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In this newsletter we want to take the chance to catch you up on some of the exciting

new things happening in the department. Two of the corner-stones of our department have

moved on; Dr. Richard Connell retired in December after more than 20 years of outstanding service to the department. Meanwhile, Dr. Reza Abbaschian has started a new position as Dean of Engineer-ing at the University of California, Riverside. The accomplishments of both of these individuals in shaping our department over the past 20+ years cannot be overstated, and we wish them all the best in their new careers. The department continues to grow, however, as three new faculty have joined the department. You will get the chance to get to know them better in our feature articles in this newsletter. With these additions, the department now has 28 faculty members and we are in the process of searching for five additional faculty. Gator MSE at the University of Florida is very excited about our undergraduate students and their work in the department. The department is ranked #10 in the recent U.S. News and World Report rankings. We currently have more than 140 under-graduate students in the program, a number that continues to grow. The quality of our undergradu-ate students is at an all time high; for example, 19 of our current undergraduates are National Merit Scholars. In addition, we had a record number of undergraduates win NSF Graduate Fellowships over the past year (3 students). This year, 43 percent of our undergraduates were on the Dean’s List; this is a standard that we are pleased to say is consistent year after year. As part of the growth of our undergraduate program, we have recently launched a new under-graduate curriculum based on feedback from our

former students and both our Visiting Advisory Board and our Distinguished Alumni Board. We integrated the un-dergraduate junior year into a horizontal set of core courses followed by a vertical set of specialization courses in the senior year. Five different specialties are offered, including metallurgy, ceramics, polymers, electronic materials and, a new area, biomaterials. The new biomaterials specialization was launched this past year and it immediately became our most popular un-dergraduate specialization. Nearly half of our undergradu-ates are a part of this specialty and many of our students plan to attend medical school upon graduation. We also continue to have very strong programs in the more traditional disci-plines and students from these programs continue to be in high demand by industry. In addition to the biomaterials specialty, I am very excited about the formation of our new undergraduate laboratory courses. These courses will pro-vide outstanding universal skills and experience for all of our undergraduate students in materials science and engineering. Our graduate program continues to make great strides, indicated recently in the U.S. News and World Report graduate school rankings. Our graduate program is currently ranked 8th, and we are working to improve our standing with the best programs in the country. We graduated a record 36 Ph.D. students and our incoming graduate class was the largest to date with 93 students. We are extremely proud of our excellent graduate students, including our 36 minority students. Diversity is and always has been critical to our suc-cess and we are redoubling our efforts to attract the best and brightest students to a career in MSE. Some of our faculty members were recipients of presti-gious awards this spring. For example, Juan Nino received the NSF CAREER Award, one of only two recipients for the entire college, for his proposed work in investigating funda-mental structure-dielectric property relationships of electroc-eramics with the pyrochlore structure, as well as his plans to increase the participation of Hispanics in science and engi-neering. You can read more about some of the great honors received by our faculty in this newsletter.

If you are ever in the area, please stop by. We would love to catch up with you!

Kevin’s Corner

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At the core of Dr. Jian-geng Xue’s research is the focus to enrich lives

through advanced technologies, and after the birth of his son last year, he has a vested interest in that pursuit. Xue joined the UF MSE fac-ulty this year as a graduate from Princeton University and brings with him a passion for his research subject: organic electronics. “The opportunity is great. The success in the field of organic electronics can gener-ate advanced technologies revolutionizing the world of electronics and optoelectron-ics,” he said,“while the fundamental stud-ies can facilitate our general understanding of the physics of matters.” Xue studies the structural, electronic and optical properties of organic electronic materials as well as processing of these materials. He explores their applications in various electronic and optoelectronic devices, including photovoltaics, display, lighting and circuitry. “Organic electronic materials offer many technological advantages compared with their inorganic counterpart. Organic materials generally are inexpensive, and are compatible with low-temperature process-ing and flexible substrates,” he said. “This will allow people to significantly reduce the cost for making large area (opto)electronic devices.” So what does this mean for the rest of us? Xue explains that organic light-emit-ting devices are currently being commer-cialized for full-color, flat-panel displays, which offer low energy consumption, wonderful colors, 180 degree viewing angle, and very fast response. OLEDs emit-ting white light may also provide better

Jiangeng Xue joins Faculty from Princeton background

energy efficiency compared with the current general lighting sources. Photovoltaic cells based on organic materials have the potential to provide low cost solar energy conversion, which may solve our future energy supply problem. Xue’s group will be contributing to those research areas. “On one side, we try to deepen our understanding of the fundamental physical properties and processing of organic electronic materials,” he said. “On the other side, we engi-neer the use of these materials and develop novel device architectures, striving for enriching our lives with advanced technologies.” As the recipient of numerous fellowships and scholar-ships during his undergraduate and master’s studies at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), he was also awarded the Guo Mo-Ruo Fellowship, the Uni-versity Presidential Fellowship honoring the top students at USTC. In addition, he received a solar energy innovation award from Princeton University for his doctoral thesis work on developing high efficiency organic photovoltaic cells. When asked what impressed him most about UF, he re-sponded, “It’s the excellence of the MSE department, and the commitment of the department and the college of engineer-ing in the field of organic electronics.” His route to UF has been circuitous. “It’s quite interest-ing looking back at my career so far,” he said. “I was trained as a solid state physicist, and got a B.S. and M.S. degree in physics. My Ph.D. degree was in Electrical Engineering. And now, I’m a professor in a Materials Science and Engi-neering department. “This certainly reflects changes in my personal interests, from fundamental to applied to an effective integration of fundamental and applied research. It also reflects the inter-disciplinary nature of materials studies.”

Xue Continued on page 5

New Faculty Feature Articles

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Franky So brings Industry Experience to UF

determining the energy barriers at the organic/organic and organic-inorganic hetero-interfaces, are the key to the problem.” Bringing a wealth of industrial real-world knowledge with him, So spent eight years at the Motorola Corporate Research Laboratories. While there, he re-ceived the Distinguished Inventor Award and the Master of Innovation Award. He also has more than 50 U.S. patents and another 15 pending. “UF has one of the nation’s top materials science and engineering de-partments,” So said. “There are a lot of collaborations going on between faculty members within and outside of the de-partment. “Of course, it is a good envi-ronment to raise my family, too.” A graduate from the University of Southern California, So is no stranger to football. “I am a USC football fan and would love to see UF playing USC for the BCS championship at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena in January.”

Diane Hickey

“I believe that molecular electronics could revo-lutionize the electronics industry and be an enabling technology for future electronics,” Dr.

Franky So said. So joined the UF MSE faculty this year af-ter 15 years of experience in industry, including time with OSRAM Opto-Semiconductors and Motorola. He believes in molecular electronics, and UF believes that he’ll be one of the new faculty members that can make it happen. “I feel that the technology is on the verge of taking off and I would like to make an impact and contribute to the technology development,” So said. In the next five years, So says he hopes to demonstrate high performance molecular based CMOS devices and organic light emitting devices with efficiency higher than 100 lm/W. “My research area is going to be focused on organic electronic materials and devices including light emitting devices for displays and lighting, molecular thin film tran-sistors and sensors,” he said. “I am also interested in charge transport and injection properties of molecular materials.” “Molecular electronics is low cost and it can be made on large area flexible substrates. In the future, large area integrated circuits will be able to be made by high speed printers without photolithography,” he said. “Also, very high efficiency light emitters have been demonstrated with molecular devices; this class of devices can be used not only for electronic applications, it can be used for active and pas-sive components in photonic applications as well. “To achieve these goals, understanding the fundamen-tals of charge transport and charge injection, and the factor

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Hailing from Germa-

ny, Dr. Henry Hess’ research

brings not only cross-continental collaborations but also cross-department and college collaborations. His research focuses on the application of molecular motors in nanode-vices and multifunctional materials. “Our motors of choice are currently of biological origin, which leads us to pursue a hybrid ‘bionano’ approach. The most exciting development in my field is that we translate our advances in exploring active molecular transport (the transport of individual molecules or nanoobjects driven by biomolecular motors) into application-oriented nanofluidic devices.” Hess came to the University of Florida for the oppor-tunities in collaborative research with collogues from other departments and colleges on the campus. “Interdisciplinary research, placed between departmental and even college boundaries, needs a home department with a strong core and a collaborative bend, two things readily found at the UF MSE Department. I am also fortunate to have found col-laborators in the School of Medicine and other COE depart-ments. Last but not least, the quality of the MSE students is outstanding, and I was able to recruit a strong team.” Hess has been presented with several prestigious awards, including the Feodor Lynen Fellowship of the Alex-ander von Humboldt Foundation (2000,2001). “The AvH foundation is nurturing the exchange between German and

Henry Hess adds dynamic research to Biomaterials

Even though Xue became a Buckeye fan after a year as a graduate student at Ohio State, he sees a love for the Gators in his future as well. “Now that I’m here in the SWAMP, everybody knows who I am going to cheer for. Yes, the Gators,” he said. “Except, I haven’t decided who my favorite team will be in a Buckeye-Gator game. Stay tuned!” As he builds on the organic electronics basis already at UF, he will be developing his own group as well, which means taking on research assistants and molding them into the next generation of Ph.Ds. “I’d like to see my students have some background knowledge in semiconductor physics, electronic devices, processing and characterization of electronic materials, and maybe solid state physics and quantum me-chanics,” he said. “They should be able to work both as an independent researcher and as an effective team member. They should communicate well, and they should be able to discover and solve problems. How-ever, the most important thing that I want from my students is their commitment, dedication and effort. They should have a desire for excellence, and they should be willing to work hard.”

Diane Hickey

Xue Continued from page 3

international researchers, and its Feodor Lynen fellowship is one of the most prestigious German postdoctoral awards,” Hess said. “For me, it was the beginning of a hopefully life-long relation with the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, focused on building the ties between US and German research.” Hess and his mentor, Prof. Viola Vogel (ETH Zurich), recently received the Philip Morris Research Prize, a major German technology award, for the development of biomechanical transport systems on the nanoscale. Hess’ goals over the next few years are to lay the foundation for a strong program by identifying the fundamental questions related to molecular motors, concurrently pursue applications “within our grasp,” and develop an integrated educational program that prepares stu-dents for research in bionanotechnology. Hess says that he is enjoying the Univer-sity of Florida and is certainly happy to be here. When asked what he enjoys doing away from the office, Hess said, “after a day of asking questions to my students, I go home to answer to a hundred ‘why’s’ from my son.”

Diane Hickey

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Dr. Richard Connell retires after 40 years at UF

With more than 30 years of service to UF, it is impossible to overem-phasize the lasting impression that “Doc” Connell has left on the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. A professor in metallurgical engineering, it has

always been clear that Doc’s primary drive and focus would be teaching and advising; working alongside the students, equipping them with practical skills and knowledge both in the classroom and in the workshop. Doc has been the recipient of numerous honors awarded for distinguished teaching and service to student engineering chapters at UF. Among these are his awards for Teacher of the Year (1985) and Advisor of the Year (1989) in the College of Engineering. Dr. Connell was also the recipient of the TMS Distinguished Service Award in 1994 for his outstanding work in establishing the TMS Student Chapter as the best in the nation, having received the Chapter of the Year Award for the 25th consecutive year. At the departmental awards banquet in April, Doc was given the 2nd Annual Triple Point Award, an honor given by the undergraduate class, in recog-nition of excellence, inspiration, and dedication in teaching. Doc was also the key individual overseeing the renova-tion and construction of Rhines Hall, the home of UF MSE. We wish Doc the best in all that he does in his ‘new career’.

Dr. Juan Nino – NSF CAREER Award

Professor Juan Nino received the 2005 NSF CAREER Award, the NSF’s most prestigious award in support of the early career-devel-opment activities of those teacher-scholars who most effectively integrate research and education within the context of the mission of their organization.

Abbaschian leaves to become Dean

Dr. Reza Abbaschian, former De-partment Head of MSE and cur-rent Vladimir A. Grodsky Profes-sor, will become the Dean of the Bourns College of Engineering at the University of California, Riverside, 50 miles east of Los Angeles.

“UCR is the fastest growing college in the nation,” said Abbaschian. “This is a place where you can make a difference.” “My decision to come to UCR was based on several at-tractive features, including the quality of faculty, diversity of students, dedication of staff, and the commitment of the cam-pus leadership to enhancing Bourns College of Engineering,” Abbaschian said, in a UCR press release. His first challenge to face at UCR, he said, is to find a house. Then, identify areas in which UCR can invest and succeed. “To become a leader, you don’t want to follow anyone else. That’s what we did here (at UF-MSE) – we initiated, and others in the coun-try followed.” In addition to his new position, Abbaschian is the incom-ing president of ASM International, the largest materials society in the world serving 37,000 members. “In September I start two new opportunities – one as Dean, and the other as president of ASM,”he said. “I’ve never shied away from chal-lenges.” Abbaschian is a TMS Fellow as well. Abbaschian has been at UF for 26 years. What he said he’d miss most about Gainesville are, “the people, my col-leagues, friends. I’ve lived in Gainesville longer than any-where else.” He will still have links to UF through research collaborations with faculty here, and, he said, “Of course I’m going to continue my diamond research.” Abbaschian has more than 230 scientific publications, four patents and eight books, in addition to numerous awards and distinctions in his time at the UF. You can read the UCR Press Release at: www.newsroom.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/display.cgi?id=1118&type=print

Diane Hickey

Faculty Activities

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Dr. Eric Wachsman - UFRF Professorship

Professor Eric Wachsman received the UFRF Professorship in March. The three-year professorship was created by the University of Florida Research Foundation to “recognize the faculty who have established a distinguished record of research and scholarship that is expected to lead to continuing distinction in their field.”

Dr. Paul Holloway - Doctoral Dissertation Advisor/Mentoring Award

Professor Paul Holloway received Doctoral Dissertation Advi-sor/Mentoring Award. The UF Graduate School’s annual Doctoral Mentoring Award encourages and rewards excellence, innovation and effectiveness in mentoring doctoral students through their final disser-tation. Nominations for the award

come from current graduate students, graduate alumni, faculty members, graduate coordinators, department chairs, school directors, college deans and higher-level administrators.

Dr. Robert DeHoff – Alpha Sigma Mu Distinguished Life Member

Dr. DeHoff was awarded the Distinguished Life Member Award for Alpha Sigma Mu, for achieving and maintaining, throughout a long career, a distinguished international standing in the Materials Science and Engineering.

Drs. Fereshteh Ebrahimi, Susan Sinnott and Eric Wachsman – Faculty Excellence Awards

Each Year, the MSE Faculty are asked to submit nominations for the Faculty Excellence Award, created to encourage and reward excellence, innovation, and effectiveness in teaching, research and service activities to the department.

Dr. Rajiv Singh - R&D 100 Award

Dr. Singh, in conjunction with Sin-mat Inc. and UF, received the 2005 R&D 100 Award for his work in the development of CMP process for SiC/GaN optoelectronic and power devices, and ultra low k materials. The technology is based on use of unique nanosponge paticle based

slurries; soft, elastic, teflon-like particles in nanoscale dimen-sions that bend, deform, but do not stick or shatter when polishing the surface. Awarding this honor is a sophisticated process, lasting nearly a full year and involving a panel of al-most 50 independent technical experts who lend their exper-tise in evaluating the details of the product entries compared to other existing products and technologies.

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COE Scholarships 2005-06

Nnenna Adimora; General EngineeringLauren Culver; Co-op ScholarshipA. Ira Harkness; General Engineering

Dean’s List - Fall 2004

Nnenna J. AdimoraTomer L. AlcalayM. Brittany BalesAdam D. BishopDavid E. CepedaRyan S. CrutchfieldLauren C. CulverLisa M. DanielsAndrew R. EliasChristopher R. FellCristina E. FernandezJason A. FreedMaggie E. FuselierTimothy F. GehretEllina GendlinaJanelle Y. GoodenStephanie M. HaleNathan M. Hicks

Monta R. HolzworthEmma M. HumphreyKarly A. JacobsenSidan JinNeil R. KardosBrian J. KiedingerMichelle e. KinahanYair KorenblitDaphnee LarocheJoshua LowitzFernando J. LugoChelsea M. MaginLamar O. MairSean L. McKennaSophia MorghemStavros N. MoysidisJason D. MyersChristopher R. Olson

Graduate/Undergraduate Rankings & Activities

Drew A. PalmerSahil K. PatelLaruen E. PoquetteApril C. ReevesPaul A. Robinson, IIAlex A. RollandGalileo SarasquetaJeffrey C. SchroederMichael S. SimGary A. SobolevskiyMatthew SoicherJustin M. TennantSteven M. TissierJacob T. WaddellAndrew J. WassonLaurel L. Wucherer

Christopher Olson; General EngineeringPaul Robinson; Dean’s ScholarshipGary Sobolevskiy; Pound Engineering

MSE Graduate Program ranked 8th in the Country; Undergraduate Program ranked 10th

The, U.S. News and World Report released its graduate and undergraduate school rankings for 2005. We are proud to say that our graduate and undergraduate programs are currently ranked 8th and 10th, respectively, listed amongst the best materials programs in the country. This rank-

ing is a clear representation of the outstanding work that our students, faculty and staff do here at UF. We believe that this move is indicative of the great growth in the quality of our department and shows us that we are continuing to grow in a great direction.

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MSE Launches Research Experience in Materials Program

MSE is pleased to announce the Research Experience in Materials (REM) program beginning in fall of 2005. The REM program is a two-semester opportunity for University of Florida students at the freshman and sophomore levels to work in a graduate laboratory, learning about materials science through hands-on experience as they work in one of our faculty’s student research groups. In addition, the students will be paid $10/hour for up to 100 hours of work each semester. We are excited about the doors that this ex-perience could open for the student and are also anticipating the possibility of having some of these stu-dents join our undergraduate program for their junior and senior years. For the first semester, 14 MSE faculty members are participating in the program. The student response has been very exciting with 32 students participating in this first semester. Stay tuned for updates in future Materials World issues!

Graduate Recruiting Weekend Success

The College of Engineering hosted its annual Graduate Recruiting Weekend from Feb. 17 – 19, 2005. The department brought in a total of 42 recruits for Materials Science and Engineering. The college hosted a breakfast, evening

reception and dinner on Friday. After breakfast, the students visited the depart-ment for presentations from faculty, a bbq luncheon and individual appointments with professors about their research opportunities. Several had the opportunity to spend time with graduate students before, during and after the scheduled events. Forty-one of the recruits who came in had applied for the Fall 2005 class and one has applied for the Spring 2006 semester. These students visited from all over the country, including: Auburn University, Georgia Southern University, Lehigh University, Louisiana State University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, North Carolina Agricultural & Technical University, North Carolina State Universi-ty, Northwestern University, Ohio State University, Pennsylvania State University, Rice University, Rutgers University, University of California – Berkley, University of California – Los Angeles, University of Florida, University of Maryland, Univer-sity of Michigan – Ann Arbor, University of Missouri, University of Puerto Rico, University of Washington, and Virginia Tech University Of all that attended, 61 percent of the students accepted offers that we made to them. Nick Rudawski, a student from the University of Michigan, received one of the Named Presidential Fellowships for the fall. This fellowship provides four full years of funding. We are excited for all 93 incoming students and look forward to helping them pursue their graduate education in the Department of Materials Science & Engineering at the University of Florida.

Martha McDonald

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The department hosted its annual MSE Teach workshop from July

24 – 29, 2005. This year we had participants from Alach-ua, Dade, Leon, and Orange counties. The purpose of the workshop is to provide

math, science and technology teachers with a series of inquiry and discovery laboratory activities which they can take back to their classroom. Instruction was provided by Andrew Nydam from Olympia High School with the assistance from two MSE assistant teachers. MSE Assistant teachers were Betty Calhoun and Tonya Bervaldi-Camaratta. Tonya is also a graduate of the MSE depart-ment that assisted in the first MSE Teach workshop. Instruction was also given by MSE professors and graduate students. The workshop was directed by Jennifer Horton. This workshop provides professional development opportunities for teachers to update their science content background. Discovery based laboratory activities en-courage an investigative creativity and a better understanding of “materials” around us. Activities assist teachers in instructing students based on real-world implications in

“Plug Into a Whole New WorldThrough MSE Teach/ASM International Teachers Camp”

materials science and engineering. Labora-tory lessons are set-up in correlation with the Sunshine State Standards and FCAT. The Florida High Tech Corridor ran a one-day workshop which trained teachers on the Scanning Electron Microscope which is online at the Orlando Science Center. This will allow teachers to bring an SEM into their classroom. Funding for this project was provided in part by the department, ASM Internation-al, the College of Engineering, the Florida High Tech Corridor Council and the School Board of Alachua County. Lou Witxel with Northwest Harley-Davidson, Inc. donated a cylinder and piston from a Harley-Davidson motorcycle that will be used in future MSE Teach workshops and other demonstrations for the department. Debbie Goodwin from NACE International donated cKits for all of the participants to take back to their class-rooms. These kits are all about corrosion and will also be used by the corrosion class this fall. Tentative dates for the 2006 workshop are June 25 – 30, 2006. For further informa-tion about MSE Teach, please contact Jennifer at (352) 846-3314 or email jhort@mse.ufl.edu.

Jennifer Horton

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The Department of Materials Science and Engineering of the Uni-versity of Florida, Gainesville, invites applications for tenure track positions at the rank of assistant, associate or professor with a focus

on bio-nano materials, their synthesis, characterization, use in devices or other related area. Applicants with expertise and a strong record of research in nano-materials, including biomaterials, tissue engineering, nano-therapeutics, and nano-devices, are strongly encouraged to apply for the more senior level rank. Applicants should have a proven track record of leadership and adaptability. Exceptional candidates in other areas of materials research will also be considered. A doctoral degree in materials science and engineering or a related field is required. For a copy of the detailed advertisement or for information on the ap-plication process, please email Matthew Walters at mwalt@mse.ufl.edu and reference position #00008056.

Available Faculty PositionsBio/Nano Faculty Position

TEM/Structural Characterization Faculty Position

A tenure track faculty position at the assistant/associate/full profes-sor level is available in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering for a person with expertise and strong academic

record in areas related to structural characterization of materials, prefer-ably metals, with an emphasis on analytical transmission electron micros-copy (TEM) techniques. The faculty member is expected to teach under-graduate and graduate courses, and initiate and sustain strong sponsored research and graduate education programs. A doctoral degree in materials science and engineering or a related field is required. For a copy of the detailed advertisement or for information on the application process, please email Matthew Walters at mwalt@mse.ufl.edu and reference position #00009459.

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Your private contributions are welcome so that we may continue to excel in our undergraduate and graduate academic programs. All contributions are tax deductible. Online giving is also available at www.mse.ufl.edu.

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Please specify that your contribution is for the Department of Materials Science & Engineering, and make your check payable to the University of Florida Foundation.

Department of Materials Science & EngineeringP.O. Box 116400University of FloridaGainesville, FL 32611-6400

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Phone: 352-846-3781Fax: 352-392-7219www.mse.ufl.edu

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