduate school. Undergraduate students participating in this program can receive up to $2,800 each year.

www.nanoscience.ucf.edu

NANOFEST FLORIDA 2015 NanoFest featured posters, discussions and activities promoting awareness of the field. The festival showcased the latest nanotech-enabled consumer products to demonstrate how new technology can have a positive impact on the environment and individual lives. These items are available for use in everyday life.

NORTHROP GRUMMAN AWARD & FELLOWSHIPS Debashis Chanda, Ph.D. was awarded the Northrop Grumman National Innovation Award 2014-15 and received a $100k research fund. Members of his research group, Alireza Safaei and Daniel Franklin, received the Northrop Grumman Graduate Fellowships of $10,000 and $3,000 respectively for the year 2014-15.

HONORABLE MENTION AT SURE Corey Rodas, AMPAC, NSTC and MSE undergraduate student received an honorable mention at the 2015 Showcase of Undergraduate Research in the Life Sciences category for his poster Silk Fibroin Electrospun Nanostructures For Biomedical Applications.

Sudipta Seal the MSE Interim Chair and Director of AMPAC and NSTC was Corey Rodas’ mentor for his research.

The Showcase of Undergraduate Research Excellence is a poster forum for UCF undergraduates to present their research and creative projects to the broader university community.

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SWETHA BARKAM WINS ALUMNI FELLOWS SCHOLARSHIP Swetha Barkam is a recipient of the 2015-2016 Alumni Fellows Graduate Scholarship in the amount of $1500.

Barkam is a doctoral student in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and a member of Dr. Sudipta Seal’s research group.

Applicants were evaluated on GPA, wellrounded involvement at UCF, involvement in the local community, and exceptional work experience. They were further asked to respond to an essay question in 600 words about a meaningful contribution to a UCF organization, community service project or work experience and its impact on their development as a UCF Knight, as well as how they plan to use those experiences to continue their Knight journey upon graduation.

HICKMAN PUBLISHES WITH STUDENTS A. Colόn, X. Guo, B. Srinivasan, C. Long, C. Bernabini, J. Rumsey, K. Wilson, N. Akanda, Y. Cai, C. Martin and J.J. Hickman, “A biomechanical device for human sensorimotor function” International Conference and Expo on Biomechanics and Implant Design, Orlando, Florida, July 27 – 29, 2015. Best poster award.

C.W. McAleer, Y. Cui, C.J. Long, S.A. Najjar, K.L. Pirozzi and J.J. Hickman, “Mechanistic investigation of in vitro myotube response to chemical and physiological treatment using a multiplexed functional assay system” International Conference and Expo on Biomechanics and Implant Design, Orlando, Florida, July 27 – 29, 2015. Best poster award.

Preeti Kumrah has been awarded the Distinguished Undergraduate Researcher Award for the month of October 2015 at the University of Central Florida.

Kumrah was chosen by the Student Undergraduate Research Council based on the overall merit of the research she is currently conducting as an undergraduate student and her accomplishments to date with this work. As the Distinguished Undergraduate Researcher, Kumrah will receive a certificate to commemorate this achievement, an Office of Undergraduate Research padfolio, a scholarship of $100 (awarded for Spring 2016), acknowledgment in the Office of Undergraduate Research monthly newsletter, and recognition at the 2016 Showcase of Undergraduate Research Excellence (SURE) in April.

DR. KHONDAKER CELEBRATES GRADS Three of Dr. Khondaker’s Ph.D. students graduated in Spring 2015. One graduate, Paul Stokes, is now a member of the technical staff at Qorvo.

MSE STUDENTS REPRESENT UCF

ON ACERS PRESIDENT COUNCIL MSE students represented UCF on the ACerS President council at the Materials Science and Technology 2015 conference in Ohio.

ACerS President’s Council of Student Advisors (PCSA) is the student-led committee of ACerS responsible for representing student interests to ACerS and its subsidiary committees, divisions, sections, and classes. The PCSA is the primary face of ACerS to ceramics and materials science students.

The role of the PCSA delegate is to represent their collegiate institution to PCSA, as well as representing the PCSA and ACerS to their Material Advantage Chapter, Keramos Chapter, and academic department. The mission of PCSA is to engage students as active and long-term leaders in the ceramics community and to increase participation in ACerS at the local, national, and international levels.

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KUMRAH AWARDED THE OCTOBER DISTINGUISHED UNDERGRADUATE AWARD

WILSON RECEIVES DEFENSE PROGRAM SCHOLARSHIP Wade Wilson, undergrad student in Dr. Chanda’s group received the prestigious DoD Science, Mathematics, And Research for Transformation (SMART) Defense Education Program Scholarship ($38k / year for 5 years)

NSTC CONGRATULATES STAFF GRADUATE MALDONADO Diane Maldonado graduated with a B.S. in Interdisciplinary Studies from UCF. Maldonado’s program focused on business administration and criminal justice, and she also completed a minor in Crime, Law & Deviance.

Maldonado, a purchasing coordinator for the UCF NanoScience Technology Center, pursued a degree after 20 years of service at UCF in four departments. Her studies and personal goals reflect her “people first” attitude.

The NSTC congratulates Diane for her academic achievements and perseverance.

www.ampac.ucf.edu

NEW HIRES

TENGFEI JIANG, PH.D.

ARKADIY LYAKH, PH.D.

Assistant Professor, AMPAC/MSE Research Focus: Reliability metrology, Emerging interconnect and packaging systems, Micro/nano-fabrication, Microstructure and interface, Micro/ nano-mechanical characterization, and Synchrotron x-ray microdiffraction.

Assistant Professor, NSTC Research Focus: Physics of intersubband transitions and carrier transport through multi-layered semiconductor nanostructures, low dimensional semiconductor devices, monolithic sensors, infrared spectroscopy, quantum lasers.

Dr. Jiang received her Ph.D. and postdoctorate from The University of Texas at Austin. Holds a Sec. Jt. Apt. with the the AMPAC and MSE.

Dr. Lyakh received his Ph.D. from UF. Prior to joining UCF he led an R&D team at Pranalytica, Inc. Holds a Sec. Jt. Apt. with the School of Optics, NSTC and MSE.

Meet our seven new faculty members and learn about their research interests and backgrounds. Several hold joint appointments and have published in a variety of top journals including Nature Communications, PLoS One, Science, and the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Their education footprints range from top universities in the U.S., Seoul, Moscow, and Beijing.

YANG YANG, PH.D. Assistant Professor, NSTC Research Focus: Advanced materials and nanotechnology for renewable energy devices, environmental science and smart electronics Dr. Yang received his Ph.D. from Tsinghua University and postdoctorate from Richard E. Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science at Rice University. Holds a Sec. Jt. Apt. with MSE.

STEPHEN J. FLORCZYK, PH.D. Assistant Professor, AMPAC/MSE Research Focus: Biomaterials, tissue engineering, cancer cell research, and stem cells.

Dr. Florczyk received his Ph.D. from the University of Washington. Holds a Sec. Jt. Apt. with the AMPAC & MSE.

HYERANG KANG, PH.D. Assistant Professor, NSTC Research Focus: Biophysics of cytoskeletal protein assembly and dynamics, biopolymer & cell mechanics, and molecular mechanism of mechano-sensing at the nano level.

Dr. Kang received her Ph.D. from Brown University and postdoctorate from Yale University. Holds a Sec. Jt. Apt. with MSE and BSBS.

www.nanoscience.ucf.edu

YAJIE DONG, PH.D. Assistant Professor, NSTC Research Focus: Semiconductor nanomaterials for information and energy applications, Quantum dot light emitting devices & organic-inorganic hybrid solar cells.

YEONWOONG (ERIC) JUNG, PH.D. Research Assistant Professor, NSTC Research Focus: Low-dimensional electronic materials (nanowires and 2D materials), Nanoscale structure-property relationships, in-situ transmission electron microscopy, energy and electronic technologies

Dr. Dong received his Ph.D. from Harvard University and postdoctorate from MIT. Holds a Sec. Jt. Apt. with the School of Optics and MSE.

Dr. Jung received his Ph.D. from University of Pennsylvania and postdoctorate from Yale University. Holds a Sec. Jt. Apt. with MSE

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U N I V ER S I T Y OF C E NT RAL F LO R ID A

NANOSCIENCE TECHNOLOGY CENTER 12424 RESEARCH PARKWAY, SUITE 400 ORLANDO, FL 32826-3250 407.882.1578

“Thanks to our faculty, we now join a handful of nano-education programs in the country and program enrollment consistently grows.”

— Dr. Sudipta Seal, Director

FACULTY & STAFF DIRECTORY NSTC FACULTY

AMPAC/MSE FACULTY

NSTC STAFF

MSE PROGRAM FACULTY

Alexander Balaeff Aman Behal Debashis Chanda Yajie Dong Romaine Guame Andre J. Gesquiere James J. Hickman Qun “Treen” Huo Masahiro Ishigami Yeonwoong (Eric) Jung Hyeran Kang Saiful I. Khondaker Michael N. Leuenberger Arkadiy Lyakh Artëm E. Masunov Swadeshmukul Santra Sudipta Seal Laurene Tetard Jayan Thomas Yang Yang Lei Zhai

Linan An Kevin Coffey Jiyu Fang James Fenton Stephen K. Florczyk Helge Heinrich Tengfei Jiang Patrick Schelling Sudipta Seal Yong-ho Sohn Raj Vaidyanathan

Jennifer Acosta James Aleman Rebeca Barrios Ernie Gemeinhart Ushaben Lal Diane Maldonado Ted Molina Michelle Shirzad Kari Stiles

NEWSLETTER

Jennifer Acosta Ed Dein Angelina Feliciano Sandy Griggs Karen Glidewell Mikhail Klimov Kirk Scammon Matthew Schneider Kari Stiles

Linan An Yuanli Bai Quanfang Chen Hyoung Jin “Joe” Cho Lee Chow Kevin Coffey Neelkanth Dhere Jiyu Fang James Fenton Stephen Florczyk Romain Gaume Andre J. Gesquiere Jan Gou James J. Hickman Qun “Treen” Huo Tengfei Jiang Yeonwoong “Eric” Jung Hyeran Kang Aravinda Kar Seetha Raghavan Kathleen A. Richardson

Alexander Balaeff Debashis Chanda Yajie Dong Andres Gonzalez Kari Stiles Ushaben Lal Sudipta Seal Laurene Tetard

AMPAC STAFF

U N I V E R S IT Y O F C E N T R A L F LO R I DA

Swadeshmukul Santra Patrick Shelling Winston Schoenfeld Yong-ho Sohn Sudipta Seal C. Suryanarayana Laurene Tetard Jayan Thomas Raj Vaidyanathan Yang Yang Lei Zhai

MSE STAFF Jodi Peters Pamela Ross