WEEKLY MEMO, August 4, 2008 ****************** 1. ANNOUNCEMENTS ****************** 1.1: Aamer Mahmood is officially joining the Birck Nanotechnology Center staff as a Process and Equipment Owner, effective 1 August 2008. Aamer is known to most of the BNC family, as he has been working in the facility as a post-doc for almost two years. Aamer will be responsible for the processing services now being offered, as well as testing and electrical characterization equipment. Aamer has his PhD from University of Texas, and has over 15 years experience in industry and academia. Please welcome Aamer in his new role as a member of the BNC Engineering Staff. 1.2: Birck gets waxed J: Please have all articles picked up off the floor on the evening prior to the waxing date. Thanks! Monday, 08.04.08: BRK 2092, 2088. Tuesday, 08.05.08: BRK 2084; 2080. Thursday, 08.07.08: BRK 2218, 2222. Friday, 08.08.08: BRK 2076, 2072. Monday, 08.11.08: BRK 2226, 2230. Thursday, 08.14.08: BRK 2234, 2238. Friday, 08.15.08: BRK 2019, 2021, 2023, 2025, 2020. Monday, 08.18.08: BRK 2050, 2048, 2046, 2044. Tuesday, 08.19.08: BRK 2042, 2040, 2038. Wednesday, 08.20.08: BRK 2262, 2264, 2266, 2268. Thursday, 08.21.08: BRK 2270, 2272, 2274, 2276. Friday, 08.22.08: BRK 2295, 2293, 2291, 2289. 1.3: ICMR-ICMS Winter School in Bangalore, India; Location: Jawaharlal Nehru Center for Advanced Scientific Research in Bangalore, India; Dates: December 713, 2008. The International Center for Materials Research (ICMR) is pleased to announce a residential, one week Winter School on New Carbon Materials and Functional Oxides, a partnership between the ICMR and the ICMS, JNCASR. The winter school will take place from December 7 to December 13, 2008 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Center for Advanced Scientific Research in Bangalore, India. The aim of this school is to bring young researchers and scientists together to enable them to learn and to discuss the science of complex organic and inorganic materials with focus on new carbon materials and functional oxides. Travel fellowships are available and local hospitality will be provided. Please visit the following website for further details. http://www.icmr.ucsb.edu/programs/winterschool2008.html <http://www.icmr.ucsb.edu/programs/winterschool2008.html> . If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Jennifer Ybarra (Ybarra@icmr.ucsb.edu <Ybarra@icmr.ucsb.edu> ). DEADLINE TO SUBMIT AN APPLICATION IS MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 1ST. ******************** 2. TOURS/VISITORS ******************** 2.1: Tuesday, 08.05.08, 8:45-9:45AM: Tour, Office of the Dean of Students 2.2: Thursday, 08.07.08, 11:00AM: DuPont guests, with Ron Turco 2.3: Friday, 08.08.08, 1:00PM: Richard Carron and wife, ECE Alumnus ************************** 3. SEMINARS/WORKSHOPS see below for Abstracts/Bios ************************** 3.1: Tuesday, August 5, 2008, 1:30, MRGN 121: ³Physics of Nanoscale Transistors: An Introduction to Electronics from the Bottom Up,² by Mark Lundstrom. 3.2: Tuesday and Wednesday, August 5 and 6, Crowne Plaza Hotel and Conference Center, Indianapolis, IN: ³Nanotechnology & the Environment.² Agenda posted at http://www.conf.purdue.edu/nano 3.3: MARK YOU CALENDARS NOW . . . Friday, September 12, 2008, 3:30PM, Fowler Hall: ³The Roles of Short RNAs in Cancer and Biology,² by Dr. Phillip A. Sharp, Nobel Laureate and Institute Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. **************** 4. OPPORTUNITIES **************** 4.1: Internship/Co-op Positions: Micron Technology, Inc. has intership and co-op positions open and are graduate and undergraduate engineering students to send in their resumes. Please send résumés to erigney@micron.com <erigney@micron.com> and brianblack@micron.com <brianblack@micron.com> . For details of the company and location, visit http://www.micron.com/jobs/northamerica/college/ <http://www.micron.com/jobs/northamerica/college/> . 4.2: per Christine King: Following our July 3 solicitation for internal proposals for the limited submission NSF Science and Technology Centers (STC) competition, we received six letters of intent, with all of the submitters identifying Purdue as the lead institution. As we may submit three preproposals to NSF as lead institution, and may be included in an additional two preproposals as a subcontractor, this e-mail serves as an opportunity for those wishing to participate with another institution, with Purdue as a subcontractor, to participate in the limited submission process. For those hoping to participate as a subcontractor on another institution¹s STC proposal, the internal deadlines are as follow: Monday, August 4: Letters of Intent due to the OVPR; Monday, August 18: Preproposals due to the OVPR. Please note: Letters of intent should be e-mailed to OVPRlimited@purdue.edu <OVPRlimited@purdue.edu> . Purdue's limited submission policy, the link to the RFP for this competition, the generic template for letters of intent, and the template for STC preproposals, may be found at http://dagon.admin.purdue.edu/cgi-bin/lsid.cgi <http://dagon.admin.purdue.edu/cgi-bin/lsid.cgi> . One additional requirement for this competition is that the lead institution for the proposed project be identified on the template. Should the number of internal letters of intent received be no more than two, the OVPR will notify the PI(s) that an internal preproposal will be unnecessary. 4.3: NSF 08-589 NSF/DOE Partnership in Basic Plasma Science and Engineering. URL for a Request for Proposals: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2008/nsf08589/nsf08589.htm?govDel=USNSF_25 <http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2008/nsf08589/nsf08589.htm?govDel=USNSF_25> . The Directorates for Engineering, Geosciences, and Mathematical and Physical Sciences of the National Science Foundation and the Office of Science/Office of Fusion Energy Sciences of the Department of Energy are continuing in FY2009 the joint Partnership in Basic Plasma Science and Engineering begun in FY1997. The goal of this three year (FY09-FY11) program initiative is to enhance plasma research and education in this broad, multidisciplinary field by coordinating efforts and combining resources of the two agencies. The initiative will address fundamental issues in plasma science and engineering that can have impact in other areas or disciplines in which improved basic understanding of the plasma state is needed. 4.4: Request for Proposals: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2008/nsf08591/nsf08591.htm?govDel=USNSF_25 <http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2008/nsf08591/nsf08591.htm?govDel=USNSF_25> . Synopsis of Program: The Industry/University Cooperative Research Centers (I/UCRC) program develops long-term partnerships among industry, academe, and government. The centers are catalyzed by a small investment from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and are primarily supported by industry center members, with NSF taking a supporting role in their development and evolution. Each center is established to conduct research that is of interest to both the industry and the center. An I/UCRC not only contributes to the Nation's research infrastructure base and enhances the intellectual capacity of the engineering and science workforce through the integration of research and education, but also encourages and fosters international cooperation and collaborative projects. Please note that Purdue is eligible to submit only multi-university proposals, as we currently have an active single university I/UCRC. ***************** 5. DISCOVERY PARK ***************** 5.1: Ice cream bars are for sale in the MRGN café from 8-3:00 everyday August 4-15 (or until they are gone). All proceeds to go to United Way ³Live United². Buy a $1.00 ticket from Jackie Lanter, Sheryl Willison, Shirley Tilford or Denny Heath; take your ticket to the MRGN Café for your ice cream. *********************** 6. ABSTRACTS/BIOS see Seminars listed above *********************** 6.1: Tuesday, August 5, 2008, 1:30, MRGN 121: ³Physics of Nanoscale Transistors: An Introduction to Electronics from the Bottom Up,² by Mark Lundstrom. ABSTRACT: The Network for Computational Nanotechnology is supported by the National Science Foundation, Indiana 21st Century Fund, and ARO. It has a vision to pioneer the development of nanotechnology from science to manufacturing through innovative theory, exploratory simulation, and novel cyberinfrastructure. Transistor scaling has pushed channel lengths to the nanometer regime, and advances in nanoscience are opening up many new possibilities for devices. To realize these opportunities, our traditional understanding of electronic devices needs to be complemented with a new perspective that begins from the nanoscale. My objectives in this talk are: 1) to describe a way of understanding MOSFETs that is much more suitable than traditional approaches when the channel lengths are of nanoscale dimensions, and 2) to introduce the ³bottom up² approach, a way of understanding nanoscale electronics very generally. This talk will provide a starting point for those interested in exploring the electronics from the bottom up approach through the resources of nanoHUB.org. For more information, see: http://www.nanohub.org/resources/5067. BIO: Prof. Lundstrom earned bachelor's and master's degrees in electrical engineering from the Univ. of Minnesota in 1973 and 1974, respectively. He joined the Purdue faculty upon completing his doctorate on the West Lafayette campus in 1980. He is currently the Don and Carol Scifres Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Founding Director of NSF Network for Computational Nanotechnology. Lundstrom¹s current research interests center on the physics and limits of small electronic devices, especially nanoscale transistors, on carrier transport in semiconductor devices and on numerical methods for device simulation. 6.2: Tuesday and Wednesday, August 5 and 6, Crowne Plaza Hotel and Conference Center, Indianapolis, IN: ³Nanotechnology & the Environment.² Agenda posted at http://www.conf.purdue.edu/nano 6.3: MARK YOU CALENDARS NOW . . . Friday, September 12, 2008, 3:30PM, Fowler Hall: ³The Roles of Short RNAs in Cancer and Biology,² by Dr. Phillip A. Sharp, Nobel Laureate and Institute Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. BIO: 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. Sharp¹s 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.