May 2013 - BNC-all - ecn.purdue.edu

NOTICE - Preventive Maintenance Shut Down April 30 - Mary 3
by Voorhis, Mark L. 03 May '13

03 May '13

Preventive Maintenance Shut Down Notice April 30 - May 3 The Birck Nanotechnology Center building will be undergoing a semi-annual preventive maintenance and service starting April 30 until May 3. Air handling systems, exhaust systems, toxic gas delivery, and monitoring systems will be down beginning at 7 a.m. Tuesday, April 30 to 4 p.m. Friday, May 3. The BNC staff will be performing appropriate preventive maintenance on the process equipment at this time as well. Campus steam will be interrupted for 6-8 hours resulting with very cool temperatures (55°) in office, laboratory, and public areas on April 30. Please dress accordingly for the colder temperatures. All CLEANROOM research work will be suspended until the maintenance activities are completed and all systems are returned to normal. In addition, the laboratory areas will also be affected by this systems maintenance. As such, all LABORATORY activities that involve exhausted hoods, vacuum systems, and/or toxic gas systems will be down beginning 7 a.m. Tuesday, April 30 to 4 p.m. Friday, May 3. However, work that involves taking standard electrical measurements may be carried out in the LABS provided that fluctuating air temperature and humidity do not affect the readings. It is anticipated that the building and process tool maintenance will be completed by the end of the day on May 3. Please check Coral for equipment status and availability. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding during this important preventive maintenance shutdown. BNC Management

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Prof. Jeff Fessler Seminar today at 11:00am in BRK 2001
by Turner, Jaime J 03 May '13

03 May '13

[cid:image001.png@01CE47E4.AEF4D6C0] Jaime Turner Birck Nanotechnology Center Purdue University 1205 West State STreet West Lafayette, IN 47907-2057 (765) 494-3509 jjturner(a)purdue.edu

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Nanodays 2013
by Shakouri, Ali 02 May '13

02 May '13

Dear All, We hosted Nanodays which was an outstanding outreach event last week. We had ~850 students from ~14 schools who came to Discovery Park on April 25 and 26. This was a great opportunity to showcase the impact of nanotechnology in the society and to encourage young students to pursue carriers in science and engineering. This would not have been possible without the dedicated work of our staff who have been working on the planning of Nanodays in the last couple of months. Monica Allain was key to create this great event and our staff had to do quite a bit of extra work to keep the momentum. We also had a great participation of our faculty and graduate students who prepared exciting activities and demonstrations for our young visitors. I would like to particularly thank the following main contributors: Jaime Turner Angie Sigo Nancy Black Heather Anthrop Candiss Vibbert (MRGN) Nancy Goodman (MRGN) John Wilcox Mary Jo Totten Lisa Reece We also had quite a few staff who helped to set up the activities and clean up: Ron Reger Lorraine Fox Michael Courtney John Coy Geoff Gardner Dan Hosler Dave Lubelski Tim Miller Bill Rowe Kenny Schwartz Bill Sheldon Mark Voorhis Tracy Hudson Mary Jones Guy Telesnicki Bambrah Miller (MRGN) Cindy Ream (MRGN) Here is the list of Nanodays activities/demonstrations given by students, faculty and staff. I hope this can give some ideas to faculty and students as they develop outreach activities for their NSF or similar grants: o Nanograde Water - Tim Miller o NCN Booth - Victoria Farnsworth o Thermoelectrics Table - Prof. Xianfan Xu o Faculty Table - Prof. Jong Hyun Choi o Heart Table - Aamer Mahmood o Thermoacustic Engine Table - Prof. Liang Pan o Scanning Probes - Prof. Dan Suter o Optical Society Table o Prof. Peter Bermel - Thin Films Table o Prof. You-Yeon Won - Nanosand Table o Lisa Reece - Nano Ice Cream o Robert Moon - NanoTrees Lecture o Christy Cooper - Cleaning Water with Nanoparticles Lecture o Guy Telesnicki - How to make Nanoparticles Lecture o Matt Stensberg - Nano Silver Lecture o Desiree White-Schenk - Treating Cancer with Nanoparticles Lecture o Ecotoxicology - Marisol Sepulveda o Tech Table - Goeff Gardner o Higgs-Boson - Gale Lockwood o Sproresat - Amani Salim o Graphene Biosensor - Ruchit Mehta and Naresh Emani o Mid Infared Devices - Imrul Hossain o II-V MoICAP - Jingyun Zhang It was especially nice to see how the people listed above pitched in to help as there are always last minute and unexpected issues, it really showed how the Birck staff pulls together and supports one another when needed. Thanks again for an outstanding work. Please let me and Jaime know if you have suggestions and comments on how we can improve Nanodays or similar events in the future. Best regards, Ali

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FW: Dick Schwartz talk (Thurs., May 2)
by Anthrop, Heather L 02 May '13

02 May '13

Title: A Partial History of Solar Cell Modeling at Purdue Abstract: There is a long history of the modeling of solar cells at Purdue that has led to the prominence that the work here now enjoys. The early work in this area was not directed at photovoltaic cells as solar cells but as thermophotovoltaic (TPV) cells. This talk will trace the path that was followed from the development and modeling of TPV cells to Interdigitated Back Contact (IBC) cells. We will discuss how this then led to one- and two-dimensional silicon solar cell models. Important contributions to the understanding of how these cells operated and how they should be designed for optimal performance were a result of these early efforts. The silicon cell modeling developed to the point where very reliable predictions could be made as to the effects changes in materials properties and cell designs would have on their performance. These early successes lead to wide acceptance of the importance of the development of detailed solar cell models. Purdue modeling efforts have covered most of the commercially important cells (as well as many that are not commercially important). The presentation will cover lessons learned and contributions to the understanding of solar cell operations. For the apparently simple devices that they are, solar cells are surprisingly sophisticated. Brief Bio: Richard Schwartz is Dean Emeritus of the Schools of Engineering at Purdue. In his 44 years at Purdue, he also served as the Head of the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Co-Director of the Birck Nanotechnology Center. He has been involved in solar cell research since 1974, primarily in the detailed modeling of solar cells. He has authored over 100 technical papers. Professor Schwartz was named a Fellow of the IEEE for his research work on the analysis, design and development of high intensity silicon solar cells. His research work received a NASA Recognition Award and the IEEE William Cherry Award for his contributions to the field of photovoltaics. Professor Schwartz served as the Chairman of the Science and Technology Advisory Committee for the Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and on the Advisory Committee for the National Center for Photovoltaics. He was the General Chairman of the 23rd IEEE Photovoltaic Specialists Conference and he chaired the National Research Council's Committee for the assessment of NASA's Solar Power Investment Strategy.

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Birck Spring Picnic -- Monday, May 6 at 5pm in Squirrel Park
by NSAC 01 May '13

01 May '13

Dear Birck Community, Join us next week Monday for the annual Birck spring picnic, co-hosted by NSAC/NCN/EDS. When: Monday, May 6, 2013, @ 5:00PM Where: Squirrel Park (corner of Airport Rd. and Nimitz Dr.) Who: All Birck and NCN/EDS students, faculty, staff, and families Cost: None. Hope to see you there! Nanotechnology Student Advisory Council (NSAC)

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