06-14-10
Paul E. Dimotakis, John K. Northrop Professor of Aeronautics and Professor of Applied Physics; and Chief Technologist, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, was the 2010 commencement speaker for UC Santa Cruz. In the speech Professor Dimotakis advised the graduates that "the best engineering almost always pushes the limits of science and our understanding of nature." [Full text of speech]
Tags: APhMS GALCIT Paul Dimotakis
06-08-10
The student winners of the 2010 Demetriades - Tsafka - Kokkalis Prizes were announced at a special luncheon with the Demetriades - Tsafka – Kokkalis family. Xiquan Cui received the prize in Biotechnology for his work on biophotonics with Professor Changhuei Yang; Matt Eichenfield received the prize in Nanotechnology for his work in nanomechanics with Professor Oskar Painter; Morgan Putnam received the prize in Entrepreneurship for work on silicon solar cells with Professor Harry Atwater; and Andrew May received the prize in Environmentally Benign Renewable Energy Sources for his work on thermoelectric materials with Professor Sossina Haile and Dr. Jeff Snyder.
Tags: APhMS EE honors Changhuei Yang Harry Atwater Xiquan Cui Matt Eichenfield Oskar Painter Morgan Putnam Andrew May Sossina Haile Jeff Snyder Demetriades - Tsafka - Kokkalis Prizes
06-04-10
Nils Asplund, Senior Research Engineer in Applied Physics and the Kavli Nanoscience Institute, was one of three recipients of the 2010 Thomas W. Schmitt Annual Staff Prize. The award is presented to staff members whose contributions embody the values and spirit that enables Caltech to achieve excellence in research and education. Nils nominators' state: "Nils really understands what Caltech is all about. He is often called upon to figure out unique and clever solutions to very complex situations. I can always count on Nils to provide a solution that exceeds my expectations, and his ability to improvise has gotten me to think of him as the "MacGyver" of Caltech. He can find a solution to any problem, and always does so with confidence and professionalism." [Caltech Press Release]
Tags: APhMS honors Nils Asplund
06-04-10
The 55th Annual Staff Service Awards recognized 242 staff members for their 4,080 collective years of service to Caltech. The staff recognized for their service to the EAS division were: Ann Harvey and Eleonora Vorobieff for 10 years of service; Sylvie Gertmenian and Christine Silva for 15 years of service; Marionne Epalle, and Bahram Valiferdowsi for 20 years of service; Janet Couch, Daniel Lang, and Ya Yun Liu for 25 years of service; and Calvin Jackson, Jr. and Sheila Shull for 30 years of service. Congratulations and thank you! [Listen and learn more about the staff honored]
04-23-10
Stanley Burgos, researcher at the Light-Material Interactions in Energy Conversion Energy Frontier Research Center, Harry A. Atwater, Jr., Howard Hughes Professor and Professor of Applied Physics and Materials Science, and colleagues have engineered a novel negative-index metamaterial that responds to visible light. This material bends light in the "wrong" direction from what normally would be expected, irrespective of the angle of the approaching light. [Caltech Press Release]
Tags: APhMS energy research highlights Harry Atwater Stanley Burgos
04-22-10
Alessandro Spadoni, Postdoctoral Scholar, and Chiara Daraio, Assistant Professor of Aeronautics and Applied Physics, have built a nonlinear acoustic lens that produces highly focused, high-amplitude acoustic signals dubbed "sound bullets." The combination of the acoustic lens and sound bullets have "the potential to revolutionize applications from medical imaging and therapy to the nondestructive evaluation of materials and engineering systems," says Professor Daraio. [Caltech Press Release]
Tags: APhMS research highlights Chiara Daraio GALCIT health Alessandro Spadoni postdocs
04-20-10
William A. Goddard III, Charles and Mary Ferkel Professor of Chemistry, Materials Science, and Applied Physics, has been elected to 2010 American Academy of Arts and Sciences class of fellows. Professor Goddard joins an assembly that was founded in 1780 by John Adams, James Bowdoin, John Hancock, and other scholars to provide practical solutions to pressing issues. [Caltech Today Article]
Tags: APhMS honors William Goddard AMACAD
04-15-10
Harry A. Atwater, Jr., Howard Hughes Professor and Professor of Applied Physics and Materials Science, has been awarded the Fred Kavli Distinguished Lectureship in Nanoscience by the Materials Research Society. His lecture was entitled "Bending Light to Our Will: Nanophotonic Structures for Terawatt-Scale Solar Energy Conversion." [MRS Article]
Tags: APhMS honors energy Harry Atwater
04-09-10
Congratulations to Senior Leon Liu who has been named a Gates Cambridge Scholar. His option of study is Applied Physics and he is investigating strategies to decrease the cost of solar cells.
04-09-10
Chiara Daraio, Assistant Professor of Aeronautics and Applied Physics, has won the 2010 Office of Naval Research (ONR) Young Investigator Award. The objectives of the Young Investigator Program are to attract to naval research outstanding new faculty members, to support their research, and to encourage their teaching and research careers. Professor Daraio's award is for her experimental study of nonlinear acoustic lenses with dynamically controllable focus. ONR announced 17 new awards in 2010. [View full list of Recipients]
Tags: APhMS honors Chiara Daraio GALCIT
