TcSUH EventS
TcSUH Annual Student Research Symposium
34th Semiannual Fall TcSUH Student Symposium and Holiday Buffet
by: TcSUH Administration
Date: Friday December 14, 2007
Time: 11:30 am – 5:15 pm
Location: Houston Science Center – Building 593 — Room 102
Overview
34th Semiannual Fall TcSUH Student Symposium and Holiday Buffet
Friday, December 14, 2007 Houston Science Center
Symposium 01:00 p.m. - 5:15 p.m. Room 102,HSC Holiday Buffet 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m. 2nd Floor Lobby
ALL TcSUH MEMBERS INVITED!
All members of TcSUH are invited to attend the 34th Semiannual Student Symposium for presentations of original student work.
The Student Symposium will begin at 1:00 p.m. with a brief review of the Center's progress during 2007 and an outline of plans for the future.The afternoon will then continue with a series of 15-minute presentations representing novel work by undergraduate and graduate students from each laboratory.A Symposium Program, including the schedule and abstracts for each presentation, will be provided at the door.
The Holiday Buffet will precede the symposium from 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
RSVP for Holiday Buffet: Office of Public Affairs, x-38210 by Monday, December 10, 2007
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Bi-Weekly Seminar
Progress Report on Two Nano-Material Studies
Date: Friday November 09, 2007
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Location: Houston Science Center – Building 593 — Room 102
Overview
Ion-Beam Assisted Fabrication of GaN nanorod and Applications Abstract: GaN is a direct Band Gap Semiconductor. Its ternary compound with In or with Al could cover a very broad band region with potential applications in Laser source, Light Emitting Diode, high efficiency solar cell and optoelectronics. We have studied GaN nanorod formation during MBE growth of GaN film on Si[111] substrate, and its fabrication assisted by ion implantation on Si before the the MBE growth. In this talk, I will give a progress report on our nanorod growth studies, Ion Beam Assisted growth, Nanorod characterization, and its potential applications. (Collaboration with Q. Y. Chen, L. W. Tu, and H.W. Seo). Field Ionization of Carbon Nano Tubes and Applications Abstract: The removal of electrons from any species by interaction with a high electrical field is called Field Ionization. The most notable work on field ionization conducted by Mueller?s team at Penn State [Phys. Rev 102, 624 (1956)] is a perfect example, which later developed into the famous Field Ion Microscope (FIM). Focus Ion Beam (FIB) is another example, where a sharp tip can emit focused liquid metal ions such as Ga ions when positively biased. We have studied field ionization of Carbon Nano Tubes under residual hydrogen gas, and produced huge proton current. In this talk, I will discuss the implication of our experiment and its potential applications. (Collaboration with Jiarui Liu).
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Special Seminar
Technology Needs for Future Human Space Missions
by: Dr. Kumar Krishen
Date: Wednesday November 07, 2007
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Location: Houston Science Center – Building 593 — Room 102
Overview
A discussion of the need for technology development for the human exploration and development of space will be presented. Human exploration and development of space is aimed at opening the space frontier by exploring, using, and enabling the development of space and expanding the human experience into the far reaches of space. This includes increasing human knowledge of nature's processes using the space environment, exploring and settling the solar system, achieving routine space travel, and enriching life on Earth through people living and working in space. NASA's Mars Pathfinder and the International Space Station provide extensive experience, research and technology (R&T), and infrastructure for other envisioned programs in support of human exploration and development of space.
In the past decade, the Clementine and the Lunar Prospector missions have provided valuable remotely sensed data of the Moon. In addition, NASA has studied the development of a lunar habitat and human mission to Mars as possible missions. These missions face common challenges of travel to these planets and for survival of humans on the surface of planets. With the human Mars mission being the first to such a distant planet, advanced technologies will be required to enable the mission and to provide cost effective and safer approaches.
The R&T areas considered important for a human mission to Mars include advanced human support, renewable resources and utilization of planetary resources, space transportation, automation and robotics, space power, information processing and communications systems, sensors, and instruments. NASA is actively providing the technology developed for the space applications to industry, universities, and other organizations for research, education and commercialization purposes. Strategies for this technology transfer will also be presented.
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Seminar
Transition Metal Oxides with Unsaturated Coordination Spheres and Low Dimensional Spin Systems
Date: Monday November 05, 2007
Time: 11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Location: Houston Science Center – Building 593 — Room 102
Overview
Transition metal oxides belong to an exceptional class of materials for studying correlated systems. In particular various degrees of freedom (structure, spin, orbital, charge and order/disorder) play an important role and are in the focus of our recent research activities. Apart from common transition metal oxides exhibiting high oxidation states and spherical coordination spheres, e.g. octahedron or tetrahedron, I will present selected compounds with unsaturated coordination spheres (e.g. dumb-bell) and low oxidation states (e.g. monovalent nickel, d9, S = 1-2 ). Starting from solid state synthesis techniques and analytics I will proceed to the physical properties (VIS-NIR-MIR-FIR and Raman spectroscopy, (T), M(H), cp) and approach the field of low dimensional spin systems.
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Bi-Weekly Seminar
Nanostructured Pt alloy Core-Shell Fuel Cell Electrocatalysts - Synthesis, Structure, and Performance
by: Dr. Peter Strasser
Date: Thursday October 25, 2007
Time: 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Location: Houston Science Center – Building 593 — Room 102
Overview
The identification of more active, more cost-effective and more stable electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) continues to bea scientific priority in low-temperature Fuel Cell catalysis research.Among all currently known electrocatalyst materials, Pt alloys have remained one of the most attractive catalyst concepts, in particularfrom a power density perspective.
We have recently discovered a new class of Pt core shell nanoparticle electrocatalysts which exhibit ORR activities exceeding those of conventional uniformly alloyed Pt-rich catalysts. We also have put forward a hypothesis for the enhancement mechanism which focused on lattice strain in the Pt rich Shell of the nanoparticles resulting from the electrochemical de alloying synthesis. Our experiments have been corroborated by DFT computational modeling.
We also report on recent strategies to experimentally realize the high electrocatalytic RDE activities of our new catalysts in realistic single PEM fuel cell devices.
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