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Hrvoje Petek and his collaborator Jin Zhao of the Department of Physics at the University of Science & Technology of China recieved a Natural National Science Foundation of China (NSFC) Keystone Project funding of 3,000,000 yuan (approximately $450,000) for a joint international research project on "Ultrafast Dynamics on TiO₂ Surfaces".

The grant will start on the first day of 2017 and will cover a period of five years until December 31, 2021.

When it comes to computers, people never look for “bigger and better,” but rather “smaller and faster.” How do we continue to keep up with that demand, making technology smaller, faster, and more energy-efficient? According to Vincent Sokalski, the answer may be in the fundamental origins of magnets—the spin of electrons.

Sokalski and his group studied the interaction of electron spins in magnetic materials poised for use in next-generation cellphones and computers and discovered how to better measure and predict the changing magnetic state of those materials. This new understanding, recently published in Physical Review B under the title "Energetic Molding of Chiral Magnetic Bubbles", is exciting for the future of computing technology because it will allow scientists to explore and develop materials that are more energy-efficient and faster than traditional semiconductor-based materials.

Recently a team of researchers from MIT, the NIST Center for Neutron Research (NCNR), Carnegie Mellon University, and the Beijing Institute of Technology have experimentally demonstrated a "hybrid material" solution to this problem. They studied a compound of three elements, gadolinium, platinum and bismuth, known together as a ternary compound. In their compound, gadolinium supplies the magnetic order while the platinum-bismuth components support a topological electronic structure. These two components acting in concert make a correlated material that is more than the sum of its parts, showing quantum mechanical corrections to electrical properties at an unprecedented scale. Their results were reported July 18 in Nature Physics.

The theoretical aspect of the collaborative effort was with professors Di Xiao of Carnegie Mellon University and Wanxiang Feng of Beijing Institute of Technology, who provided first principles electronic structure calculations based on the experimental data taken at MIT, NCNR, and the NHMFL to determine the underlying electronic character of this new materials system.

Is quantum technology the future of the 21st century?

On the occasion of the 66th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting, this is the key question to be explored today in a panel discussion with the Nobel Laureates Serge Haroche, Gerardus 't Hooft, William Phillips, and David Wineland. In the following interview, Professor Rainer Blatt, internationally renowned quantum physicist, recipient of numerous honours, Council Member and Scientific Co-Chairman of the 66th Lindau Meeting, talks about what we can expect from the "second quantum revolution".

Giannis Mpourmpakis received a $110,000 grant from the American Chemical Society (ACS) for computer modeling research to investigate the conversion of ethane, propane, butane and other alkanes used in the petrochemical industry.

The study, “Identifying Structure-Activity Relationships for the Dehydrogenation of Alkanes on Oxides,” will look to gain a fundamental understanding of the dehydrogenation of small hydrocarbons to olefins on metal oxides under experimental conditions.

The Non-Volatile Memory Technology Symposium will be hosted at Carnegie Mellon University, October 17-19, 2016.

Vincent Sokalski will act as chair for this year's conference, along with Professor Lu-Ping Shi of Tsinghua University.

The NVMTS is an eminent forum for exchanging information on state-of-the-art technological advances on non-volatile memory among researchers and engineers from both academia and industry. NVMTS 2016 focuses on both emerging and existing non-volatile memory technologies instead of a singular technology, so as to encourage cross-pollination of ideas. They aim to create an interactive environment for discussing various significant aspects of advanced memory technologies.

Jeremy Berg, Associate Senior Vice Chancellor for Science Strategy and Planning in the Health Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh and former director of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), has been named by the Board of Directors of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) to serve as editor-in-chief of the Science family of journals, beginning 1 July 2016.

Berg, who also holds positions as Pittsburgh Foundation Professor and Director of the Institute for Personalized Medicine, Professor of Computational and Systems Biology, and Professor of Chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh, will become the 20th editor-in-chief of Science since the journal’s inception in 1880.

Paul W. Leu is the recipient of the Institute of Industrial and Systems Engineers' (IISE) UPS Award for Minority Advancement in Industrial Engineering.

The UPS award recognizes individuals who, through innovative means, have developed programs or projects directed to the advancement of women, minorities or the disabled in the field of industrial engineering. Since joining the University of Pittsburgh in 2010, Paul Leu has worked successfully with the Pitt Engineering Office of Diversity supervising INVESTING NOW engineering workshops every summer. INVESTING NOW is a college preparatory program created to stimulate, support, and recognize the academic performance of pre-college students from groups that are underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Leu and his research group have managed INVESTING NOW workshops for over ten weeks and with more than 200 high school juniors and seniors for the last six years.

Sussan Fullerton received a $496,272 grant from the National Science Foundation to study two-dimensional semiconductors with the goal of demonstrating a switch that requires less power than conventional silicon-based transistors. 

“As electronic devices continue to become more integrated into our daily lives, more energy is required to power these devices,” said Susan Fullerton, the principle investigator of the study. “On a large scale, decreasing the power requirements of electronics would impact global energy consumption.”

Susan Fullerton was awarded a 2016 Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award from the Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU). 

“This is an outstanding accomplishment for a young faculty member, and so we are very proud of Susan’s award,” noted Steven Little, PhD, the William Kepler Whiteford Professor and Department Chair of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering. “The Powe Award is very competitive, and it speaks highly of Susan to receive this during her first year at Pitt.”