USA Today: (March 26, 2008)--Miguel Jose Yacaman, a world-renowned authority in the field of nanotechnology, has joined The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) to chair the Department of Physics and Astronomy in the College of Sciences. Yacaman joins UTSA after serving seven years at The University of Texas at Austin.
An author of four patents at the University of Mexico and UT-Austin, Yacaman received over the last six years more than $8.1 million in grant funding for nanotechnology research. He also has been cited more than 3,500 times and has more than 330 review papers or book chapters authored among scientific literature.
"Dr. Yacaman joining our faculty leadership team is terrific news for UTSA students and the San Antonio scientific community," said UTSA Provost John Frederick. "Under his leadership, UTSA is one step closer to reaching our goal of becoming a Top 100 premier research university."
Yacaman has trained more than 50 post-doctoral, doctoral and master's degree students in his laboratories who have gone on to become leaders in some of the nation's top scientific and engineering companies.
"I am very excited to be joining UTSA and will continue my efforts to try and connect with as many Hispanic students as possible," said Yacaman. "I strongly believe that the future of this part of the nation is strongly correlated to the education of the Hispanic population."
Before serving at UT-Austin, Yacaman directed the National Institute of Nuclear Research and was deputy director for scientific research at Mexico's National Council for Science and Technology (CONACYT). In addition to his role as an educator, Yacaman also was a consultant for the Mexican Petroleum Institute, Pemex Oil Company, General Motors Research Labs and Exxon Research Corporate Labs.
"I would like to lead the department to strive for excellence in research and teaching at both the undergraduate and graduate levels," said Yacaman. "I would also like the department to take advantage of programs aimed at supporting minority-serving institutions and fostering more collaborations with researchers in Latin America."
Yacaman's awards include the Profesor Distinguido Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon (2003), CONACYT Investigador Nacion de Excelencia (2002), the National Prize of Science in Mexico (1992) and a Guggenheim Fellowship (1988).
He serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Nanostructured Materials, Catalysis Letters and Microscopy and Microanalysis and is the associate editor of Scripta Metallurgica and Acta Metallurgica, Microscopy Research and Techniques and Revista Iberoamericana of Materials.
Yacaman received a bachelor's and master's of science degrees in physics and a doctorate in material science from the National University of Mexico in Mexico City. He received postdoctoral experience at the University of Oxford's Department of Metallurgy and Materials Science and as a research associate in the materials science branch at the NASA Ames Research Center in Moffet Field, Calif.
Serving more than 5,000 students enrolled in nine undergraduate degree programs and 15 graduate programs, the UTSA College of Sciences is uniquely poised to prepare the next generation of scientists for careers in business, technology and academia. The college houses six departments: biology, chemistry, computer science, geological sciences, mathematics, and physics and astronomy.
By Kris Rodriguez
Public Affairs Specialist
USA Today
PhysicsCentral, the American Physical Society's public outreach website, announces its Nanobowl Contest winners. Contestants submitted a video demonstrating some aspect of physics in football. The award was the world’s smallest trophy, a nanoscale trophy created by Craighead Lab at Cornell University.
The grand prize winners were Tyler Johnson, Zachery McKinnon, and Christopher Ding, high school students from Rochester Hills, Michigan, for their video, "Nanobowl X^-IX"
In addition to the Grand Prize, prizes were awarded for People’s Choice, Most Inspirational, Most Creative, and Most Heartwarming.
View videos: PhysicsCentral
The President of the Republic of Cyprus T. Papadopoulos, awarded on behalf of the citizens of Cyprus, Ernest J. Moniz, Cecil and Ida Green Professor of Physics at MIT and Director of MIT’s Energy Initiative, the Grand Cross of the Order of Makarios III. This award, which represents the highest honor of the Republic of Cyprus was bestowed to Prof. Moniz “for his contributions in the development of research, technology and education in Cyprus and the wider region”.
Professor E.J. Moniz has been actively involved with the planning and development of the Cyprus Institute since its inception in 2001. He played a leading role in the establishment of the first Research Center of the Institute, the “Energy, Environment and Water Research Center, which is being developed in collaboration with MIT.
The American Association of Physics Teachers, College Park, MD, a non-profit organization of high-school and university teachers of physics, has appointed Dr. Charles H. Holbrow as its new executive officer. Holbrow is currently Visiting Professor in physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA, where he has been working closely with a group developing new types of microscopy. Trained as a nuclear physicist, he has also done research on and written about physicists who shaped American
defense policy in the post-WWII era. "This is an exciting time for physics education and physics teachers," said Holbrow. "I am pleased to have this wonderful opportunity to work with many dedicated people to improve the teaching of physics and extend it more widely."
Holbrow taught physics for 36 years at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York, where he now holds the title of Charles A. Dana Professor Emeritus. Holbrow served as President of the AAPT in 2003; one of his initiatives was to encourage high schools to teach physics in earlier grades.
"AAPT is fortunate to have Charlie Holbrow as our new Executive Officer," said AAPT President Lila Adair. "He will bring great talents to bear on the improvement of physics education at all school levels. The breadth of his experiences and interests will serve the Association well in our ongoing support of physics education and physics teachers."
The 11,000 members of AAPT are physics educators from across the United States and in countries around the world. The Association organizes national and regional meetings, publishes journals and other resource materials for physics teachers, holds workshops and conferences to improve the teaching of physics and related sciences, and, in public policy forums across the nation, advocates improvements for physics education and physics teaching.
The 2008 Dan David Prize honors Ellen Mosley-Thompson and Lonnie G. Thompson, jointly, in the field of Geosciences for their separate and joint efforts in studying the geological and environmental records in ice cores ranging from the polar regions to the highest tropical and subtropical mountains on six continents and remote islands; and for providing high-resolution environmental histories that contribute to the understanding of complex interactions in the Earth's outer envelopes, such as the fast melting of mountain glaciers worldwide and the retreat and disintegration of polar icecaps.
The 2008 Dan David Prize honors Geoffrey Eglinton in the field of Geosciences for his studies of organic chemical fossils, which revealed the inhabitants and climates of ancient worlds and the mechanisms by which their products yield essential resources for the future; for his pioneering and modern investigations of chemical fossils in sedimentary rocks; and for revolutionizing standards for the identification of molecular structures, introducing systematic considerations of chemical histories, and undertaking seminal studies of the molecular processes affecting sedimentary organic matter.
AGU member John F. Dewey of the geology department at University of California, Davis, has been elected an honorary member of the Royal Irish Academy (15th March, 2008).
Dewey is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and researches structural geology and tectonics from the small-scale materials science of deformed rocks to the large-scale origin of topography and structures.
His current research is on the rock fabrics and structures of transpression and transtension especially in California, New Zealand, Norway, Ireland and Newfoundland.
You are invited to participate in the 2008 Sigma Pi Sigma Quadrennial Congress! This meeting is hosted by Sigma Pi Sigma, the physics honor society, but is open to all members of the science community. It will be held at Fermilab, in Batavia, IL, November 6-8, 2008. We believe that this is the only national physics meeting specifically designed to bring undergraduates, practicing physicists and physics alumni together to address common concerns for the discipline and for society. The theme of the 2008 Congress is Scientific Citizenship: Connecting Physics and Society. We will explore the greater role of the physicist in our society through round-table discussions, distinguished speakers, and historical perspectives.
(Portland, ME) Forensic physicist Thomas L. Bohan of Portland was elected February 20 in Washington, D.C., to the office of President-Elect of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS). Bohan, a member of the American Physical Society, was the AAFS Treasurer for the past two years, will be the first physicist to head the sixty-year-old organization when he becomes its President in February 2009. With nearly 6,000 members from over fifty countries, the AAFS is generally recognized as the world's preeminent professional organization for forensic scientists.
Bohan was also recently elected to a three-year term on the Forensic Specialties Accreditation Board (FSAB), which subsequently elected him its Treasurer. Established six years ago with support from the AAFS and the National Institute of Justice, the FSAB serves as the accrediting agency for bodies board-certify forensic specialists in fields such as engineering, toxicology, document examination, and anthropology.
With a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana and a J.D. from Pierce Law in Concord, NH, Bohan is founder and director of MTC Forensics, the Portland-based forensic consulting company, as well as founder of Bohan Mathers, for 25 years the only firm in Maine dedicated solely to patent, trademark, and copyright work. Since 1982, his forensic firm has provided scientific and medical expertise to attorneys and prosecutors in civil and criminal matters ranging from esoteric subjects such as cashew-nut poisoning to the all-too-common fields of motor vehicle crashes and violent crime.
Eight Society of Physics Students (SPS) chapters have received Sigma Pi Sigma Undergraduate Research Awards to fund chapter research projects. The awards provide calendar year grants to support local chapter activities that are deemed imaginative and likely to contribute to the strengthening of the SPS program. The program is funded through income from the Sigma Pi Sigma Trust Endowment Fund.
The 2008 recipients are: California State University- Chico, Chico, CA; University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, Colorado Springs, CO; Rhodes College, Memphis, TN; Utah State University, Logan, UT; Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR; Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA; Towson University, Towson, MD; and Suffolk University, Boston, MA.
Thirteen Society of Physics Students (SPS) chapters have received Marsh W. White Outreach Awards to help fund their outreach projects during the coming academic year. Marsh W. White Awards are made to SPS chapters "to support projects designed to promote interest in physics among students and the general public."
The 2008 recipients are: Penn State University, University Park, PA; Randolph College, Lynchburg, VA; Augustana College, Rock Island, NY; University of Wisconsin - Platteville, Platteville, WI; Millikin University, Decatur, IL; Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA; University of Louisville, Louisville, KY; St. Mary's University, San Antonio, TX; University of Texas, Arlington, Arlington, TX; Mount San Antonio College, Walnut, CA; Ohio Wesleyan University, Delaware, OH; Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ; and Texas State University, San Marcos, TX.
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