Summer 2001 -- Vol. 18, No. 2

Collaboration Among Keys As Materials Science Grows

Traditionally strong research area gets stronger with 'team approach' to study

A single-walled carbon nanotube (lower right) compares in size to a fragment of a DNA strand (upper left). In the future, DNA and materials such as nanotubes might be combined to utilize the recognition capabilities of DNA and the electronic properties of nanotubes in order to make nanoscale devices for many applications.

Start with a solid tradition, combine some quality recruits and experienced veterans, stress the importance of teamwork, and you have a familiar formula for success at Penn State—just as familiar for the materials-

science community as it might be for an athletic team.

By following that formula, Penn State has broadened its scope and solidified its reputation for materials-science research during the past decade.

Traditionally considered a hotbed of materials science because of its programs in ceramics, metals, and polymers led by the College of Earth and Mineral Science and the College of Engineering, the University has enhanced its reputation with a commitment to collegial cooperation, an interdisciplinary research focus, and an increased participation in regard to materials-science matters in recent years by faculty members from the Eberly College of Science.

“As the Eberly College of Science people in chemistry and physics started to focus more on hard-core fundamental materials research, they helped balance what the rest of us were doing in applied materials research,” says Carlo Pantano, director of the Materials Research Institute (MRI). “It made us more appealing to researchers thinking about coming here and to funding agencies supporting our work.

“Our strengths had been in industrial and engineering problems, and those remain among our strengths. Now that researchers in the Eberly College of Science have become more involved in materials research, we have developed strengths in other areas as well, which has made us a more well-rounded materials-science community.”

Much like an athletic team, Penn State gauges its success in relation to other universities by rankings. According to the most recent National Research Council report, the University ranks seventh nationally in terms of materials-science research.

Many on campus expect that ranking to increase, perhaps with Penn State moving among the top five universities in terms of materials-science research when the research council updates its rankings in 2002.

1955--Physicist Erwin Mueller becomes the first person to "see" qan atom, using a field ion microscope of his own design, a landmark advance in instrumentation that magnified those building blocks of the universe more than two million times.

Many factors account for the growth of materials-science research at Penn State. For example, increased federal funding earmarked for defense in the late 1980s and early 1990s bolstered materials science, and that support coincided with some increased hiring in chemistry and physics departments across the country. At about the same time—and even earlier in several cases—Penn State started to change the way it funded research. Instead of working exclusively through single departments, plans for interdisciplinary consortia and research centers were implemented. The history of strength in the University’s materials-science programs set the stage for continued success achieved through increasing levels of collaboration among researchers throughout Penn State.

As the Department of Chemistry and Department of Physics added more faculty members with materials experience and interest, and as the field of materials science itself grew, the combination of expertise and opportunity produced what amounts to a “Penn State Way” regarding materials science. Much like the Nittany Lion football team with its supposedly bland uniforms and all-for-one approach, the University’s materials science community seemingly thrives because of the willingness of its members to work together.

1962--Materials Research Laboratory created

Many of the materials scientists at Penn State rave about the small-town advantages of the area surrounding the University and that atmosphere also seems to have fostered a friendly and productive small-town environment in the materials-science community. Ironically, as the faculty focuses on collaborative work and the success of the University-wide research effort, they reap even more individual awards, honors, and rewards.

“If you just look at the materials expertise at Penn State, it ranks among the top few universities in the country—and that makes us a real powerhouse,” says Jayanth Banavar, professor and head of the Department of Physics. “At the same time, there is a real sense of people coming together to try to do things. There is a feeling that we all are on the same team.”

1987--Innovation Park adopted as phased-development project by Board of Trustees to assist in economic revitilization of the commonwealth.

Certainly, leaders such as Daniel J. Larson, Dean of the Eberly College of Science, as well as Banavar and Pantano, set the stage for such success. They also are quick to credit the work of others, such as Moses Chan, Evan Pugh Professor of Physics and director of the Center for Collective Phenomena in Restricted Geometries (CPRG).

“We have some of the best people, terrific role models,” says Banavar. “For example, Moses. He’s a recognized, absolutely first-rate scientist and he’s also a terrific human being. He sets an example for us. When you’re surrounded by people like that, collaborative research is enjoyable and productive. We are just lucky to have such people—and we have so many of them.”

Attracting and keeping outstanding faculty members requires strong efforts in terms of recruiting and retention, plus vigilant efforts to make the working environment enjoyable and productive. From top to bottom, from administrators to the most recently hired faculty members, most Penn State materials researchers profess their appreciation and enjoyment of the atmosphere at the University. They also expend a great deal of effort in maintaining that environment and take great pride in noting the differences between Penn State and other institutions in terms of the atmosphere and culture inside the departments.

1992--Materials Research Institute created

“Every institution has politics and everybody can identify something they would like to improve, but we seem to have a group of people who really work well together,” says Nicholas Winograd, Evan Pugh Professor of Chemistry. “If we were to hire a senior-level materials scientist who would compete with another lab for funding and graduate students, it would create a situation where you could react in one of two ways.

“You could become insecure and petty and worry about your status, or you could see it as an opportunity to build strength and make the pie even bigger for everyone. In some ways the personalities of the people at a center or within a department determine how it survives. We are fortunate to have a good mix of the right kind of people to ensure success.”

1995--Nanofabrication Facility created

Some of the many recent signs of that success include:

• The CPRG, an interdisciplinary materials-science research center funded in part by the National Science Foundation and its Materials Research Science and Engineering Center initiative. Administrators and faculty members had been trying for more than a decade to secure such a center at Penn State, and their efforts were rewarded in September 2000. A five-year, $4.29 million grant made the center a reality and should provide the opportunity to “undertake materials research of scope and complexity that would not be feasible under traditional funding of individual research projects,” according to the NSF.
  
• An initiative aimed at providing interdisciplinary opportunities for graduate students, funded by the NSF’s Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training (IGERT) program, which became a reality at Penn State in the past year as well. Participants from three colleges and eight departments comprise the consortium, which features a five-year plan that incorporates courses, research projects, summer internships, seminars, and tutorials to train graduate students for leadership roles in advanced computational methods for many-body problems.
  
• Cutting-edge materials research on campus that produces regular results. Among the latest is the discovery of “molecular rulers” to effectively and precisely make ultraminiature metal wires in very close proximity to each other by a group led by Paul Weiss, professor of chemistry.

1997--Phase Two of Innovation Park started with ground-breaking ceremony.

Funding and support for such ambitious projects impacts the materials community in a couple of important ways. It encourages, even requires, abundant collaboration across departmental lines and, once an institution has proven worthy of such support, it sets the stage for further awards and research opportunities. To some, the atmosphere within the materials-science community rests heavily on what happens in terms of funding.

“It would be hard to argue that Penn State consists of any more altruistic or cooperative people than any other place,” says Milton Cole, Distinguished Professor of Physics. “However, many funding sources very much encourage cooperation. So, it becomes a practical interest, as well as some people’s natural style, to share and work together. The field of materials science is thriving, and when people are prosperous they tend to be generous with their spirit and thought. If fewer resources were available, the situation might be different.”

Recognition and success in materials science do not come only because of the personalities of those involved in such research. Materials science educators and researchers at Penn State have proven their prowess and skills repeatedly. In the future, more ground-breaking and valuable research results should follow. The numerous applied and fundamental efforts under way include: the development of molecular motors, efforts to utilize carbon nanotubes for gas storage, and work to make thermoaccoustic refrigerators a reality.

1998--Chemist A. Welford Castleman elected to the National Academy of Sciences.

The combination of ambitious goals, important discoveries, and talented faculty members also has sparked the Eberly College of Science and the University to address intellectual-property issues.

With the Office of Intellectual Property and Innovation Park, the University provides the resources and support necessary for faculty members and research teams to patent their work and to take its impact beyond the laboratory.

“It is important to get discoveries and inventions out of the laboratory and put them to use for the good of society. That’s part of our mission,” Larson says. “It also creates a more stimulating and productive environment for faculty and students.”

While administrators acknowledge the importance of developing and maintaining productive faculty members, the faculty members typically appreciate those efforts as well as those of their colleagues throughout the University community.

2000--Physicist Moses Chan elected to the National Academy of Sciences.

“It’s nice for faculty members to have those options,” says David Allara, professor of chemistry, whose varied work has made him a busy and welcome collaborator on campus. Some of his work led to the creation of a company that attempts to harness the properties of molecules for use in electronic devices. “Some people are not interested in those developments, and it was not something that was initially a consideration for me. But, an opportunity arose and the University offered the support to make it possible.”

While such support helped Allara’s company become a reality, he believes such flexibility and a business-oriented perspective should play a role in the classroom as well.

“We’re teaching about materials science and we have to let students know why we’re teaching what we’re teaching,” Allara says. “We have to help them understand that in order to be prepared for a real job they have to focus on a goal. Also, while some researchers pursue a question just to find an answer, students need to understand that, from a business point of view, you learn things and pursue questions for a reason.”

2000--Board of Trustees approves merger of Materials Research Institute and Materials Research Laboratory into one entity known as the Materials Research Institute in order to build on the established success of materials research at the University.

With the mix of some who chase fundamental questions and others who focus mostly on applications, the materials-science community features a diverse atmosphere.

That atmosphere nurtures cooperation and collaboration, which benefits faculty members and students. According to Tom Mallouk, DuPont Professor of Materials Chemistry, the benefits of those different perspectives are immeasurable.

“When we’re collaborating, we’re working with people in other colleges here and it makes us better scientists,” Mallouk says. “For example, in chemistry, we do a lot of research that we believe is beneficial and worthwhile if it has some sort of impact in the next 20 years, or even during our lifetime. My friends in the Department of Electrical Engineering like to see a demonstration or prototype in 18 to 24 months or they’re depressed and gloomy.

“It’s not that we need to change and expect chemistry to work on a two-year time schedule. Instead, it’s just important to experience the different perspectives that different types of scientists bring to their work.

2000--University receives grant through Materials Research Science and Engineering Program to create the Center for Collective Phenomena in Restricted Geometries.

“It’s that kind of cooperation and understanding, by everyone involved, that has helped us realize our promise.”

Reaching that promise rests greatly on completing a vision that was established more than 20 years ago within the college and has been nurtured since then by administrators and faculty members. For example, Winograd credits former Dean Thomas Wartik for convincing him of the commitment of the college to materials research when he arrived in 1979.

At that time, Penn State pledged to do more with fewer resources because its research efforts for some aspects of materials science were in their infancy. These days

2001--U.S. News & World Report ranks Penn State seventh among "America's Best Graduate Schools" for materials.

, as a materials-science powerhouse, he believes the University does even more with more resources and that the drive of researchers has grown in relation to the funding and support. Others who were on the faculty at the time or have more recently arrived at Penn State appreciate the commitment and quality that provide the framework for their efforts.

“Penn State has had an acknowledged and respected strength in the area of materials science,” Larson says. “Through the support of the administration, including the President and the Provost, and the efforts of the departments, faculty members, and students, the level of activity and accomplishment is growing. The University has received much recognition for its work, and there will be even more to come.”

-- By Steve Sampsell

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