PHILADELPHIA ‑‑ President George W. Bush announced today that University of Pennsylvania physicist Fay Ajzenberg‑Selove, Ph.D., is among eight recipients of the 2007 National Medal of Science, the Nation's highest honor for science. Ajzenberg‑Selove and her fellow honorees will receive their medals at a White House ceremony Sept. 29.
Ajzenberg‑Selove, emeritus professor of physics, joined Penn in 1970 and made significant advances in the field of nuclear physics for decades. Her principal work on understanding light nuclei, the elements of stars, is considered a global reference for physicists old and new. Her research and experimentation continue to apply to energy fusion, carbon dating and nuclear medicine.
A preeminent scientist and researcher, Ajzenberg‑Selove arrived in the United States as a refugee during World War II and became a pioneer in a male‑dominated field. Often the only female engineering student in her undergraduate and graduate classes, she became the first female physics student, instructor and researcher most institutions had ever seen, including the California Institute of Technology, Columbia University and Haverford College. Even those institutions that appeared reluctant to hire a woman later awarded her the institutions highest teaching honors.
"Fay Ajzenberg‑Selove deserves our most heartfelt congratulations for this national honor,” said Penn President Amy Gutmann. “As a researcher, as a teacher and as a path-breaking woman she has touched the lives of generations and made an indelible mark on the field of physics and on American higher education."
Born of Russian ancestry in Berlin, she and her family fled Europe during World War II, arriving in the United States when she was 15. The daughter of an engineer, she received her bachelor’s degree in engineering physics from the University of Michigan in 1946 and her doctorate in physics from the University of Wisconsin in 1952.
Ajzenberg‑Selove, cited more than 6,000 times by the Institute for Scientific Information, has won the Distinguished Alumni Fellow Award from the University of Wisconsin, the 1999 Nicholson Medal for Humanitarian Service from the American Physical Society, honorary doctorates from Haverford College, Michigan State University, and Smith College, and the Christian and Mary Lindback Foundation Award for Distinguished Teaching, awards given to her since 1990.
Currently a professor emeritus at Penn, she served as a chair of the Commission on Nuclear Physics, was a member of the Nuclear Science Advisory Committee of the Department of Energy and National Science Foundation, a member of the Governing Council of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and chair of the Division of Nuclear Physics of the American Physical Society.
An engaging speaker and writer, Ajzenberg‑Selove has authored hundreds of scientific papers, primarily on light nuclei and the way it absorbs and emits energy. Each year, scientists worldwide write over 1200 scientific papers on these topics. She organized the first ever "Women in Physics" conference for the American Physical Society and in 1994 published an autobiography, “A Matter of Choices. Memoirs of a Female Physicist.”
The National Medal of Science honors individuals for pioneering scientific research in a range of fields, including physical, biological, mathematical, social, behavioral, and engineering sciences, that enhances our understanding of the world and leads to innovations and technologies that give the United States its global economic edge. The National Science Foundation administers the award, which was established by Congress in 1959.
WASHINGTON ‑ Today President George W. Bush announced the recipients of the Nation's highest honor for science and technology, naming the recipients of the 2007 National Medal of Science and the 2007 National Medal of Technology and Innovation.
The National Medal of Science honors individuals for pioneering scientific research in a range of fields, including physical, biological, mathematical, social, behavioral, and engineering sciences, that enhances our understanding of the world and leads to innovations and technologies that give the United States its global economic edge.
The National Science Foundation administers the award, which was established by Congress in 1959. For more information about the National Medal of Science visit www.nsf.gov/nsb/awards/nms/medal.htm .
The National Medal of Technology and Innovation honors America's leading innovators. The award is given to individuals, teams, and/or companies/divisions for their outstanding contributions to the nation's economic, environmental and social well‑being through the development and commercialization of technology products, processes and concepts; technological innovation; and development of the Nation's technological manpower. The Department of Commerce administers the award, which was established by an act of Congress in 1980. For more information about the National Medal of Technology and Innovation visit http://www.uspto.giv/nmti .
The 2007 National Medal of Science Laureates:
- Fay Ajzenberg‑Selove, University of Pennsylvania‑Philadelphia, PA
- Mostafa A. El‑Sayed, Georgia Institute of Technology‑Atlanta, GA
- Leonard Kleinrock, University of California, Los Angeles‑Los Angeles, CA
- Robert J. Lefkowitz, Duke University Medical Center‑Durham, NC
- Bert W. O'Malley, Baylor College of Medicine‑Houston, TX
- Charles P. Slichter, University of Illinois at Urbana‑Champaign‑Urbana, IL
- Andrew J. Viterbi, University of Southern California‑Los Angeles, CA
- David J. Wineland, National Institute of Standards and Technology‑Boulder, CO
The 2007 National Medal of Technology and Innovation Laureates:
- Paul Baran, Novo Ventures, Inc‑Atheron, CA
- Roscoe O. Brady, National Institutes of Health‑Bethesda, MD
- David Cutler, Microsoft Corporation‑Medina, WA
- Armand Feigenbaum, General Systems Company, Inc.‑Pittsfield, MA
- Adam Heller, University of Texas, Austin‑Austin, TX
- Carlton Grant Willson, University of Texas, Austin‑Austin, TX
- eBay Inc.‑San Jose, CA
- Skunk Works, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company‑Palmdale, CA
The National Science Foundation (NSF) Directorate for Geosciences has appointed Robert Detrick of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) as its new director of the Division of Earth Sciences.
Detrick is currently a senior scientist and vice president for Marine Facilities and Operations at WHOI, and will begin his NSF position on Nov. 3, 2008.
"We are delighted that Bob Detrick will be joining NSF in this important national leadership role," said Tim Killeen, NSF assistant director of Geosciences. "This appointment augurs well for the earth sciences, and the geosciences in general. I'm looking forward to working closely with him."
Detrick is a geophysicist and seismologist. His research has focused primarily on the structure and evolution of oceanic crust, the size, depth and physical properties of ridge crest magma chambers, and the effect of hotspots on the thermal evolution of
the lithosphere.
Detrick is a former member and chair of NSF's Advisory Committee for Geosciences. He is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union and a former president of its Tectonophysics Section. Detrick has authored or co‑authored more than 100 papers in the peer‑reviewed literature, including 14 papers in Nature and Science.
During his tenure at WHOI, he oversaw several large projects, including the development of the institution's successful proposal to be the implementing organization for the coastal and global components of the NSF‑funded Ocean Observatories Initiative, and the institution's effort to design and build a replacement human occupied vehicle.
Detrick joined the WHOI staff in 1991 as a senior scientist after 13 years as a professor at the University of Rhode Island. He received a bachelor's degree in geology and physics from Lehigh University in 1971 and a master's degree from the University of California, San Diego in marine geology in 1974. After a brief stint as an exploration geophysicist for Standard Oil Company of California, he earned his doctorate from the MIT/WHOI Joint Program in Oceanography in 1978.
NSF's Division of Earth Sciences supports basic research and education into the structure, composition, and evolution of the Earth, and the life it supports. The Division has programs in geobiology and low‑temperature geochemistry, geomorphology, sedimentary geology and paleobiology, hydrology, geophysics,
tectonics, and petrology and geochemistry.
The results of this research are leading to a better understanding of the Earth's dynamic history, and the distribution of its natural resources, as well as providing the basic knowledge needed to predict and mitigate the effects of geologic hazards such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods and landslides.
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency that supports fundamental research and education across all fields of science and engineering, with an annual budget of $5.92 billion. NSF funds reach all 50 states through grants to over 1,700 universities and institutions. Each year, NSF receives about 42,000 competitive requests for funding, and makes over 10,000 new funding awards. The NSF also awards over $400 million in professional and service contracts yearly.
Receive official NSF news electronically through the e‑mail delivery and notification system, MyNSF (formerly the Custom News Service). To subscribe, visit http://www.nsf.gov/mynsf/ and fill in the information under "new users".
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Three women physicists have been named winners of the M. Hildred Blewett Scholarship for Women in Physics for 2008.
The M. Hildred Blewett Scholarship was established from a bequest to the American Physical Society (APS) from M. Hildred Blewett, a particle accelerator physicist. The award enables early-career women to return to physics research careers after having had to interrupt their careers for family reasons.
This year's recipients are Ya Li of Hampton University, Firouzeh Sabri of the University of Memphis, and Janice Guikema of Johns Hopkins University.
Recipient bios
Blewett Scholarship information
WASHINGTON, Aug. 21—The Optical Society’s (OSA) optics youth education Web site, OpticsForKids.org, recently won an iParenting Media Award for Outstanding Products of 2008. iParenting.com is an online community for parents and parents-to-be and is part of Disney’s network of family-focused Web sites. The award recognizes exceptional products for parents and their families in 20 categories. OpticsForKids.org joins an impressive list of winning organizations all specializing in education Web sites.
Earlier this year, OSA re-designed the OpticsForKids.org site and added features such as an optics history timeline, a gallery of optical images, experiments students can conduct on their desktops and at home, tutorials, a career quiz and much more. The Web site seeks to provide comprehensive optics resources for pre-college students, parents and educators.
“The goal of redesigning OpticsForKids.org was to provide a fun, interactive Web resource for students and parents to increase their interest in the science of optics and photonics,” said Elizabeth Rogan, OSA executive director. “To be recognized by iParenting as an outstanding product is especially gratifying given the extensive time and effort OSA volunteers devoted to the site’s new content.”
OpticsForKids.org was reviewed for the award by a panel of independent judges selected by iParenting.com, including experts and parents. It was then sent on for evaluation and final approval by the iParenting Media Awards Executive Committee. Award-winning products are selected based on their fun value, product quality, ease of use, play duration, educational nature and uniqueness, among other criteria.
About OSA
Uniting more than 70,000 professionals from 134 countries, the Optical Society (OSA) brings together the global optics community through its programs and initiatives. Since 1916 OSA has worked to advance the common interests of the field, providing educational resources to the scientists, engineers and business leaders who work in the field by promoting the science of light and the advanced technologies made possible by optics and photonics. OSA publications, events, technical groups and programs foster optics knowledge and scientific collaboration among all those with an interest in optics and photonics. For more information, visit www.osa.org.
About iParenting Media
iParenting.com, an online community for parents and parents-to-be, is part of Disney Online’s network of family-focused Web sites including Disney Family.com, FamilyFun.com and Wondertime.com. Founded in 1996, the company has grown from a single pregnancy site, www.PregancyToday.com, to an award-winning network of more than 40 sites, in English and Spanish. The iParenting sites address a range of parenting issues from preconception through raising teenagers and beyond. iParenting Media’s Editor-in-Chief, Elisa Ast All, MSJ, writes a monthly newspaper column and co-hosts a Chicago-based radio show, Points on Parenting. iParenting Media produces the highly-respected iParenting Media Awards program, an ISO9001:2000 certified product review and awards program. Consumers can learn more about iParenting Media Award-winning products, and where to purchase the products via a retailer network online directory, by visiting www.iParentingMediaAwards.com/consumer.
Contact:
Angela Stark
Optical Society
202.416.1443
astark@osa.org
Warren Hein will become AAPT’s 11th Executive Officer on September 1, 2008. He will be returning to AAPT from NSF where he has been on leave for the past year serving as a Program Officer in the Division of Undergraduate Education. Hein spent ten years as the AAPT's Associate Executive Officer, before accepting his current appointment at NSF.
As Associate Executive Officer, Warren oversaw management, budgeting and funding in the national office. He worked with members, officers, staff and leaders of sister societies to foster the dissemination of physics knowledge, particularly through teaching.
Hein also oversaw grants, interfaced with AAPT committees and state and regional sections, and advised the Executive Officer.
Warren received his B.S. degree from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in 1966 and his Ph.D. in Nuclear Physics from Iowa State University in 1970. Prior to joining the AAPT in 1997, Warren taught physics at Northern State University in Aberdeen, South Dakota, from 1970-1979, and South Dakota State University from 1979-1997. He also served as Department Head from 1985-1997. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
The Society of Physics Students (SPS) has awarded 26 scholarships to undergraduate physics majors for the 2008-09 academic year. The three top awardees receiving $3,000 SPS Outstanding Leadership Scholarships are Ann Deml, University of Wisconsin-River Falls, River Falls, WI; Jodie Tvedtnes, Utah State University, Logan, UT; and Tamela Maciel, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR. Twenty-three $2,000 awards were also given in a variety of categories. The SPS Scholarship program exists to encourage the study of physics and the pursuit of high scholarship. SPS derives most of its support from the American Institute of Physics (AIP). SPS awards and scholarship programs are made possible, in part, through the generous contributions of Sigma Pi Sigma members and friends.
AWARDS ASSEMBLY & RECEPTION
The AVS Awards Assembly will be held on Wednesday, October 22, 2008 at 6:15 p.m. in Ballroom B of the Hynes Convention Center to be followed immediately by an Awards Reception in the Back Bay Ballroom of the Sheraton Hotel. This year, AVS honors the following awardees:
Miquel Salmeron, Medard W. Welch Award
Seizo Morita, Albert Nerken Award
Daniel Auerbach, Gaede-Langmuir Award
Sergei Kalinin, Peter Mark Award
The newly elected AVS Fellows
The 2008 AVS Graduate Student Awardees
MEDARD W. WELCH AWARD
The Medard W. Welch Award was established in 1969 to commemorate the pioneering efforts of M.W. Welch in founding and supporting AVS. It is presented to recognize and encourage outstanding research in the fields of interest to AVS. The award consists of a cash award, a struck gold medal, a certificate, and an honorary
lectureship at a regular session of the International Symposium.
Dr. Miquel Salmeron, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, “for seminal contributions to the development of surface characterization techniques usable in a variety of environments and their application to catalysis, tribology and
related surface phenomena.”
Miquel Salmeron is a Senior Scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
(LBNL), and Scientific Director of the Imaging Facility of the Molecular Foundry, the
Nanoscience Research Center in Berkeley. He is also Adjunct Professor in the Materials Science and Engineering Department of the University of California at Berkeley. His work spans several areas of surface science, including structure, reactivity, wetting and friction phenomena, with emphasis in the molecular level.
He studied Physics at the University of Barcelona in Spain, and obtained a Ph.D. at the
Universidad Autonoma of Madrid in 1975. Following postdoctoral work at the LBNL he held a joint appointment as a professor of physics at the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid and at the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas. During this period he studied growth of metals on metals using electron spectroscopy and He atom
scattering. In 1984 Dr. Salmeron moved to the LBNL, where he developed a research program on surface phenomena based on the application of the recently invented Scanning Tunneling and Atomic Force Microscopes (STM, AFM), which he applied to study diffusion of atoms and molecules, including S, CO, and water on Pt, Re, Ni,
Ru and Pd. He discovered the enormous enhancement of diffusivity of water when it
formed dimers. He unveiled the nature of active sites in many surface reactions, including water formation from O and H, H2 dissociation, and others. He has made major contributions to the understanding of atomic level phenomena
important in tribology, the science of friction, adhesion, and wear, showing how energy losses in friction are connected with elementary excitation
processes, including phonons, molecular deformations (gauche defects, tilts), and creation of surface point defects.
Dr. Salmeron consistently applies theoretical methods, developed with colleague theorists in his group and with collaborators in institutions worldwide, to help interpret STM images. His work emphasizes the importance of interpreting
images with the help of calculations.
Dr. Salmeron pioneered the development of novel instrumentation that opened the way for studies of surfaces under environmental conditions of pressure and temperature, in humid environments and in chemical reactors. These include high pressure STM and Ambient Pressure Photoelectron Spectroscopy (APPES). He used these to determine the structure of surfaces under reaction conditions, the melting of ice near the triple point and the preferential segregation of anions at the surface of aqueous solutions.
Dr. Salmeron has pioneered the application of nanoscale imaging methods to study wetting phenomena of liquids, including water, perfluorinated lubricants, liquid crystals and others. In the case of alkali halides he showed how water adsorbs and solvates first the ions at the step edges and later in the rest of the surface. Dr. Salmeron has published over 350 articles and imparted numerous talks in Academia,
Industry and International Meetings. His papers have received more than 10,500 citations. He was elected Fellow of the American Physical Society in 1996 and of AVS in 2003. He serves in the Editorial Board of Surface Science and
Tribology Letters.
ALBERT NERKEN AWARD
The Albert Nerken Award was established in 1984 by Veeco Instruments, Inc. in recognition of its founder, Albert Nerken, a founding member of AVS, his early work in the field of high vacuum and leak detection and contributions to the commercial development of the instrumentation. It is presented to recognize outstanding
contributions to the solution of technological problems in areas of interest to AVS. The award consists of a cash award, a certificate, and an honorary lectureship at a regular session of the International Symposium.
Dr. Seizo Morita, Osaka University, “for the development of room-temperature, non-contact atomic force microscopy technologies and
applications.”
Seizo Morita is Professor, Department of Electrical, Electronic and Information Engineering, and Director, Low Temperature Center, at
Osaka University, Japan.
He completed his B.S. in 1970 and his Ph.D. research in 1975, in Physics at Osaka University, where he performed graduate work on LOphonon assisted cyclotron resonance. He was a Research Associate (1975-1987) and an Associate Professor (1987-1988) at Tohoku University, studying submillimeter-wave response in the
Josephson junctions and the Anderson localization below 100 mK. From the mid-1980s, he started to develop the scanning tunneling microscopy and soon changed to atomic force microscopy (AFM). He was a Professor at Iwate University (1988-1989) and then moved to Hiroshima University (1989-1996), where he
investigated the phase transition of microscopic negative charges on thin insulators and the two dimensional nature of atomic-scale friction using modified ultra high vacuum (UHV) AFMs in air. From 1992 he started to develop AFMs to achieve true atomic resolution. Then he went to work on non-contact (NC) AFM using the frequency
modulation detection method. He was the first person to observe atomic-scale defects
and their motion on InP(110) by NC-AFM (1995). Since 1996 he has been a professor at
Osaka University, where he organized the first international conference on NC-AFM (1998).
The main part of his work done with collaborators in Osaka University is atom manipulation and chemical identification on semiconductor surfaces using UHV-AFMs at room temperature (RT) and at low temperature (LT); He established the basic technologies and made clear the mechanisms of single atom identification, followed by interchange manipulation of selected heterogeneous atom species, and assembly of designed complex nanostructures consisting of multi atom species at RT. With the use of a LT UHV-AFM, reproducible vertical atom manipulation (extraction and deposition) (2003) and site-by-site lateral atom manipulation of semiconductor atoms (2005) have been carried out successfully. With use of a RT UHV-AFM, the well-controlled vacancy-mediated lateral manipulation of Si adatoms on Si(111)-(7x7) has been achieved and its mechanism has been made clear as tip-enhanced thermally activated hopping (2007). A novel phenomenon has been discovered of atom interchange lateral manipulation at RT that can interchange embedded and intermixed heterogeneous atoms with each other. Consequently, substituted Sn atoms with adjacent Ge atoms have been interchanged oneby-one, and finally embedded atom letters composed of 19 Sn atoms have been used to spell out “Sn” (the symbol for tin) at RT on the Ge(111)-c(2x8) substrate (2005). The details of force spectroscopy between the tip-apex atom and a surface atom have been also studied. Hence, identification of atoms at RT has been successfully carried out on semiconductor surfaces based on site-specific force spectroscopy (2007).
He has published more than 200 papers, nine books and 16 book chapters. His work has been previously recognized by the 8th Surface Science Society Award (The Surface Science Society of Japan) (2003) and the 52nd Japanese Society of Microscopy Award (Setou Award) (2007). He established the committee for Utilization of Scanning Probe Microscopy in Japan Technology Transfer Association (JTTAS) (1992) and the 167th committee on Nano-Probe Technology in the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) (1997).
GAEDE-LANGMUIR AWARD
The Gaede-Langmuir Award was established in 1977 by an endowing grant from Dr. Kenneth C.D. Hickman. It is presented to recognize and encourage outstanding discoveries and inventions in the sciences and technologies of interest to AVS. The award is conferred biennially as a suitable candidate may be identified. It consists of a
cash award, a commemorative plaque stating the nature of the award, and an honorary lectureship at a regular session of the International Symposium.
Dr. Daniel Auerbach, GRT, Inc., “for contributions to the understanding of the dynamics of gas-surface interactions using molecular beam
scattering techniques.”
Daniel Auerbach is currently Chief Technology Officer of GRT Inc., a small Santa Barbara based company working on technology for the conversion of natural gas into liquid fuels and high value chemicals. GRT is particularly interested in developing technology to deal with “stranded gas”, i.e. gas that is too remote from natural gas markets or is present in fields that are too small for conventional technologies to
be economically viable.
Before joining GRT, Auerbach worked for many years in the microelectronics and computer industry, initially for IBM and later for Hitachi Global Storage Technologies. At IBM Auerbach served for 10 years as Department Group Manager of the Science and Technology Department the IBM Almaden Research Center. This department made many important contributions to science and to IBM technology, including the first fabrication of structures by manipulation of individual atoms, broad ranging contributions to surface science and particularly chemical dynamics at surfaces, the development of the loosely coupled parallel computer paradigm and the first application to molecular dynamics simulations, record holding high temperature superconductors, development of the first giant magneto resistance (GMR) sensor for HDD applications, and development of resists and other key materials for microelectronics applications.
When IBM sold its hard disk drive (HDD) business to Hitachi, Auerbach joined the new
venture. There, his primary responsibilities included research in hard disk drive architecture, signal processing and data integrity, and application of the HDDs in new areas such as consumer electronics.
Auerbach holds a Ph.D. degree in Physics from the University of Chicago. Before joining
IBM in 1978, he served on the faculty of Johns Hopkins University. He is known world wide for his scientific research in the area of surface science and chemical dynamics. Auerbach is perhaps best known as a pioneer in the application of molecular-beam and laser-spectroscopic techniques to understanding of the microscopic details of chemical dynamics at surfaces. His research interests also include information storage
systems, the design of parallel computers, and chemical dynamics.
PETER MARK MEMORIAL AWARD
The Peter Mark Memorial Award was established in 1979 in memory of Dr. Peter Mark
who served as Editor of the Journal of Vacuum Science and Technology from 1975 to 1979. The award is presented to a young scientist or engineer (35 years of age or under) for outstanding theoretical or experimental work, at least some of which must have been published in JVST.
The award consists of a cash award, a certificate, and an honorary lectureship at a regular session of the International Symposium.
Dr. Sergei Kalinin, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, “for pioneering work in the area of nanoelectromechanics and local properties at
surfaces.”
Sergei V. Kalinin is currently a research staff member at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and co-theme leader for Scanning Probe Microscopy at the Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences at ORNL (since 2007), following a Eugene P. Wigner fellow appointment at ORNL (2002-2004). He is also Adjunct Associate Professor
at the Department of Materials Sciences and Engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He completed his Ph.D. in Materials Science at the University of Pennsylvania in 2002. His previous undergraduate and graduate work was completed in Materials Science at Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia (M.S. summa cum laude in 1998).
Sergei started his scientific career in high school working on rheological properties and
the dissipation of surface layers in aqueous solution of biologically active macromolecules. As a MS student in Moscow (1992-1996), he was actively involved in research on magnetic and semiconductor nanoparticle synthesis using the
inorganic sol-gel method. A significant part of his research was focused on modeling and spectroscopic studies of fractal particle evolution in solutions. His interest in Scanning Probe Microscopy started when he was a graduate student at University of Pennsylvania working on electromechanical and Kelvin probe imaging of ferroelectric materials and transport phenomena in polycrystalline oxides and carbon nanotubes.
The focus of his current research is the interplay between electromechanical, transport, and mechanical phenomena in inorganic and biological systems on the nano- and ultimately atomic scales. While the fact that “small is different” is well known for optical, magnetic, and electronic phenomena, electromechanics and coupling between electromechanics and other functional properties on the nanoscale provides a new, and almost unexplored, area of research. The examples range from new forms of electromechanical coupling emerging on the nanoscale, such as surface flexo and piezoelectricity or unusual polarization orderings in low dimensional ferroelectrics, to complex phase separated materials. This is mirrored by biological systems, in which chemical and biochemical transformation pathways on the molecular, subcellular, and cellular levels proceed through an endlessly fascinating series of electrochemical and protonation-deprotonation reactions associated with
changes of molecular structure, supramolecular organization in enzyme complexes or ion channels, or cell configuration. Sergei’s recent research illustrates the use of localized electromechanical and thermomechanical responses to map the thermodynamics of phase transition and relaxation time distributions on a single defect level in ferroelectric materials and polymers. Ultimately, understanding electromechanical coupling at the nanoscale will pave the way not only to “think”, but to also “act” at the nanoscale.
During his academic career, Sergei has been the recipient of the Ross Coffin Purdy Award of American Ceramics Society for the development of Scanning Impedance Microscopy, an SPM technique for the characterization of ac transport on the nanoscale. He is also a recipient of the Wigner Fellowship of Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, an ORNL Director Team Award (2006), and an ORNL Early Career Accomplishment Award for Science and Technology (2005). He is the author of more than 120 scientific papers (>1000 citations overall), 7 book chapters, 8 patents and patent disclosures on different aspects of SPM and ferroelectric materials
applications. In 2007-2008, several of his developments were adopted and licensed by SPM industry. He has also given over 50 invited talks at international conferences and meetings, and several workshops and tutorials on Piezoresponse Force Microscopy. Within the AVS, he has served as an NSTD member at large (2004-
2006) and he is currently a member of the AVS Publication Committee.
UPTON, NY - Michael Creutz, a physicist at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory, has been chosen by the World Federation of Scientists (WFS) as the recipient of the 2008 Gian Carlo Wick Gold Medal Award, which is given annually to a theoretical physicist for outstanding contributions to particle physics. Creutz will receive the award at a WFS meeting held in Erice, Italy, August 19 - 24.
Founded in 1973, the WFS is an association of more than 10,000 scientists from 110 countries whose aim is to share knowledge among all nations so that everyone can experience the benefits of scientific progress. Gian Carlo Wick (1909-1992), a native of Italy, was an eminent theoretical physicist who led the theory group at Brookhaven Lab from 1958 to 1970.
"I am honored to have been chosen to receive this award and to be in the company of the esteemed scientists that received it previously," Creutz said. "Also, I am proud to be the recipient of an award named after Gian Carlo Wick. I was not yet at the Laboratory when he worked here, but I met him when I was a child because my father, Ed Creutz, then head of the physics department at Carnegie Tech - now Carnegie Mellon University - hired him as a faculty member."
Michael Creutz was cited for his work on lattice quantum chromodynamics (QCD), a theory that describes the interactions of subnuclear particles. Specifically, Creutz first demonstrated that properties of QCD could be computed numerically on a four-dimensional lattice through computer-based calculations known as Monte Carlo techniques.
In 1974, Nobel laureate Kenneth Wilson of Cornell University first proposed using a lattice in a regular geometric arrangement of discrete points of space and time to simplify making the advanced calculations required for QCD. Coined in the 1940s by physicists working at DOE's Los Alamos National Laboratory, the Monte Carlo method derives its name from the random numbers used in this computational technique to explore the vast space of possible values for the fields that bind quarks. Such calculations are now routinely made by theoretical physicists around the world and require the most powerful computers available.
Using Monte Carlo techniques on the lattice, Creutz provided strong numerical evidence that quarks cannot be isolated, thus confirming this conjectured property of QCD. He found that the force between widely separated quarks, which is equal to 14 tons, did not decrease as the quarks moved farther apart. Creutz published his findings in the journal Physical Review in 1980. His paper became among the most cited from that year.
These computational methods have since been applied to numerous theoretical problems in physics, including the physics of Brookhaven's world-class accelerator, the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider, and may be relevant for interpreting new physics findings at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, near Geneva, Switzerland. Currently, Creutz is investigating including neutrinos on the lattice, which is difficult because, unlike other subatomic particles, they only spin in one direction. Over the last several years, physicists have been able to improve the control of both the size and accuracy of the lattice with the aid of powerful new supercomputers at Brookhaven.
Michael Creutz earned a B.S. in physics from the California Institute of Technology in 1966, and a Ph.D. in physics from Stanford University in 1970. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Theoretical Physics at the University of Maryland before he joined Brookhaven Lab in 1972 as an assistant physicist. He became an associate physicist in 1974, a physicist in 1976, and a senior physicist in 1980.
A Fellow of the American Physical Society (APS), Creutz received the APS's Aneesur Rahman Prize for Computational Physics in 2000. He also received the Brookhaven Research & Development Award in 1991 and the Andrew Sobczk Memorial Lectureship from Clemson University in 1997.
One of ten national laboratories overseen and primarily funded by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Brookhaven National Laboratory conducts research in the physical, biomedical, and environmental sciences, as well as in energy technologies and national security. Brookhaven Lab also builds and operates major scientific facilities available to university, industry and government researchers. Brookhaven is operated and managed for DOE's Office of Science by Brookhaven Science Associates, a limited-liability company founded by the Research Foundation of State University of New York on behalf of Stony Brook University, the largest academic user of Laboratory facilities, and Battelle, a nonprofit, applied science and technology organization. Visit Brookhaven Lab's electronic newsroom for links, news archives, graphics, and more: http://www.bnl.gov/newsroom
Manuel Cardona has been elected a foreign member of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei.
There are 540 members of the Lincei, of whom 180 are ordinary Italian members, 180 are Italian corresponding members, and 180 are foreign.
The Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei was founded in 1603 by Federico Angelo Cesi. Galileo Galilei, who joined in 1611, was one of its earliest members.
WASHINGTON, Aug. 4—The Optical Society’s (OSA) Foundation Board of Directors recently approved new funding for programs taking place this year. These grants will help advance international optics-related education by renewing successful grants and introducing new programs. The grants and programs will benefit students and educators around the world by providing resources such as classroom sets, travel support and program funding.
“We are thrilled to fund more programs than ever before, with a particular emphasis on multi-national collaborations”, said Gary Bjorklund, chairman of the OSA Foundation Board. “These programs are truly global in nature—from bringing optics education to students in South America and Mexico to supporting the worldwide network of OSA local sections and student chapters. The OSA Foundation is proud to continue fulfilling its mission of bringing the science of light to students around the world.”
Following is a summary of the new and renewed programs:
Project Lumiere
This is a two-week science camp taking place this summer intended to introduce children from disadvantaged backgrounds in Sophia, Guyana, to basic science. The sessions will expose 50 students, in groups aged 6 to 10 and 11 to 16, to experiments with rockets, optics and medicine. Most of the students are illiterate, so the program will focus on experiential learning and will employ physical demonstrations, pictorial aids and verbal instructions to assist students in progressing through the exercises. The OSA Foundation is providing classroom sets of Optics Discovery Kits, Optics: Light at Work DVDs and Laser Technology CD-ROMs.
Support for Children’s and Teenagers’ Science Clubs in Mexico
The OSA Foundation is providing a grant and a classroom set of the Optics Discovery Kit to expand training and materials for the Children’s Science Club and Scientific Club for Teenagers in León, Guanajuato, Mexico. The clubs offer monthly learning sessions for up to 200 students, which include a 15-minute explanation of a scientific topic followed by interactive experiments for the students to explore in groups. The experiments are conducted with the support of graduate students, many of whom are members of the Centro de Investigaciones en Optica AC OSA Student Chapter.
International Travel Grants for PHOTON Problem-Based-Learning Workshops
The New England Board of Higher Education provides professional development workshops for high school teachers through a National Science Foundation (NSF)-supported program called PHOTON Problem-Based Learning. The NSF fund cannot be used to support teachers from outside the United States, so the OSA Foundation is providing travel grants for up to three international high school physics teachers to participate in the July 2008 one-week professional development workshop. The program includes eight industry- and research university-based multimedia “challenges” that use real-life problems and solutions to prepare high school and community college science, math and technology/engineering instructors to use with their students.
OSA Student Chapter Youth Education Grant Renewal
After successfully aiding more than 5,000 students in 20 countries in 2007 alone, OSA has renewed the Student Youth Education Grant program through 2011. This program provides OSA student chapters with grants to develop and implement grassroots youth science education programs.
OSA Local Section Youth Education Grant Renewal
OSA local sections have the ability to reach thousands of students in countries around the globe through grassroots science education programs. To better help their efforts, the OSA Foundation will provide grants to aid in their youth science education outreach initiatives.
These new programs are being funded in addition to current OSA Foundation-supported programs, which include OSA student member travel grants and student professional development programming at OSA’s Annual Meeting, Frontiers in Optics; a collaboration with the Girl Scouts of the USA; student awards and scholarships; education outreach and translation of educational resources. The new programs outlined above and the more than 150 programs supported by the OSA Foundation since 2002 forward its mission to advance youth science education, provide optics and photonics education to underserved populations, provide career and professional development resources and support awards and honors that recognize technical and business excellence.
For more information or to apply for an OSA Foundation grant, visit the Grant Programs section of the OSA Foundation Web site or e-mail foundationgrants@osa.org.
About the OSA Foundation
The OSA Foundation was established in 2002 to support philanthropic activities that help further the Optical Society’s mission by concentrating its efforts on programs that advance youth science education, provide optics education and resources to underserved populations, provide career and professional development resources and support awards and honors that recognize technical and business excellence. The grants funded by the OSA Foundation are made possible by the generous donations of its supporters as well as the dollar-for-dollar match by OSA. The Foundation is exempt from U.S. federal income taxes under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and is a public charity. To learn more about the OSA Foundation or to find out how to donate, please visit www.osa-foundation.org or e-mail foundation@osa.org.
Media Contact:
Angela Stark
Optical Society
202.416.1443
astark@osa.org
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