Nanotechnology - Engineering Science and Mechanics

In This Issue
PG:2 Message from the Chair,
Dr. Judith Todd highlights
department updates and
student, faculty, and alumni
accomplishments.
PG:3 Alumni in the News,
features ESM’s expanding
alumni activities and
events, both on campus and
at regional sites.
PG:4 This Now from ESM,
showcases ESM’s nanoscale
research and technology
plus recent gains in
controlled corrosion rate
materials for medical
applications.
PG:5 ESM Frontiers profiles the
nanotechnology revolution
in One Fine Dimension—
the pioneering research of
Dr. Stephen J. Fonash.
PG:6 In AAB News, Mike Erdman
highlights AAB events and
activities, updates the ESM
calendar, and features
Alumni in Service to ESM.
Nanotechnology
Engineering at the Atomic Level
Fall 2008
It all began in 1959, when physicist Richard Feynman suggested that there is “plenty of
room at the bottom” — that innovation would occur at the nano-scale. After nearly 50
years of research, nanotechnology is changing our world in ways previously unimagined.
As structures approaching the one-billionthof-a-meter
range become increasingly
feasible, research is expanding rapidly at
the Center for Nanotechnology Education
and Utilization—headquartered
within ESM.
The nanotechnology
revolution is no longer a
dream of the distant future,
but is hard at work today in
the integrated circuits that
power your computer, cell
phone, washing machine,
and automobile.
Long ago, integrated circuit manufacturing
broke through the micro-barrier to enter
the new world of nanotechnology.
Soon, you will cruise the Web on a
vast infrastructure of nanotechnology
threads, whose nano-chip circuitry
has attained the amazingly small
dimension of 45 nanometers or
less—that’s only 150 atoms wide.
Nanotechnology research explores
an ever expanding list of diverse
applications that include drug
delivery, energy storage, chemical
filtration, optics, and textiles, to name
The nanotechnology
revolution is no longer
a dream of the distant
future, but is hard at
work today...
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ESM CONNECTIONS
just a few. Similar to the “gene splicing” era of
the 1980s, nanotechnology has caught fire to
become a worldwide phenomenon.
Universities are competing to build multidisciplinary
teams and nanotechnology
research centers that will attain
dominant positions in the vast
market that is sure to emerge. ESM
has captured a leading position
in this new wave of research and
technology development.
This issue of Connections examines
the rapid growth of nanotechnology
and posts a breaking news announcement on
page five that places ESM on the global
nanotechnology map.

Message From
the Chair
Fall 2008 got off to a great
start with a new class of
82 juniors and seniors, the
largest group for several years.
Together with our selfdeclared
first- and secondyear
students, ESM has over a
100 students this year,
“Lopez has with 49 percent being
been selected Schreyer Honors scholars.
to train for the
It has been a year of many
2012 Olympics”
accomplishments. James
Moses (junior) and Jillian Woolridge
(sophomore, double major with German
and equestrian minor) received DAAD/RISE
fellowships to conduct summer research in
Munich and Heidelberg. James was also
awarded the ASME Melvin R. Green and
ASNE scholarships for his senior year. All
American gymnast captain and Big Ten
champion, Santiago Lopez, has been selected
to train with the Mexican gymnastics team
for the 2012 Olympics. Graduate Jonathon
Pitt received a DOD SMART Scholarship
and Michael Motyka won a Research
Excellence Award at the SPIE Optics and
Photonics Meeting.
Dr. Mirna Urquidi-Macdonald has been
appointed to the National Research Council’s
Research Opportunities in Corrosion
Science and Engineering Committee.
Dr. Chuck Bakis was elected Fellow of the
International Institute for Fiber Reinforced
Polymer Composites in Construction.
ESM alum Bob McGrath was appointed
deputy laboratory director
of the National Renewable
Energy Laboratory in Golden
Colorado, where he will be
responsible for all aspects of
the laboratory’s science and
technology development.
Congratulations to all.
Regards,
At the Forefront in Research, Education and Technology Transfer
Judith A. Todd
P.B. Breneman
Department Head Chair
Go S a n t i a g o !
Alumni Spotlight
While at Penn State, Yinghui Shan (Ph.D. E SC ’07)
developed a novel self-assembling, environmentally-benign,
and mass-manufacturable approach to synthesizing
nanowires. He successfully fabricated high-performance
nanowire transistors. Currently, Yinghui works on the
digital X-ray imaging system at Micro & Nano Structures
Technologies, GE Global Research Center.
For more information, visit: www.ge.com/
research/
Alumni Spotlight
Lori Bouchelle (BS E SC ’95) attributes her successful
implementation and improvement of 12 different
manufacturing processes in three different industries to
her multi-disciplinary E SC background. As a process
engineer, she has reduced product and process variation,
quantified and optimized production capacity, and
validated new equipment. Now at W. L. Gore and
Associates’ Industrial Products Division, Lori improves
laminating and converting operations for industrial
and medical vents that protect electronic equipment
in harsh environments and prevent contamination of
medical devices.
For more information, visit: www.gore.com/venting
Undergraduate Student Spotlight
Tim Medina has been conducting undergraduate research
with Dr. Steve Fonash since his sophomore year to develop
micro- and nano-fluidic techniques for bio-molecular
separations. Taking advantage of new developments
in high precision fluid control technology, Tim and a
team of students developed a continuous-flow device
for the separation of DNA from biological samples.
Recognizing the enormous potential of nanotechnology,
Tim has decided to continue as a M.S. student in ESM’s
Integrated Undergraduate Graduate Program, where he
will earn his B.S. and M.S. degrees in five years.
Graduate Student Spotlight
M.S. candidate Christopher Winter is using a grow-in-place
method to achieve a high yield of nanowire sensors on
a single chip. Each sensor can be customized for ultrasensitive,
real-time detection of specific biological or
chemical species in a single fluid sample—a drop of saliva.
This technology promises a new generation of inexpensive,
point-of-care, biomolecular detection devices for use by
health-care professionals.
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Alumni In The News
ESM Alumni…
Coming Together
Your alumni network is growing. More than 200
alumni have reunited at our events, shared experiences
and given career advice to students, and visited the
department. We look forward to seeing you next year!
Centennial
Fellow Update
From Physics
Fundamentals
to Real-World
Applications
Srikanth Krishnan has
been employed by
Texas Instruments
in Dallas, Texas, since graduating
with his Ph.D. from ESM in 1992. A
distinguished member of the technical
staff, Srikanth is a circuit and device
reliability manager who leads a team
of seven engineers focusing on semiconductor
reliability.
The great technical challenge is to
balance the demands of improving
reliability while simultaneously
increasing performance for a
system that must remain backwards
compatible. An example of this is
the need to increase the voltage in a
wireless chip (overdriving the chip)
without impacting wear-out.
Reflecting on his ESM education,
Srikanth recalls an emphasis on
learning fundamentals; this emphasis
motivates students when they
recognize that “technology is moving
in a direction where the pure
fundamentals of physics pop out.”
Alumni Meet at Penn State Great Valley
Chancellor Diane Disney welcomed
40 ESM alumni to the Great Valley
campus with the reminder that ESM
students “are good at so many things
that they have not been able to eliminate
choices based on things that they
can not do.” Director James Nemes
highlighted the new program in
Systems Engineering now offered
online and at the Great Valley campus.
Dr. Judy Todd introduced Dr. Ravi
Akarapu, who described his laserplasma
research in ESM’s new Center
for Multiscale Wave-Materials Interac-
ESM Fall 2008 Tailgate
Starbucks® and Krispy Kremes® started
the day’s activities as visiting alumni
stopped by ESM’s Open House and
toured ESM laboratories.
“It made me want to go back to Penn
State as a college student again,” said
Linda D’Antonio, after hearing
E SC students describe their exciting
research programs.
Update from Greece
Ravi and Puneit in laser lab
tions. Undergraduate Abdalla Nassar
described his discovery of Engineering
Science while an undergraduate at the
Hazelton campus and how his undergraduate
research in lasers inspired
him to pursue a Ph.D. degree.
Tailgate festivities were in full swing
with hamburgers, hot dogs, and
the awesome ‘awful chili’ as alums
awaited kick-off.
It was a classic football homecoming
weekend; a chance to meet old
friends, the faculty, and students. The
AAB tailgate will clearly be an annual
highlight for future homecomings.
Professor Emeritus Sabih Hayek and his wife Guler met Angela Karali (Ph.D. E MCH ’94)
at the Acropolis in Greece. Angela is employed by the International Relations and European
Affairs Department of the Hellenic Association of Engineers. Dr. Karali says her work has
global outreach and that she is becoming “a bit of an expert in the Far East” through her
employment relationship with China. Angela’s work includes European Union funded
projects and project management.
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This Now... from ESM
ESM Research Highlights
Barbara Shaw
Although corrosion costs the U.S.
billions of dollars annually,
Dr. Barbara Shaw is designing
materials with
controlled corrosion
rates. She is developing
a new series of
non-toxic magnesium
bioabsorbable stents
that can be used to
repair arteries and
blood vessels, and will then dissolve
once healing has occurred.
For her pioneering research, Dr. Shaw
has just been elected a fellow of
NACE International.
Don’t forget to sign up for Dr. Shaw’s
intensive summer short course
on corrosion for researchers and
industry professionals.
Learn more at
www.esm.psu.edu/shaw/
Tony Huang
The Penn State
Biofunctionalized
Nano-electro-
Mechanical-Systems
(BioNEMS) Lab, led
by Dr. Tony Huang,
has recently invented
a novel, tunable, liquid microlens.
In contrast to traditional glass lenses
that are bulky,
expensive,
and non-tunable,
this lens is
micrometer
scale, inexpensive,
made of
liquid, and
highly tunable.
It is easily
Huang Journal Cover fabricated and
tremendously flexible in controlling
a light beam’s intensity and
focal point.
Learn more at
www.esm.psu.edu/huang/
Jian Xu
Dr. Jian Xu, assistant professor,
is conducting research on semi-
conductor optoelectronics, nanophotonics,
and bioelectronics.
His new optoelectronics laboratory
bridges basic research on
nanoscale semiconductor materials and engi-
Fluorescent Lens
neering studies of their device applications in
solar energy, display, light wave communication,
and optical sensing. Indeed his fabrication of
light-emitting diodes with 460 nm blue emission has the potential to replace
liquid crystal displays and electro-luminescent devices. Learn more at
www.esm.psu.edu/xu
Melik Demirel
Dr. Melik Demirel’s research
investigates the nanoscale properties
of biological and synthetic materials.
His group is developing new sensor
technology, together with a startup
company, for highly sensitive,
reproducible, and uniform chemical, biological,
and explosive detection. His patented sensor chip
technology will detect trace levels of chemicals and
public health pathogens in human fluids for early
disease diagnosis. These compact, portable devices
can be used in doctors’ offices and in field applications
for homeland security and defense. Learn more at
www.esm.psu.edu/~mcd18/
Sensor Technology Instrument
Kate Barber Visits State Capitol
Sophomore Kate Barber was one of four Penn
State students selected to present Undergraduate
Research at the State Capitol in
Harrisburg in October. Forty eight Pennsylvania
schools participated. Kate is pictured
here with her poster “Design and Analysis of
an Endoscopic Suturing Instrument,” and her
home district the Honorable State Representative,
Art Hershey.
Kate’s prototype “endoscopic forceps” are
designed for “incision-less” surgery—a safer procedure with a fast recovery
time. Kate is designing these new surgical tools with Dr. Mary Frecker
(Mechanical and Nuclear Engineering) and in consultation with Dr. Abraham
Matthew, a gastroenterologist at the Hershey Medical Center.
“I enjoyed explaining my research to visitors and answering questions,” remarked
Kate on her first experience presenting a professional scientific poster.
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Feature
ESM Frontiers
by Stan Gatchel (MS ’78)
As engineers, scale is fundamental to our work—from rocketry and reactors to seismology and semiconductors.
ESM has leaped into a new manufacturing world where dimensions are measured at the atomic scale.
Why Nanotechnology?
We can now reliably manufacture
structures that are 100,000 times
smaller than the human hair.
At this scale, “nano-things”
have much more surface than
volume. Surface properties prevail
over relatively insignificant
gravitational forces, and the wave
properties of light take precedence.
The unique environment
of surface atoms offers a strange
new nano-scale world for science
and engineering to explore.
Mercurial Sensing
While your dog’s nose has twobillion
odor receptors, about 40
times those of humans, nanowires
may well out-sniff your dog’s nose.
Nano-wires make good sensing
devices because their large, reactive
surface areas respond with
detectable changes in electrical
conductance or phase changes in
the material. What they detect
depends on the material. Gold
nano-wire sensors are great for
detecting trace amounts of elemen-
One Fine Dimension
Nanotechnology Redefines Innovation
in a New Age of Material Science
tal and ionic mercury. Potential
uses of nano-sensors include explosive
material detection, pollution
control, health care, noxious gas
detection, pharmaceutical applications,
and safety systems.
Nanofluidics: Tiny Pipes
Nanofluidics deals with fluid flow
through tubes less than 100 nm
in diameter. At this dimension,
the fluid’s viscosity, chemical,
and electrical properties change
dramatically. By controlling nano-
fluidic flow mechanisms, a new
generation of lab-on-a-chip
devices will incorporate miniaturized
chemical process systems and
bio-molecular detection devices.
Optoelectronic Solar Cells
For many, the hope for a renewable
energy future rests upon efficient
and abundant solar cells. The software
package, AMPS, was developed
by Steve Fonash, to design and
simulate new solar cells before they
are built. AMPS is now the most
widely accepted tool adopted by
more than 1,000 institutions and
companies world-wide.
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Nanotech Education
On the human scale, nanotech-
nology demands interdisciplinary
thinking. The large investment
in equipment, facilities and
skilled professionals places
nanotechnology out of reach for
all but the largest institutions.
To share this vital resource,
Fonash founded the Pennsylvania
Nanofabrication Manufacturing
Technology Partnership in 1998,
which has had a major impact on
more than 750 students and 600
educators in nanotechnology.
Breaking News
NSF NACK Center
Steve Fonash’s visionary
scholarship has brought ESM
to a new era in engineering
based on quantum physics.
Connections
is proud to
announce the
culmination
of this work.
Fonash has
been awarded
the National
Science Foundation’s National
Center for Nanotechnology
Applications and Career
Knowledge (NACK). The
kick-off meeting for the fouryear,
$5 million NACK Center
was held at Penn State on
Nov. 19, 2008.

Looking Forward
A Message from
ESM’s AAB Chair
by Mike Erdman
(BS E Sci ’69)
Your AAB is expanding
support for the ESM
department, students,
and alumni. A key
activity in fall 2008 was to promote
awareness of ESM’s premier honors
program (Engineering Science,
E SC) among companies who may
hire our graduates. Mike House’s
crew canvassed recruiters at the
career fair armed with a newly
produced ‘profiler’ that was very well
received. Please download a copy
from www.esm.psu.edu/
publications/profiler and
help us to publicize ESM to your
company and prospective students.
Speaking of recruiting, Barb Faust
is busy establishing a network of
ambassadors to work with selected
top high schools and teachers to
promote the E SC major among
their best students.
Our engagement is paying off. This
year the E SC major has reached
39 junior and 42 senior and supersenior
students. Keep up the
good work!
Watch out for special Engineering
Science and Mechanics alumni
activities that will be developed in
conjunction with a regional meeting,
April 25 (the Blue/White game),
and alumni reunion weekend,
June 4-7, 2009. Also, save the date,
Oct. 17, for the fall 2009 homecoming
tailgate. This year’s event
attracted over 100 participants — we
are seeing a tradition in the making!
Connecting ESM Students With Recruiters
The AAB Placement Committee will host a recruiting social mixer for
ESM students coinciding with the College of Engineering’s Spring Career
Fair in February 2009. Recruiters planning to participate are National
Instruments, Dresser-Rand, Northrop Grumman, KAPL, Bettis, Belcan,
and Schlumberger.
Companies interested in participating can receive details by e-mailing
Mike House at fernhouse1@verizon.net.
ESM Calendar for 2009
Spring 09 Semester
ESM Today
Graduate Symposium; 14 Feb
Spring Career Days; 15-18 Feb
PA Regional Fair; 22 Apr
AAB Meeting; 24 Apr
Blue/White Game; 25 Apr
Commencement; 15-17 May
Alumni Reunion; 4-7 Jun
Arts Festival 8-12 Jul
Alumni in Service to ESM
Seminar Speakers
You Can Help
Contact ESM
Name Department Phone Email
Judith A. Todd P.B. Breneman Department Head Chair 814-863-0771 jtodd@psu.edu
Mike Erdman Alumni Advisory Board Chair 518-384-0624 mike.erdman@psualum.com
Jason Lyons Coordinator, Alumni, Development 814-867-1569 jml43@psu.edu
& Advancement
Fall 09 Semester
Fall Career Days; 14–18 Sep
AAB Meeting; 19 Sep
Medical Career Day; 15 Oct
Homecoming Tailgate; 17 Oct
Commencement; 19 Dec
More at: www.events.psu.edu/
ESM invites alumni to visit campus and meet our students, faculty and staff.
Students would like to hear about life after college and the diverse paths
taken by ESM alumni. Please contact Jason M. Lyons (814-867-1569;
JML43@psu.edu) to schedule a visit and share your experiences.
Thanks to this year’s speakers: Chuck Dages (ME E SC ’77 – Warner Brothers),
Steve Osborn (BS E SC ’80 – St. Vincent’s Hospital), Ed Frymoyer
(BS E SC ’59 – Frymoyer Holdings Inc.), Eric Cummings (BS E SC ’89
– Cool Earth Solar), Jim Miller (BS E SC ’60 – RSS Distributors), and
Jim Rapp (BS E SC ’60 – Department of the Army)
As we approach the holiday season, your support can make a difference to
the lives of our students and to ESM’s new initiatives. Please consider a
Gift “for the future” at https://secure.ddar.psu.edu/GiveTo/,
select “Other” in the Designation of Gift section, and write in Engineering
Science and Mechanics. We thank you for your generous support.
AAB Operations: alumnirelations@mail.esm.psu.edu | AAB web site: www.esm.psu.edu/alumni | ESM web site: www.esm.psu.edu
Penn State is committed to affirmative action, equal opportunity and the diversity of its workforce. U.Ed. #ENG 09-77. This publication is available in alternative media on request.
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