MRS in the News—2018 Archives

Implanted electronics can steady hearts, calm tremors, and heal wounds—but at a cost. These machines are often large, obtrusive contraptions with batteries and wires, which require surgery to implant and sometimes need replacement. That's changing. At a meeting of the Materials Research Society here last month, biomedical engineers unveiled bioelectronics that can do more in less space, require no batteries, and can even dissolve when no longer needed.

Susan Trolier-McKinstry, the Steward S. Flaschen Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Penn State, and former MRS President, had a close, long-time working relationship with renowned materials scientist Robert E. Newnham. After Newnham fell ill shortly after the two began collaboration on a textbook, Trolier-McKinstry promised him that she would finish it in his honor. The textbook, “Materials Engineering: Bonding, Structure, and Structure-Property Relationships,” was published in December 2017 by MRS and Cambridge University Press.

At this week’s meeting of the Materials Research Society in Boston, US, scientists from all over the world will be sizing up the latest equipment for materials characterization. Highlights included an affordable and versatile platform for analytical chemistry and electrochemistry  that combines an inverted optical microscope (IOM) with an atomic force microscope to enable advanced research on materials such as membranes, organic devices and electronics, and biological and pathological samples; and a tunable continuous-wave laser that has been specifically designed for demanding applications in nanophotonics, atomic physics, and quantum optics.

Rigaku Corporation is presenting its diverse lines of X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and Raman spectroscopy instrumentation at the 2018 MRS Fall Meeting and Exhibit, Sunday November 25 to Friday, November 30, 2018.

Professor Hideo Hosono, director of the Materials Research Center for Elementary Strategy at the Tokyo Instiitute of Technology has been conferred the Von Hippel Award, the highest honor given by the Materials Research Society (MRS) of the US. Read more from Asian Scientist Magazine at: https://www.asianscientist.com/2018/11/topnews/hideo-hosono-von-hippel-award/

Thanks to researchers at Purdue, the healing process for the 15 percent of Americans that suffer with ulcers formed from diabetes may soon become much more portable. One of the researchers on the project, Babak Ziaie, a professor of electrical and computer engineering, says the team has created a shoe insole that allows oxygen, one way to heal ulcers, to reach the ulcer throughout the day, allowing for more mobility for the patient. This research was recently published in MRS Communications.

Researchers have developed a shoe insole that could help make the healing process more portable for people who develop ulcers as a result of diabetes.The researchers used lasers to shape silicone-based rubber into insoles, and then create reservoirs that release oxygen only at the part of the foot where the ulcer is located, according to research recently published in MRS Communications.

A new device from engineers at Purdue University could save feet or legs for diabetes patients by healing ulcers as they walk. A gel insole get oxygen to the affected area, boosting a patient's mobility and helping ulcers heal, according to research recently published in MRS Communications.

Purdue University researchers have developed a shoe insole that could help make the healing process more portable for the 15 percent of Americans who develop ulcers as a result of diabetes, according to research recently published in MRS Communications.

Purdue University researchers have developed a shoe insole that could help make the healing process more portable for the 15 percent of Americans who develop ulcers as a result of diabetes, according to research published in MRS Communications.

Scientists have developed a new shoe insole that may heal diabetic ulcers while you walk. Purdue University engineers say that their new shoe insole could help the 15% of Americans with diabetes who develop diabetic ulcers, according to research published in MRS Communications.

Sachem High School East science research student Vincent Zhang was recently selected to present his research at the 2018 Materials Research Society Conference in Boston on Nov. 29.

Five leading US scientific societies, including the Materials Research Society, have come together to launch a new programme to boost the number of women and people from underrepresented racial and ethnic minorities in science. The Inclusive Graduate Education Network (IGEN) will receive $10m over the next five years from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to improve diversity in astronomy, chemistry, geoscience, materials science, engineering and physics.

Julia R. Weertman of Evanston, the first woman to chair a materials science department at a U.S. university, died at age 92 on July 31. Weertman, a professor emerita of Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern University, was considered by colleagues to be a dedicated teacher and a pioneering researcher. She was a dedicated member of MRS and was the first female recipient of the Von Hippel Award in 2003.

Associate Professor David J. Flannigan is a guest co-editor, with Aaron M. Lindenberg from Stanford University, for an issue of MRS Bulletin titled "Ultrafast Imaging of Materials Dynamics," which appeared on July 10, 2018. The articles in the issue represent a cross section of the vigorous activity occurring in the study of light-induced ultrafast materials dynamics as it relates to charge carriers, surfaces and interfaces, lattice-coupling mechanisms, coherent structural motions, and next-generation instrument development.

The Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture is pleased to announce that Susmita Bose, the Herman and Brita Lindholm Endowed Chair and Professor in Washington State University‘s School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, has been named a fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) and the Materials Research Society (MRS).

Just as smartphones untethered users from their desktop computers, smart clothing is poised to bring personal electronics out of our pockets and onto our sleeves. Most existing color-changing textiles, like sun-activated T-shirts with designs that go from white to rainbow, are triggered by shifts in ambient lighting or body heat. Now, researchers have created clothes that change color with the tap of a smartphone screen. These garments, presented April 4 in Phoenix at the Materials Research Society spring meeting, are made from yarns as thick as a few strands of human hair.

Michigan Tech scientists contribute considerably to gaining a deep understanding of lithium with results reported on May 30th, 2018, in an invited three-paper series in the Journal of Materials Research, published in collaboration with the Materials Research Society and Cambridge University Press.

Michigan Tech researchers contribute significantly to gaining a fundamental understanding of lithium with results published today in an invited three-paper series in the Journal of Materials Research, published jointly by the Materials Research Society and Cambridge University Press.

The Optical Society (OSA), the Materials Research Society (MRS) and SPIE have selected Benjamin Isaacoff and Dylan Rittman as 2018–2019 Congressional Fellows.

Ganpati Ramanath, the John Tod Horton '52 Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), has been named a fellow of the Materials Research Society (MRS) for his nanomaterials research.

Dennita Sewell, a professor of practice for ASU’s fashion program, describes smart garments as “a narrow field of technology that has invaded” and now is an integral part of the fashion industry. She said it was a “perfect fit” for ASU's fashion technology class and the Materials Research Society, a member-driven organization driven to advance materials, to team up in April and host the Wearables in Smart Fabrics Fashion Show in Phoenix. The 16 student-made garments in the show used technology in a wearable context to complement the human body.

Shining light on a new material is all it takes to make its surface toxic to germs. If used on the outside of instruments, on countertops and more, the technology might one day help hospitals limit the spread of infections, including ones that no longer respond to drugs. “Contaminated hospital surfaces play a key role in spreading those infections,” notes Ethel Koranteng. She’s a chemist in England at University College London who presented her research at the 2018 MRS Spring Meeting in Phoenix.

This month, a team of chemists at a Materials Research Society conference described a new light-activated material for walls and other hospital surfaces that contains bacteria-killing molecules that may keep superbugs from gaining traction.

Nanomaterials expert Ganpati Ramanath, the John Tod Horton ’52 Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, has been named a fellow of the Materials Research Society (MRS) “for developing creative approaches to realize new nanomaterials via chemically directed nanostructure synthesis and assembly and for tailoring interfaces in electronics and energy applications using molecular nanolayers.”

A new material that harnesses the power of ambient light to produce bacteria-killing molecules could help stem the spread of hospital infections, including those with drug-resistant bacteria. About 1 in 10 patients worldwide get an infection while receiving treatment at a hospital or other health care facility, according to the World Health Organization. “Contaminated hospital surfaces play a key role in spreading those infections,” said Ethel Koranteng, a chemist at University College London on April 5 at the Materials Research Society spring meeting.

Approaching fundamental gear-like test tubes and axes to perform basic science experiments is a given in most American universities. Not so in Africa, where understudies confront a lack of gear expected to attempt even essential lab experiments. USC Dornsife Science graduate understudy Betsy Melenbrink is an individual from a worldwide group of materials science graduate understudies intending to help fill the void by building a minimal effort electrochemistry gadget for use in that piece of the world.

Inspired by an octopus’s suckers, researchers have constructed an inchwormlike robot that uses a pair of suction cups to scoot around vertical surfaces. The bot can clamber across rough and smooth terrain, aboveground and underwater, carrying up to five times its own weight. This kind of free-climbing machine, described April 3 at the Materials Research Society spring meeting, could one day help conduct surveillance or inspect buildings and bridges.

Having access to basic equipment like test tubes and centrifuges to perform simple science experiments is a given in most American universities. Not so in Africa, where students face a shortage of equipment needed to undertake even basic laboratory experiments. USC Dornsife chemistry graduate student Betsy Melenbrink is a member of an international team of materials science graduate students aiming to help fill the void by building a low-cost electrochemistry device for use in that part of the world. Last December, Melenbrink traveled to Africa to report progress at a Materials Research Society conference held in Botswana.

Today’s VR systems rely heavily on goggle-generated visual displays to transport users to simulated worlds. But superthin, shape-shifting sheets worn as sleeves or built into other garments could provide gamers with tactile feedback that makes virtual realities more immersive. The new device, described April 5 at the Materials Research Society spring meeting, contains a grid of tiny, inflatable bubbles, sandwiched between two soft, stretchy silicone films. When one of these bubble wrap–like sheets is placed against a user’s skin, inflating different air pockets by different amounts at different speeds can make a gamer feel like she’s been grabbed around the wrist or patted on the back.

A new, breathable material that can also block biological or chemical threats could offer comfortable protection for people working in contaminated environments or dangerous military zones. The bottom layer of the material, described April 3 at the Materials Research Society spring meeting, features carbon nanotube pores embedded within a flexible synthetic polymer film. These pores are just a few nanometers across — too small for bacterial or viral cells to squeeze through, but wide enough for sweat to escape.

Arizona State University students are tackling the question of what our fashion sense might be like in the future. The twist: they incorporated technology into their designs. On Wednesday, the students showcased the outfits in a fashion show at the Phoenix Convention Center in Downtown Phoenix as part of the 2018 MRS Spring Meeting.

Just months into its first academic track at Arizona State University, the newly established fashion degree program is already looking like a powerhouse for fashion education. ASU’s Fashion Technology will be on full display April 4 at the Phoenix Convention Center in downtown Phoenix when designer and class instructor Galina Mihaleva and her students will exhibit their creations in the Wearables in Smart Fabrics fashion show. The show comes in the midst of the Materials Research Society Meeting and Exhibit, an annual conference that brings together scientists and industrial designers from around the world.

Three Indian American researchers have been named by the Materials Research Society among its newly announced 2018 Fellows. The members, who are notable for their distinguished research accomplishments and outstanding contributions to the advancement of materials research worldwide, included Susmita Bose, Rajesh Naik and Ganpati Ramanath.

Professor Martin Kuball from the University of Bristol’s School of Physics is one of 16 academics from across the world to be honored by the Materials Research Society (MRS).

William Chueh, assistant professor of materials science and engineering and center fellow at the Precourt Institute for Energy, recently received the Materials Research Society’s 2018 Outstanding Young Investigator Award for his groundbreaking research in ionic and electronic charge transport and interfacial chemistry.

Art is a product of expression. Science is an exploration of the world around us in an effort to find universal, indisputable truths. In short, art is often introspective while science is extrospective. The Materials Research Society, an organization that works for interdisciplinary dialogue between scientific societies, understands the artistic lining of science. For about a decade, MRS has been holding the “Science as Art” challenge twice a year.

In the latest issue of MRS Energy & Sustainability, collaboratively published by the Materials Research Society and Cambridge University Press, researchers debate that carbon-free, sustainable techniques for the extensive production of hydrogen are a robust way to get ready to face the imminent fossil-fuel free future. At present, hydrogen is being synthesized from natural gas, producing huge quantities of carbon as the byproduct.

In a recent issue of MRS Energy & Sustainability, published jointly by the Materials Research Society and Cambridge University Press, scientists argue that sustainable, carbon-free methods of large-scale hydrogen production are the best way to prepare for our looming fossil-fuel free future (today hydrogen is producing from natural gas, generating large amounts of Carbon as side product).