What's New at ESM?

Dr. Akhlesh Lakhtakia, Charles Godfrey Binder Professor in Engineering Science and Mechanics, delivered an invited lecture entitled "Sculptured-thin-film Plasmonic-Polaritonics" at MIEL 2008, the 26th International Conference on Microelectronics in Nis, Serbia.

The IEEE-sponsored event was held May 11 to 14. Dr. Lakhtakia's co-authors are Dr. John A. Polo, Jr. (Department of Physics, Edinboro University of Pennsylvania) and ESM graduate student Michael A. Motyka. Dr. Lakhtakia also co-chaired a plenary session. For more information on MIEL 28, please visit this website.

The Student Society of Engineering Science recently elected their 2008-09 officers. The officers are:

President: Matt Verlinich
Vice President: Stephen Koytek
Secretary: Brennan DeCesar
Treasurer: Brian Bontempo
Social Chair: Scott Jacobs
Webmaster: Rich Mattes
Underclassmen Envoys: Shane Lani and Ben Russo

Congratulations to the new officers! We look forward to working with you next year!

Dr. Bernhard R. Tittmann, Schell Professor of Engineering in the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics, will be presenting an invited paper at the 10th School on Acousto-Optics and Applications in Gdańsk-Sopot, Poland, from May 12 to May 15, 2008. The paper, “Confocal Laser, Acoustic and Atomic Force Microscopy to Image Composite and Biological Materials on a Microscale,” reports on research done by Dr. Tittmann and his students in the Engineering Nanocharacterization Center.

The 10th School on Acousto-Optics and Applications has been organized by the Institute of Experimental Physics of the University of Gdańsk in cooperation with the Polish Acoustical Society and the Polish Academy of Sciences and focuses on all physical aspects of light and sound interaction. More information on this event is available at http://univ.gda.pl/~school/index.htm.

Professor Emeritus. Engineering Science and Mechanics, Andrew Pytel is a recipient of the 2008 American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) Fellow and will be honored at the 2008 ASEE Awards Banquet in Pittsburgh. The grade of Fellow is one of unusual professional distinction and is conferred on ASEE members with outstanding qualifications and experience. ESM congratulates Professor Emeritus, Andrew Pytel for this honor.

Prof. Melik Demirel has been appointed as Adjunct Professor of Surgery in the School of Medicne at the University of Pittsburgh. Prof. Demirel is currently collaborating with the faculty of McGowan Institute at the Medical School of University of Pittsburgh on polymeric nanomaterials. The McGowan Institute is the most ambitious regenerative program in the nation, coupling biology and engineering. To find out more, please click here.

Prof. Melik Demirel gave an invited talk entitled "Functional Polymeric Nanofibers and Nanotemplates" at the Akron University. Akron's Polymer Science and Polymer Engineering program is ranked as one of the best program in polymers in the United States.

Prof. Melik Demirel research proposal on "Nanostructured Raman Detection and Diagnosis of Respiratory Pathogens" has been selected as one of the 13th pilot projects for funding by The Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA). The CTSA Program is a NIH Roadmap Initiative with the goal of expediting the translation of basic research discoveries into tangible health benefits. For more information about the program, please visit their website.

Dr. Akhlesh Lakhtakia, Charles Godfrey Binder Professor, delivered a seminar, entitled "Polarization engineering through nanoengineered morphology," at the School of Mathematics, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, on April 18, 2008.

Prof. Melik Demirel, Pearce Assistant Professor in Engineering Science and Mechanics, will give a talk at the Bio Sensors & Diagnostics session of NSTI Nanotech 2008 Boston meeting, June 1-5. His talk is entitiled: “A SERS substrate for detection of E.Coli on Nanostructured Poly(p-xylylene).” The new biosensor provides a significant advantage over traditional sensors for detection infectious agents. To read more details are available at the NSTI website.

Murat Cetinkaya, a doctoral student in Prof. Melik Demirel’s group, gave an invited talk at the Nanomaterials session of American Chemical Society New Orleans meeting on April 6-10.. His talk was entitled: “Crystalline phase transitions of nanostructured poly-(p-xylylene) films”. Mr. Cetinkaya has defended his PhD thesis recently and would start a postdoctoral research position in Europe this summer. More details are available at the ACS web site.