WEEKLY MEMO, June 2, 2008 ****************** 1. ANNOUNCEMENTS ****************** 1.1: Monday and Tuesday, June 9 and 10: Physical Facilities will be working on the high-pressure steam system for this portion of campus. As a result, the Birck Nanotechnology Center will lose temperature and humidity control during that period. It is likely that we will see a 2⁰-3⁰F drop in temperature and a 5% increase in humidity in the offices, laboratories, and cleanroom. Laboratories with fume hoods will feel more impact than those without hoods. There will continue to be hot water in the bathrooms during this period. Please note that it will take 6-8 hours for the building to stabilize after steam is turned off on Monday and about the same amount of time for it to stabilize when the steam is turned back on late Tuesday afternoon. Please arrange your schedule to avoid temperature-critical and humidity-critical (such as positive photolithography) during this period. Our apologies for any inconvenience that this may cause, but it is a campus shutdown that is out of our control. Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding. For questions, contact John Weaver (jrweaver@purdue.edu) or Mark Voorhis (mvoorhis@purdue.edu). ******************** 2. SEMINARS *see abstracts/bios below ******************** 2.1: MARK YOU CALENDARS NOW: Friday, September 12, 2008, 3:30PM, Fowler Hall: “The Roles of Short RNAs in Cancer and Biology,” by Dr. Phillip A. Sharp. **************** 3. OPPORTUNITIES **************** 3.1: The Interconnect & Packaging Sciences area of the SRC Global Research Collaboration is soliciting white papers in BEP & Packaging for work to begin February 1, 2009. Three-page white papers addressing needs in a new research needs document are due Thursday, June 26, 2008 by 3:00 p.m. ET. This call for research, issued to universities worldwide, may be addressed by individual investigators or by research teams. Successful white paper authors will be invited to submit a full proposal. Contracts resulting from this solicitation are anticipated to be three years in duration. Interested researchers should note the proposal and review schedule, needs document and instructions for web-based white paper submissions on the SRC GRC Web site at: http://grc.src.org/fr/S200807_IPS_Call.asp. 3.2: POSTDOCTORAL POSITIONS IN CHEMICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL MICROSENSOR RESEARCH AT THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF STANDARDS AND TECHNOLOGY. Postdoctoral Associateships will be available through several programs in 2008 (and 2009) to qualified persons interested in doing research as part of an interdisciplinary team at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, Maryland. These positions at NIST are awarded following competitive evaluations of applicants under programs administered by the National Research Council (NRC). Research is done in an area of common interest to the candidate and NIST advisor, but the Associate is largely responsible for defining the specific problem to be studied. Activities within the Chemical Microsensor Program at NIST offer interested applicants a variety of advanced research opportunities relating to project areas that include: Study of surface/interfacial chemical and electronic effects, in gases and liquids, relevant to chemical and biochemical sensing (including functionalization and nanoscale contacts); Nanoengineering of materials (oxides, metals, polymers, organics, nanotubes, nanowires) for solid state microsensors and microanalytical chemical and biochemical systems; Design/fabrication of micromachined (MEMS/NEMS) devices as microscale research tools and as microanalysis platforms; Application of microscale devices, including microhotplate arrays, to investigate materials processing/properties, transient phenomena and the kinetics of (bio)chemical processes; Development of new sensing schemes for biochemical processes and medical diagnostics; Study of new signal processing protocols (including bio-inspired methods) for the rapid analysis of dense data streams. Available research capabilities permit multi-technique surface analytical characterization (XPS, UPS, TDS, AFM, etc.) as well as measurements of electronic behavior and electrical transport properties. Ultrahigh vacuum-based reactive sputter deposition hardware is also housed within the Group, as are MEMS design software, microfabrication equipment, a CVD system, SEM, and Sensor Testing Facility. Experience in areas such as surface science, electrochemistry, materials science, biochemistry, semiconductor electronics, micromachining, thin film science, or response modeling is particularly suited to our projects, but is not mandatory. Most positions are open only to U.S. citizens (although a joint NIH-NIST program does not require US citizenship). Applications include a brief research proposal. The programs provide successful applicants with a stimulating research opportunity at a major government laboratory located 30 miles from Washington, DC. In addition, stipends (base salary ~ $60,000) and benefits are quite generous. For more information about our projects, equipment capabilities or application procedures, please contact: Dr. Steve Semancik Tel: 301-975-2606; NIST Fax: 301-975-2643; 100 Bureau Drive, Stop 8362; steves@nist.gov; Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8362. **************** 4. Call for Papers **************** 4.1: TMS 2009: 138th Annual Meeting & Exhibition. “Linking Science and Technology for Global Solutions,” February 15-19, 2009, Moscone West Convention Center, San Francisco, CA. To be a part of this global, interdisciplinary conference, submit your abstract online at CMS-Plus, http://cmsplus.tms.org, by July 15. For more information about abstract submission, contact Christina Raabe Eck, Technical Programming and Publications Manager, raabe@tms.org; 724-776-9000, ext 212; 800-759-4TMS. Information about the TMS 2009 meeting: www.tms.org.annualmeeting.html <http://www.tms.org.annualmeeting.html> . **************************** 5. *ABSTRACTS/BIOS for seminars **************************** 5.1: MARK YOU CALENDARS NOW: Friday, September 12, 2008, 3:30PM, Fowler Hall: “The Roles of Short RNAs in Cancer and Biology,” by Dr. Phillip A. Sharp. Phillip A. Sharp is Institute Professor at the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research (formerly the Center for Cancer Research) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1993 for his landmark work on the molecular biology of gene expression relevant to cancer and the mechanisms of RNA splicing. His lab has now turned its attention to understanding how RNA molecules act as switches to turn genes on and off (RNA interference). These newly discovered processes have revolutionized cell biology and could potentially generate a new class of therapeutics. Dr. Sharp’s work has earned him numerous cancer research awards and presidential and national scientific board appointments. He is elected member of the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine. He is also the recipient of the National Medal of Science. Dr. Sharp earned a B.A. degree from Union College, KY, and a PhD in chemistry from the University of Illinois. He is the cofounder of Biogen (now Biogen Idec) and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and serves on the boards of both companies.