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August 16, 2005 - Biotechnology Institute Teams Up with Biomedical
Engineering
This year, for the first time, the Biotechnology Institute has teamed
up with the Biomedical Engineering Institute to host the 4th Annual
Graduate Student Poster/Gadget Session on October 6, 2005. The poster
session will be in conjunction with the Health Care and Bio-Technology
Conference and Expo, which will be hosted by the newly merged MNBIO/Medical
Alley Trade organization. The conference will be held at Touchstone
Energy Place in St. Paul. For a current Conference Program,
visit www.medicalalley.org.
In addition to traditional poster presentations of biomedical engineering and biotechnology research, there will also be demonstrations of prototype devices and other biomedical or biotechnology innovations currently in process. The poster session will take place from 1:00-3:30PM on October 6.
July 22, 2005 - University of Minnesota Math Institute Recognized
for International Excellence
The National Science Foundation has announced a $19.5 million
grant to the University of Minnesota's Institute for Mathematics and
its Applications (IMA), making IMA the top-funded math institute in the
country. Steve Crouch, dean of the Institute of Technology and Doug
Arnold, director of the Institute for Mathematics and its Applications
received the grant from William Rundell, director of mathematical
sciences at the National Science Foundation on July 20. Click
Here for the Full Story
April 26, 2005 - IPRIME Researchers Win George W. Taylor Awards
IPRIME Members Dan Dahlberg and Uwe Kortshagen have won recognition
from the Institute of Technology for outstanding achievement.
Dan Dahlberg's award was given for Service in Physics and Astronomy
and Uwe Kortshagen was given his award for Research in Mechanical
Engineering.
January 18, 2005 - Microstructured Polymers Group Principal
Investigator Frank Bates Honored
We are proud to announce that Frank Bates was
awarded the Materials Research Society (MRS) Turnbull Lectureship at
the Fall 2004 MRS meeting in Boston, MA. Frank won the lectureship for
his "pioneering contributions to the fundamental understanding of structure
and properties of complex polymeric materials, particularly block copolymers
and polymeric vesicles, coupled with outstanding lecturing, writing, teaching, a
nd educational leadership. "
The David Turnbull Lectureship is awarded to recognize the career of a scientist who has made outstanding contributions to understanding materials phenomena and properties through research, writing, and lecturing, as exemplified by the life work of David Turnbull. December 13, 2004 - New IPRIME Industrial Fellow
Sanjiv Bhatt, Ph.D. of Entegris is
IPRIME’s newest Industrial Fellow. He will be working with
Chris Macosko on a project to understand the key parameters governing
dispersion of single-wall nanotubes in a non-polar polymer matrix.
Mr. Bhatt will be completing this work by September 1, 2005. We are
glad to have him interacting closely with faculty and graduate students.
The holder of four patents, he has published articles in the journals
of the Adhesion Society, the Annual Technical Conference (Antec),
and the American Chemical Society. Bhatt received his degree in plastics
engineering from the University of Massachusetts, Lowell.
New Company Sponsor in Microstructured
Polymers Group
The RTP Company of Winona, Minnesota
has joined the Microstructured Polymers Group within IPRIME. The
RTP Company is based in Winona, but has offices and facilities in
France, Singapore and 3 other United States locations. They are widely
recognized as a world leader in specialty compounding, developing
thousands of custom reinforced thermoplastic formulations each year
for the electronics, automotive, appliance, consumer, medical, and
sports/leisure markets.
Chris Macosko Wins 2004 Bingham Medal
The Society
of Rheology has awarded its 2004 Bingham
Medal to Chris Macosko. Macosko, Professor of Chemical Engineering
and Materials Science at the University of Minnesota and Director
of IPRIME, is an expert in the field of reactive polymer rheology
and the author of two books. A gifted teacher, Macosko has supervised
60 doctoral and 30 masters students and published more than 300
refereed journal articles. Macosko received the 1988 Charles M.A.
Stine Award from the AIChE and the Pall Award for Applied Polymer
Research in 1997. In 2001, Macosko was elected to the National Academy
of Engineering.
Spring, 2004 - New Director of Technology Transfer
We are pleased to introduce Bob Lewis as the new IPRIME Director of
Technology Transfer. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison,
Bob has extensive experience in industries central to many IPrime
companies. He has 23 years of industrial technical and management
experience at Bostik Findley (Atofina) and Brady Corporation, focusing
on new product development and applied research in polymers, adhesives,
coatings, films and printing systems. ob's background will be
very helpful as we renew our commitment to enhancing the IPrime
membership experience. He will work to build solid connections
with member companies and facilitate research collaborations with
the University of Minnesota. Bob can be reached at (612) 625-1269
or via e-mail at lewis@cems.umn.edu
Latest
Industrial Fellows in Coating Process Fundamentals
April 5, 2004 - Mr. Makoto Komatsubara of the Nitto Denko Corporation
has arrived to be an Industrial Fellow, working with Prof. Skip
Scriven and others in Coating Process Fundamentals.
Mr. Komatsubara's research will concentrate on the theoretical clarification on the variation of thickness generated by the variation of the drying rate in the coated layer with an organic solvent system. He will also be working on the development of a computational program based on theoretical understanding. Mr. Komatsubara will be here until August 31, 2005. May 1, 2004 - Mr. Jong-Hyuk ("James") Eun of the SKC Corporation has arrived to be an Industrial Fellow, working with Prof. Skip Scriven and Lorraine Francis in Coating Process Fundamentals. He will be here until April 30, 2005.James's work will include principles of condensation drying, microstructure development in coatings of polymer solution and aqueous suspensions of acrylic colloidal polymer (acrylic emulsion coatings). Other work will involve improvements in the design and operation of batch condensation dryers to get better visualizations of microstructure development, improvements in overcoming unfavorable wetting behavior when it occurs and facilitating definitive visualization studies of raining and fogging.
Tim Lodge Wins 2004 Polymer Prize
March 22, 2004 - Tim Lodge has been awarded the 2004 Polymer
Prize by the American Physical Society. He
is the coordinator of the MRSEC
Microstructured Polymers IRG and is the Program Leader for the IPrime Microstructured
Polymers (MP) research program. The award will be presented at the March, 2004 APS meeting in Montreal and will read, "For outstanding contributions to the fundamental understanding of polymer chain diffusion and segmental-chain dynamics."
New Industrial Fellow in Coating Process Fundamentals
October 20, 2003 - Mr. Takeaki Tsuda,
nickname "Tsuda", has arrived to be an Industrial Fellow, working with
Prof. Skip Scriven and others in Coating Process Fundamentals.
Tsuda is an experienced engineer and industrial researcher from Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. Lately the main field of his research and development in the firm is to optimize coating and drying processes in order to reduce the cost and improve the quality of products. He has used experimental, numerical analysis, and flow visualization approaches. His current research interest is possibilities of advanced techniques for operating coating processes to overcome instabilities and sensitivities that cause coating defects. Tsuda will be an Industrial Fellow until October, 2004.
UMN Keeps Top Rank as Research University
August 25, 2003 - The University
of Minnesota (UMN) ranks as one of the top three public research universities
in the country for the third year in a row, according to a recent University
of Florida study. UMN researchers brought $512 million in research grants
to UMN in fiscal year 2002.
Over the past five years, UMN has helped establish more than 35 start-up companies, and UMN now holds nearly 600 technology-transfer agreements with business and industry. Patents issued for UMN discoveries are up 23% over last year, and royalties generated by UMN-developed technologies are up almost 48% to $38.7 million.
New Industrial
Fellow in Coating Process Fundamentals
August 4, 2003 - Mr. Minoru Torigoe,
of Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, will be an Industrial Fellow, working
with Prof. Skip Scriven, Eng. Wieslaw Suszynski, Prof. Alon McCormick,
and others in Coating Process Fundamentals.
Minoru is an experienced research engineer from the Precision Coating and Surface Modification Laboratory in the Science & Technology Research Center of Mitsubishi Chemical in Yokohama, Japan. His current research interest is understanding "transfer coating," in which a coated liquid layer on a tensioned web is patterned against an embossing roll and sufficiently solidified there to be peeled off. The process combines aspects of tensioned-web-over-patterned-rol coating, curing, lamination, and microreplication. He plans experimental, theoretical, and computational studies during his residency. Minoru will be an Industrial Fellow until August, 2004.
Microstructured Polymers (MP) Paper Receives Award
July 31, 2003 - A recent paper from members
of the MP research program has been selected as the winner of the 2003 Society of
Rheology Publication Award. This is another indication of the
quality of our IPrime research.
Kasiraman Krishnan, Bryan Chapman, Frank S. Bates, Timothy P. Lodge, Kristoffer Almdal, and Wesley R. Burghardt: "Effects of shear flow on a polymeric bicontinuous microemulsion: Equilibrium and steady state behavior," J. Rheology, 46, 529-554 (2002)
Big City, Big University, Big Research Experience
July 26, 2003 - It's summer,
and for a lot of college students, that means traveling to
the U of M for an experience they'll never forget. Twenty-one
students from around the country, along with a faculty member
from their home institution, are now paired with a U of M Institute
of Technology faculty member, learning the research ropes.
The visiting students and faculty hail from four-year colleges,
tribal colleges, historically black colleges and universities,
and Hispanic-serving institutions. They learn not only state-of-the-art
research techniques, but how to communicate to scientific peers
and the public. This training ground for future scientists
is a program of the U's Materials Research Science and Engineering
Center (MRSEC), which is supported by the National Science
Foundation. Many participants are students of color, whose
scientific talents must be tapped in order for the United States
to remain a leader in science and engineering, says Frank Snowden,
MRSEC associate director for education and human resources.
The students will be here until Aug. 8. To meet any of them,
call Snowden at (612) 626-2207. News Service contact, Deane
Morrison, (612) 624-2346.
IPRIME Year-End Report
June 26, 2003 - The past twelve months have been successful for
IPRIME:
Our research momentum is building, and we look forward to another outstanding year of industry participation and research results. New Companies
BMC Industries Terminated
Atofina
New Instruments at CharFac
April 21, 2003 - The Characterization
Facility has added two new scanning electron microscopes (SEM). See
details, information about other new facility improvements, and new
billing options for industrial users in a
recent
newsletter.
Pieter Spitael Defends PhD
Thesis
April 29, 2003 - PhD candidate Pieter
Spitael will be defending his PhD thesis, "Thermoplastics: Heterogeneous
Bubble Nucleation and Extensional Rheology", on Friday, May 2, 2003 at
3:30 pm in 385 Amundson Hall. His defense is open to the public.
Please feel free to attend.
Science and Technology Banquet
March 31, 2003 - The Institute of Technology
Alumni Society will host the
Science and Technology Banquet on April 23, 2003. The S&T Banquet is their
annual fundraising event. It will include a speech by Richard Gross,
Vice President for R&D and New Business Development at Dow Chemical Company,
and remarks by University of Minnesota President Robert Bruininks. Tables
are available for purchase to support IT student scholarships.
Annual Meeting Registration
Opens
March 15, 2003 - IPRIME has opened registration
for the 2003 Annual Meeting. Further information is available
on the Annual Meeting page.
Micelle Workshop, January 28, 2003
January 6, 2003 - IPRIME will sponsor
a one-day Micelle Worshop on January 28, 2003 in Walter Library The worksho
is hosted by two of IPRIME's research programs:
the Nanostructural Materials and Processes
(NMP) program and the Microstructured Polymers
(MP) program. Speakers will come from many sources, including Ecolab,
Mitsubishi, and Schlumberger.
For further information, view the workshop schedule or contact Eric Hockert, IPRIME's Technology Transfer Director, at 612.625.1269. MRSEC Grant Renewed
September 1, 2002 - The University
of Minnesota Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC)
has received official notice of its renewal. The total award amount
is $14.76 million for the years 2002-2008. The National Science Foundation
gave 13 MRSEC
awards this year. The UMN award ranked third overall but first among
public research universities. Of the 12 existing MRSECs, 10 were renewed.
Details
about the other awards are available at the NSF web site.
MRSEC's renewal proposal received excellent marks
by both mail reviewers and the reverse site visit panel, sending a strong
message that the NSF and the science and engineering community have the
highest regard for the materials research efforts here. The industrial
component of the MRSEC, which primarily relies on IPRIME, was particularly
well-received by the reviewers.
The new MRSEC configuration will include three
interdisciplinary research groups (IRGs) in Microstructured Polymers,
Crystalline Organic Semiconductors,
and Magnetic Heterostructures. The Center will also promote new initiatives
through its Seed program, which provides funding for emerging areas
of
interdisciplinary research and innovative projects.
The Center will continue operating its Education
and Human Resources program, which received very high marks from the
NSF review panel. The primary elements of this program are (1) summer
research experiences
for faculty-student teams from four-year colleges, tribal colleges,
and historically black colleges and universities; (2) summer research
fellowships for Native
Americans; (3) a combined Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU)/Research
Experiences for Teachers (RET) program. The Center will also support
specific
activities of the Physics
Force, which conveys scientific principles through scripted performances
by ensembles of UMN faculty. The Center will also continue its "Industrial
Feeder" program that connects our summer research students with future
internship opportunities at IPrime member companies.
Further details can be found at the UMN MRSEC website. The Center welcomes any comments, suggestions, and new ideas, and encourages the participation of IPrime companies and their scientists and engineers. If the member companies have any questions about becoming involved with any facet of the MRSEC, they should not hesitate to contact the MRSEC, or contact Director Mike Ward at (612) 625-3062. Welcome IPRIME's New Technology
Transfer Director
We are pleased to introduce Eric Hockert as the
new IPRIME Director of Technology Transfer. Eric received his Ph.D.
in
Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois (Urbana) following
his B.S. Chemical Engineering at Iowa State University (Ames). He has
25 years of industrial, technical, and management experience with 3M, Imation
and BMC Industries (Vision-Ease Lens Division, the world's number one
manufacturer of injection molded polycarbonate ophthalmic eyeglass
lenses). Eric was the Vice President of R&D at Vision-Ease, responsible
for new product and process technology developments including optical
hardcoatings, polarized products, injection molding methods, and photochromic
materials. His background also includes lasers, optics, imaging, retroreflective
materials, fluoropolymers, vacuum deposited thin films, surface modification,
magnetic and holographic data storage.
Eric is skilled at alliance building among companies and with the federal government. This year,we are renewing our commitment to enhancing the IPrime membership experience. We believe Eric's background and professional experiences will be of great benefit in this endeavor. He will foster new research partnerships through dedicated special projects and re-enlivening the Industrial Fellows program. He will seek new ways to share the latest research with our member companies on a more regular basis. In addition, Eric will join us in building solid connections so that we are able to respond fully to the specific interests of each of our member companies. Eric can be reached at 612.625.1269 or via e-mail at ehockert@cems.umn.edu.
University Professors Honored
Frank S. Bates, professor and head, Department
of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, was elected to the National
Academy of Engineering for 2002. Election to the National Academy of Engineering
is one of the highest professional distinctions that can be accorded an
engineer. Bates was chosen for his contributions on the phase behavior
of polymer blends, particularly block co-polymers.
He participates in the IPRIME Microstructured Polymers program.
Ed Cussler, Institute of Technology Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering,
and Ken Keller, Director, Center for Science, Technology and Public Affairs, and Orofessor
of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, were also elected. They
join fellow NAE members Rutherford Aris, H. Ted Davis, Chris Macosko,
Lanny Schmidt and L. E. Scriven.
Tranquillo Named 2002 Distinguished
McKnight University Professor
Professor Robert T. Tranquillo, Chemical Engineering
and Materials Science, is one of four recipients of the 2002 Distinguished
McKnight University Professorship. Professor Tranquillo's accomplishments
are recognized worldwide, blending exacting experimentation with rigorous
mathematical modeling. He is a leader in the area of theoretical biology,
using modeling to understand such processes as directed cell migration
and cell-matrix mechanical interactions. He has an experimental research
program that focuses on tissue engineering with cardiovascular and neural
applications. Professor Tranquillo is a Fellow of the American Institute
of Medical and Biological Engineering and is head of the University's
new Department of Biomedical Engineering. Through the Professorship, the University's Graduate School recognizes and rewards the most outstanding mid-career faculty. The winners are chosen on the merit of their scholarly achievements and the potential for greater attainment in the field; the extent to which their achievements have brought distinction to the University of Minnesota; the quality of their teaching and advising; and their contributions to the wider community. Recipients are honored with the title Distinguished McKnight University Professor, which they will hold for as long as they remain at the University. The grant associated with the rofessorship consists of $100,000, to be expended over five years. |