MONDAY MEMO, October 15, 2007
 
 
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1. Announcements
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1.1:  BNC Mandatory User Meetings: Monday, Oct. 15, and Tuesday, Oct. 16 2007; 6:00-7:30PM; MRGN 121.  Attendance at one of these meetings is required — access to the BNC laboratories and cleanroom will be revoked for those not in attendance.
 
1.2:  No keys will be checked out this week.  MaryJo Totten will be on vacation Oct. 15 through Oct. 19.  Part-time staff will be covering for MaryJo. They will be handling all mail and packages as usual.
 
1.3:  The West Laboratory Wing (1200-series laboratories) will be shut down on Thursday, 18 October 2007, from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM for the repair of a chemical-exhaust fan.  All hoods, both acid and solvent, will be closed during the shutdown.  It is critical that all chemicals be covered or removed from the hoods no later than 8:00 AM Thursday morning.  No operations may take place in the hoods during that time.
 
 
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2. Seminars
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2.1:  Tuesday, October 16, 4:00PM, Biochemistry Seminar, "Targeting cell division for cancer therapy," by Xiang S. Ye, Eli Lilly, Indianapolis, WSLR 116
 
2.2:  Tuesday, October 16, 4:30PM, Bioinformatics Seminar, "Mapping and Modeling the Arabidopsis Ionome,” by Ivan Baxter, Discovery Park, Purdue University, ME 161
 
2.3:  Tuesday, October 16, 6:00-8:00PM, Network for Computational Nanotechnology Lecture, “Crash Course: Putting Your Work Online at nanoHUB.org," by Michael McLennan, senior research scientist, IT discovery resources, Purdue University, MRGN 129

2.4:  Wednesday, October 17, 4:00PM, Biology Seminar, Eric Hunter, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University, “Genetic bottlenecks and subsequent diversification following heterosexual transmission of HIV-1 in African couples,” LILY G126
 
2.5:  Wednesday, October 17, 12:30PM, Ecolunch Seminar, "BAC-based physical mapping and physical characterization of the channel catfish genome," by Peng Xu, Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, LILY G-416
2.6:  Wednesday, October 17, 1:30PM, Structural Biology Seminar, "Predicting protein function from sequence: theory and applications,” by Troy Hawkins, Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, LILY 1-117
 
2.7:  Wednesday, October 17, 3:30PM, Botany Seminar: "A twisted story: Epigenetic regulation of TWD1 (TWISTED DWARF 1) expression in Arabidopsis,” by Burkhard Shulz. Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, Purdue University, WSLR 116
2.8:  Thursday, October 18, 10:30AM, “Energy Systems Engineering: Making It Happen,” by Sandro Macchietto, Professor of Process Systems Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemical Technology, Imperial College, London, MRGN 121.
Abstract:  Providing plentiful and secure future energy supplies for both developed and developing countries, while addressing the environmental impact of energy production and use, is one of the key challenges facing our generation. Many of the solutions lie at the intersection of diverse technologies to meet multiple needs. The interplay between energy resources, supply and demand, transformation technologies, economics and policy are extremely complex and require a multidisciplinary, whole systems approach.  With reference to practical examples, the presentation will consider how the methods and approach of Process Systems Engineering can help in addressing energy problems at various levels: from the improvement of energy efficiency in traditional processes, such as distillation, to the development of novel energy production devices and processes such as biofuels, fuel cells and carbon capture processes, to the analysis of whole energy distribution networks and supply chains.  The talk will also discuss how a large, research-oriented university can help tackle such a daunting challenge, and present some of the recent developments at Imperial College in this direction, in particular the Energy Futures Lab, a college-wide research initiative involving the faculties of Engineering, Natural Sciences and the Business School, and a new Masters course in Sustainable Energy Systems.
BIO:  Dr. Macchietto is a Professor of Process Systems Engineering in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London and a Director of its cross-faculty Energy Futures Lab. His research interests include the application of mathematical methods to process design, control and operation, and the development of model-based experiment design techniques for rapid model development and validation. More recently, he has become interested in the use of systems methods for the analysis, development and optimisation of sustainable energy systems, with particular applications in the biofuels area.  Interested in exploring the relation between people and research environment to generate sparks, he has promoted the creation of innovative mechanisms for fast track research, such as a successful Process Concept Studio, and interfaces between academia and industry. He co-founded and was a director of the interdisciplinary Centre for Process Systems Engineering, of Process Systems Enterprise Ltd, one of the first Imperal College spinouts and has been a driving force behind the formation of the Energy Futures Lab. Dr. Macchietto is a Member of the Court of Imperial College (Engineering), a member of the Advisory Board of ENSIACET (Institut National Politechnique) in Toulouse, France, a Director of the Asia Pacific Technology Network, and a frequently invited speaker on technology and R&D policy.  He was made a Cavaliere of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic by its President in 2004 and is a winner of the 2007 MacRoberts Award, the top award for Innovation of the Royal Academy of Engineering.
2.9:  Friday, October 19, 1:30-2:30PM, “Developing Viral Vectors for Clinical Gene Therapy,” by Kenneth Cornetta, MD.
ABSTRACT:  Vector based on murine leukemia viruses were the first viral vectors used in clinical gene therapy. Efficacy and safety concerns have led to the exploration of vectors based on the Human Immunodeficiency Virus as an alternative. This seminar will discuss the experience of the Indiana University Vector Production Facility, which has certified over 30 clinical grade retroviral products and produced the first lentiviral product used to treat genetic disease. The evolution and ongoing challenges for human gene therapy, including the bioengineering challenges required to generate a safe and effective product, will be discussed.
BIO:  Kenneth Cornetta, M.D. is the Joe C. Christian Professor and Chair, Dept. of Medical and Molecular Genetics, IU School of Medicine. Prior to assuming the chair position, Dr. Cornetta served as the director of Adult Bone Marrow Transplantation at IU. He directs the IU Vector Production Facility, which has certified retroviral and lentiviral vectors for Phase I/II clinical trials for a variety of NIH funded programs. The laboratory continues to explore optimal vector constructs and production methods.
2.10:  Friday, October 19, 3:30 refreshments; 3:45 seminar, “Engineering at the nanometer scale:  Is it a new material or a new device?” by Gerhard Klimeck, MSEE B012.
ABSTRACT: At the nanometer scale the concepts of device and material meet and a new device is really a new material and vice versa. While atomistic device representation is novel to device physicists who typically deal in effective mass models, the concept of finite devices that are not infinitely periodic is novel in the semiconductor materials modeling community. NEMO 3-D bridges the gap and enables electronic structure simulations of quantum dots, quantum wells, nanowires, and impurities. Electronic structure simulations of systems 52 million atoms have been demonstrated.  To truly have impact on the research, experimental and educational efforts of the community, relevant tools must be put into the hands of experimentalists and educators.  NEMO 3-D can engage both educators and advanced researchers, utilizing a single open source code. An educational version has been released on nanoHUB.org.  Over 646 users ran over 4,800 simulations in the quantum dot lab in the past 12 months.  nanoHUB.org is operated by the Network for Computational Nanotechnology (NCN). 26,100 users gained information on the nanoHUB in the 12 months leading to Sept. 2007.  Over 5,900 users have launched over 226,000 simulations.  This seminar will overview NEMO 3D simulation capabilities and its deployment on the nanoHUB as well as an overview of the nanoHUB impact on the community.
SHORT BIO: Gerhard Klimeck is the Technical Director of the Network for Computational Nanotechnology at Purdue University and a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering since Dec. 2003.  He was the Technical Group Supervisor of the High Performance Computing Group and continues to hold his Principal member position at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory on a part time faculty basis.  His research interest is in the modeling of nanoelectronic devices, parallel cluster computing, and genetic algorithms. Gerhard led the development of the Nanoelectronic Modeling tool (NEMO 3-D) for multimillion atom simulations which has demonstrated parallel scaling to 8,192 CPUs.  Previously he was a member of technical staff at the Central Research Lab of Texas Instruments where he served as manager and principal architect of the Nanoelectronic Modeling (NEMO 1-D) program, which has demonstrated to scale to 23,000 CPUs.  Dr. Klimeck received his Ph.D. in 1994 from Purdue University and his German electrical engineering degree (summa cum laude) in 1990 from Ruhr-University Bochum.  Dr. Klimeck's work is documented in over 170 peer-reviewed publications and over 290 conference presentations.  He is a senior member of IEEE and member of APS, HKN and TBP.
2.11:  Monday, October 22, 10:30 coffee; 10:40 Seminar, “A Merging of Materials & Device Perspectives through Fabrication & Assembly: GaN Microdisks & Bio-Templated Photovoltaic Materials,” by Elaine Harberer, Postdoctoral Fellow, California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Santa Barbara; MRGN 121

ABSTRACT: Today, two strategies exist for electronic and optoelectronic device fabrication: a top-down approach and a bottom-up approach. The top-down paradigm is based on conventional microfabrication techniques developed over decades by the Si-based integrated circuits industry. These well-established, precision processes create devices by alternately building up and carving away material. Conversely, the bottom-up paradigm typically uses nanoscale building blocks which self-assemble, usually hierarchically, into larger scale structures, mimicking assembly in the natural world. Together these two approaches have the capability to realize specific material properties and device requirements at the both the nano- and micro- meter scale. These methods are most effective when leveraging an expertise in both materials properties and device design. As examples, the development of a GaN-based microdisk laser and low-cost bio-templated photovoltaic materials will be discussed. The microdisk is a simple, circular optical cavity which is ideal for studying lasing phenomena in a material system such as GaN in which high quality in-plane and vertical epitaxial mirror formation is frustrated by hetero-epitaxial growth and lattice mismatch induced strain. However, the undercut geometry necessary to create the mushroom-shaped cavity typical of microdisks is non-trivial in the III-nitride material system because of its generally chemically inert nature and polarization. In order to fabricate the device using bandgap-selective photoelectrochemical etching, a complete understanding of material growth limitations, internal polarization fields, and band structure was required.  From the device perspective, practical photovoltaic materials must both efficiently absorb the solar spectrum and effectively separate and collect the photogenerated carriers. This is a challenging task for even well-studied conventional semiconductor materials. However, if the additional constraint of economical or low-cost manufacturing is applied, very few material choices currently exist. In order to address these device requirements, a two-component bio-templated nanoscale system was designed to modify macroscopic materials properties. Two types of M13 clones, each with a specific function, are used to form photovoltaic films with CdSe serving as the photo-active material and Au acting to enhance film conductivity.  As shown through these examples, when combined with insights from both device and materials perspectives, top-down and bottom-up paradigms jointly provide potentially limitless opportunities for novel, multifunctional materials and devices.
BIO: Elaine Haberer is currently a postdoctoral fellow in the California NanoSystems Institute at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She received both her B.S. and M.S. degrees in materials science from MIT, and her Ph.D. degree, also in materials science, from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Haberer’s current research interests include novel microfabrication and bio-templating techniques for the development of multifunctional materials and devices.
2.12:  2007 Discovery Lecture Series:  Global Business Development in Life Sciences, Thursday, November 8, 9:00AM, Ross-Ade Pavilion.
9:00 Session I — Kauffman Campuses Initiative, Best Practices Workshop: “Skills for Business Development,” by Ted Ashburn, Senior Director of Corporate Development, Genzyme Corporation; “Skills for Successful Entrepreneurs,” by Michael Kurek, Partner, Biotechnology Business Consultants, LLC
11:30 Luncheon — BioCrossroads Keynote, Starting Regionally, Thinking Globally, Business Development, and the Life Sciences: “Welcome and Opening,” by Alan Rebar, Sr. Assoc. Vice President for Research, Executive Director, Discovery Park, Purdue University; “Keynote: Biotech 2007: A Global Transformation,” by G. Steven Burrill, CEO, Burrill and Company, moderated by William Miller, Provost Emeritus, Stanford University; “Technology Commercialization and Purdue University,” by France A. Córdova
2:30 Panel Session — Translating Indiana Ideas into Global Successes, moderated by David Johnson, President and CEO, BioCrossroads: “Importance of Intellectual Property,” by Ted Ashburn; and “Considering Global Competition When Developing IP in a Startup Environment,” by Roger Newton, Co-Founder, Esperion Therapeutics, a Division of Pfizer Global Research & Development
This event is free and supported by the generosity of the Lilly Endowment and the Kauffman Foundation. Registrations will be accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis.  Questions may be directed to:  Lori LeRoy, Public Relations and Marketing Director, Biocrossroads, at lleroy@biocrossroads.com; or Candiss B. Vibbert, Associate Director for Discovery Park Engagement, at vibbert@purdue.edu
Please register today: www.purdue.edu/dp/dls/register.html
 
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3.  Funding Opportunities
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3.1:  Showalter Trust Grant Competition:  Details are available at http://www.purdue.edu/research/vpr/funding/showalter.shtml. Pre-proposals and rankings must be SENT TO Tim Sands by Friday, October 19, 2007. [please note change in directions here.]
3.2:  A new NSF initiative, Cyber-Enabled Discovery and Innovation (CDI), may be of interest/relevance to your and/or your colleagues research. (CDI) is planned as a five-year initiative. Chuck Bouldin (cbouldin@nsf.gov, 703-292-4920) is the DMR coordinator for this activity. (http://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/cdi <http://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/cdi> )
 
3.3: Graduate Fellowship OPPORTUNITY:  The Department of Energy Computational Science Graduate Fellowship (DOE CSGF) Program provides outstanding benefits and opportunities to students pursuing a PhD in scientific or engineering disciplines with an emphasis in high-performance computing. Fellows also participate in research at a DOE laboratory.  Benefits include $32,400 yearly stipend; payment of all tuition and fees; workstation purchase assistance; yearly conferences; $1,000 yearly academic allowance; and fellowship is renewable up to four years.  For application materials and more information on the DOE CSGF Program, visit www.krellinst.org/csgf. Application materials may be downloaded from the Krell Institute website at https://krellinst.org/csgf/application.  Applications must be received by January 16, 2008.
 
 
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4. Birck Visitors
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4.1:  Thursday, October 18, 10:15AM: Lafayette Adult Resource Academy, 40 people
 
4.2:  Friday, October 19, 10:05AM:  Andrea Zoller
 
4.3:  Friday, October 19, 1:30PM:  Technical Assistance Program Advisory Council
 
4.4:  Friday, October 19, 2:50PM:  PU Student Leaders
 
4.5:  Friday, October 19, 3:00 – 5:00PM:  Fall Preview Days, self-guided tours of perspective undergraduate students and their parents
 
 
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5. Discovery Park
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5.1:  Homecoming 2007!  Discovery Park Engagement is proud to represent Discovery Park at Homecoming 2007 for the Family Friendly Celebration on the Mall, but we need your help to make it a success! Our goal this year is to represent Discovery Park as a whole with interactive games, activities, videos, and glow in the dark footballs for giveaways. Purdue will be playing against Northwestern on Saturday, October 27th, with kickoff scheduled at 12pm at Ross-Ade Stadium.  We will need to represent our tent on the Purdue Mall from 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
We are inviting everyone, including Ambassadors and students, from Discovery Park to stop by our tent and volunteer your time for a quick 20 minutes to talk with Alumni, friends, and family about the cool things Discovery Park is doing to transform their world! We will have Boiler Bucks available for you to grab a snack, and will make sure you are off to the game in plenty of time to cheer on our Boilers!!
I am also requesting a few volunteers to help setup and teardown. If you are interested in participating, please send an email to Valerie Lawless at lawlessv@purdue.edu, or call her at 4-3662, and indicate what time frame you would like to represent Discovery Park.
If you do not wish to be a volunteer, but would like to stop by our tent and say hello, I have attached the link where you may find all the information for Purdue’s Homecoming 2007 and where our tent will be located. http://www.purdue.edu/events/homecoming/ <http://www.purdue.edu/events/homecoming/>
Boiler Up! for a great Purdue Homecoming 2007!
 
 
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6. Life on the Outside
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6.1: Good news from Placidus Amama — a baby girl joined their family on Tuesday, October 9 at 8:01AM; both mother and baby are healthy. The little girl shares two similarities with Bepeh, Placidus’ son: both kids came three weeks early and both weighed 3.01kg at birth.

Deborah S. Starewich
Administrative Assistant to Timothy D. Sands, Director
Birck Nanotechnology Center
Purdue University

765-494-3509
dstarewi@ecn.purdue.edu

http://www.nano.purdue.edu/