Congratulations to MRSEC Trainees Debika Datta and Luis Palomino!
November 2023
Debika Datta, a postdoctoral researcher from IRG 2 has co-authored an article “Engineered ‘living materials’ could help clean up water pollution one day” published on The Conversation. Debika and Professor
Luis Palomino, a Phd student in Professor Pokorski's lab has been awarded second place and a cash prize of $750 in the poster competition at the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) Convention in Salt Lake City, Utah. Held annually, this convention serves as the country’s largest gathering of Hispanic STEM students and professionals.
October 2023
Excerpts from the article:
Metastasis is a process involving the migration of cancer cells from their primary site to other parts of the body. Recent studies have identified S100A9, a protein typically released by immune cells, as a key player in this process. Its normal role is to regulate inflammation. However, an excess of S100A9 can attract cancer cells like a magnet, causing them to form aggressive tumors and facilitating their spread to other organs, such as the lungs.
A team led by Nicole Steinmetz, a professor of nanoengineering at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering, developed a vaccine candidate that can modulate the levels of S100A9 when it goes haywire. When injected subcutaneously, the vaccine stimulated the immune system in mice to produce antibodies against S100A9, effectively reducing the protein levels and minimizing cancer metastasis to the lungs. The vaccine also increased the expression of immune-stimulating proteins with anti-tumor properties, while decreasing the levels of immune-suppressing proteins.
Read the full story by Liezel Labios with publication links here.
August 2023
Ethan Lucsik received the 2023 ACS Colloid and Surface Chemistry PUI Student Award in the division of Surface Chemistry, pictured third from the right at the ACS meeting award reception. Ethan participated in the UCSD MRSEC 2023 RIMSE Summer School on Silicon Nanotechnology, as an REU and UCSD-CSULB DDI Scholar (UCSD and California State University, Long Beach partnered Doctoral Diversity Initiative). The UCSD-CSULB DDI goal is to increase diversity of students successfully completing PhD programs and entering leadership positions in academia in the field of Materials Science.
This accolade comes in addition to his RIMSE 2023 Award for Exceptional Achievement in Materials Analysis! Congratulations Ethan!
August 2023
Congratulations to Dr. Debika Datta, for her recognition by ACS in Leadership in Promotion of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Respect! This recognition category highlights outstanding efforts that promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and respect in the program. Activities may include participation in recruitment to enhance diversity, engagement in impactful conversations that strengthen the culture of inclusivity, and efforts to identify and eliminate inequities in the department/institution-wide. Other recognition categories include Mentoring and Promotion of Research Safety.
Debika also played a key leadership role in UC San Diego MRSEC's Trainee Leadership Advisory Committee (TLAC), as the IRG2 head representative, overseeing the subdivisions of the trainee committee in their efforts. TLAC acts a liaison between UC San Diego MRSEC trainees and leadership, providing means to identify trainee needs, issues, concerns, and suggestions for improvement and increase opportunities for collaboration within and across the IRG1 and IRG2 groups. Debika will be completing her two year TLAC Lead appointment in October 2023, and is currently mentoring her appointed successor, Aaron Bruckbauer.
July 2023
IRG1 Co-lead, Professor Tod Pascal and IRG1 Affiliate Trainee, Sasawat Jamnuch are among a team of international researchers that "has uncovered nanoscale changes inside solid-state batteries that could offer new insights into improving battery performance." Read the full UC San Diego Today article here by Liezel Labios.
May 2023
IRG1 Trainee, Yufei Wang, from Prof. Andrea Tao's lab won the People's Choice Award for her poster presentation, “Computation-Guided Tunable Self-Assembly of Nanocrystals.” The People's Choice Award, was voted by the 2023 Research Expo participants, and came with a $500 cash prize and a Sony PlayStation® 5 console, courtesy of one of the event’s sponsors. Congrats Yufei!
The annual flagship event is an opportunity for graduate students to showcase their research to industry and community partners, recruiters, and faculty from across the Jacobs School. Read more here.
February 2023
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IRG1 Co-lead, Professor Tod Pascal has been selected for 2023 Sloan Research fellowship, a prestigious award granted to promising researchers likely to emerge as the next generation of scientific leaders, the Aflred P. Sloan Foundation. Prof. Pascal was one of four recipients from UC San Diego and one of 17 early-career UC faculty. Each fellow receives a two-year, $75,000 fellowship, which can be used flexibly to advance their research. A Sloan Research fellowship is one of the most distinguished awards available to young researchers, in part because so many recipients have gone on to become unparalleled leaders in their fields — 57 Fellows have received a Nobel Prize, 17 have won the Fields Medal in mathematics, and 23 have won the John Bates Clark Medal in economics, including every winner since 2007.
UC San Diego Today article | UC press release| Sloan announcement
The UC San Diego MRSEC Trainee Leadership Advisory Council (TLAC) organized a beach clean up on Sat., Jan. 14 as part of UC San Diego's Changemaker Week 2023 - an annual campus-wide initiative is dedicated to making our world more just, inclusive, and sustainable through public and community service, research, social innovation, and much more. Coordinated with “I Love A Clean San Diego”, the event aimed to highlight the problem with existing plastics and their impact on our environment, which the UCSD MRSEC is striving to solve by developing new biodegradable material using environmentally friendly processes.
December 2022
Zheng Chen, UC San Diego MRSEC SEED Faculty, lead team of scientists at UC San Diego and other institutions to win $10M grant from the US Department of Energy. The collaborative project aims to promote battery recycling and reuse. It's part of a $74M award from the United States Department of Energy program on Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for ten programs that are at the forefront of battery recycling technology for electric vehicles. In addition, the California Energy Commission is also contributing a $1.2M matching fund to support the development in California.
December 2022
Nicole Steinmetz, UC San Diego MRSEC Faculty, is among UC San Diego’s new inductees to the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). NAI fellowship is the highest professional distinction awarded to academic inventors. The NAI Fellows Program highlights academic inventors who have demonstrated a spirit of innovation in creating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on the quality of life, economic development, and the welfare of society.
Read more here.
October 2022
MRSEC Latest Stories: Engineering a Solution to a Skin-Deep Problem of Blood Oxygen Measurements
Blood oxygen monitoring is one of the main methods to determine if COVID-19 patients need immediate medical attention, but the devices used for these measurements can be less accurate on darker skin tones. A team of UC San Diego researchers led by Jesse Jokerst, a professor of nanoengineering, developed an equation to correct this discrepancy. Read More»
September 2022
The Center's IRG2 Co-Lead and PI, Nicole Steinmetz, named a 2022 Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) Fellow! Congratulations!
The BMES Grade of Fellow is a professional distinction granted by the Board of Directors to a BMES member. This individual has demonstrated impactful achievements and has made significant contributions to the biomedical engineering community. They also have considerable leadership within their field of interest and served within the Society.
July 2022
Congratulations to our IRG2 SEED Faculty, Lisa Poulikakos, being named a recipient of the 2022 Beckman Young Investigator Award!
July 2022
Congratulations to our IRG1 trainees, Dong Le (Image 1) and Baharak Sayahpour (Image 2), for receiving the 2022 American Society of Materials (ASM) International Abe Hurlich Award (the San Diego chapter)!
July 2022
Congratulations to our IRG1 trainee, Krista Balto, for winning the UC San Diego Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry Teddy Traylor Award for her work in MOFs and her UC San Diego MRSEC project! The Teddy Traylor Award is for given for meritorious research and productivity by a third or fourth year graduate students.
The Teddy Traylor Award is named after one of the department's founding faculty member, a pioneer in organometallic chemistry, with a remarkable history. Professor Traylor taught organic chemistry courses, and incorporated innovative teaching methods, such as using a banjo to illustrate the wave-like properties of electrons. Additional information about Prof. Traylor can be found here: http://texts.cdlib.org/
May 2022
"Modulation of Surface Electronic States in epitaxial BaTiO3 for Enhanced Hydrogen Evolution Activity." Abbasi P, Barrone M ,Valdespino-Padilla D, Salev P, Kim T, Paik H, Jáuregui M, Schuller IK, Schlom DG, Pascal TA and Fenning DP, Nano Letters, in press. doi://10.1021/acs.nanolett.
The above multi-IRG1 faculty and trainee publication cover image for manuscript was selected for upcoming Nano Letters Journal print in August 2022. Nano Letters is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the American Chemical Society.
May 2022
Assistant Professor of Physics Alex Frañó incorporates EDI into his research, teaching and outreach. He has mentored students from the Cal-Bridge Physics & Astronomy South Steering Committee as well as UC LEADS and the University Center of Exemplary Mentoring program.
Frañó’s research group includes numerous students and postdoctoral scholars from underrepresented groups. He created a classroom project that allows students to choose a faculty research paper and interview that faculty member about their work. This is especially impactful for underrepresented students who often have less opportunity to connect with faculty and research. Frañó recently received the American Physical Society Forum Diversity and Inclusion Award for Early Career Scientists.
The awards were created by the division’s EDI committee, comprised of faculty and staff from the chemistry and biochemistry, mathematics and physics departments. EDI initiatives are driven by the ongoing efforts of the faculty, students, postdoctoral scholars and staff within the division. These awards honor those who have generated intentional, sustained, impactful and innovative EDI efforts.
April 2022
Congratulations to Rachel Myers, a 2021 UC San Diego MRSEC REU participant, for her 2022 Goldwater Scholarship award. Rachel is completing her B.S. at University of Maryland Baltimore County in chemical engineering. The Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Program is designed to provide the United States with “a continuing source of highly qualified scientists, mathematicians, and engineers” to move the nation forward. More than 1,200 students applied from over 425 institutions across the country this year. The program selected a total of 417 scholars to receive Goldwater scholarships for 2022-23.
UMBC News
2022 Goldwater Scholars
March 2022
Congratulations to IRG2’s Professor Darren Lipomi for receiving the NSF's Boosting Research Ideas for Transformative and Equitable Advances in Engineering (BRITE) Pivot Award! The BRITE Pivot award is intended to enable researchers to quickly adapt to the fast-moving pace of research and create new knowledge and research products in their field by infusing new concepts from a different discipline or sub-field.
Congratulations to our SEED program's Professor Shaochen Chen, for receiving NSF's BRITE Fellow grant for "Intelligent Nanoscale 3D Biomanufacturing Towards Human-on-a-Chip." As a Principal Investigator Prof. Chen will create a nanoscale biomanufacturing platform powered by artificial intelligence that can serve as a functional, three-dimensional model of human tissues, organs and systems. This “human-on-a-chip” could transform regenerative medicine and tools for disease modeling, drug screening, environmental studies and other applications.
Congratulations to IRG1’s Professor Tod Pascal for winning a CAREER award from the National Science Foundation (NSF)! The Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program is a Foundation-wide activity that offers the National Science Foundation’s most prestigious awards in support of early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education and to lead advances in the mission of their department or organization
Friday, February 11th is the International Day of Women and Girls in Science
For more info visit https://www.un.org/en/observances/women-and-girls-in-science-day/Messages
January 2022
Congratulations to Professor Shirley Meng on her recognition by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the largest general science organization in the world and publisher of the journal Science! As a 2021 AAAS Fellow, Professor Meng was cited for "innovative and original discovery of interfacial sciences in energy storage materials that has led to improved battery technologies." Her research group – the Laboratory for Energy Storage and Conversion (LESC) – focuses on functional nano- and micro-scale materials for energy storage and conversion. Her research focus includes the design, synthesis, processing, and operating characterization of energy storage materials in advanced rechargeable batteries; new intercalation materials for sodium ion batteries; and advanced flow batteries for large scale storage on the grid. For more information, visit https://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/pressrelease/2021AAASFellows.
December 2021
Pilot group of seven Francis Parker students and two faculty visit UC San Diego MRSEC to explore research opportunities and partnerships to improve and expand K-12 education in STEM fields. The group was hosted by Professor Mike Sailor and Professor Tod Pascal for half a day to tour the Center and its facilities. For more details, please click here.
April 8, 2021 | Source: Materials Research Society
Dr. Akif Tezcan, Professor at the Chemistry & Biochemistry Department at UC San Diego, and UC San Diego MRSEC IRG1-Affiliated Faculty has been awarded the 2021 Guggenheim Fellowship. Appointed on the basis of prior achievement and exceptional promise, the successful candidates were chosen from a group of almost 3,000 applicants. Created in 1925 by Senator Simon and Olga Guggenheim in memory of their son John Simon Guggenheim, the Foundation has offered fellowships to exceptional individuals in pursuit of scholarship in any field of knowledge and creation in any art form, under the freest possible conditions.
Read the full story here.
March 31, 2021 | Source: Materials Research Society
Dr. Shirley Meng, Professor at the Department of Nanoengineering at UC San Diego, Director of the Institute for Materials Discovery and Design (IMDD), and UC San Diego MRSEC's Facilities/External Relations Lead has been selected to the Class of 2021 MRS Fellows. The title of MRS Fellow honors those MRS members who are notable for their distinguished research accomplishments and their outstanding contributions to the advancement of materials research, world-wide. The maximum number of new Fellow appointments each year is limited up to 0.2% of the current MRS regular membership and to those with continuous engagement with MRS. Thus, the distinction is highly selective. Congratulations, Professor Meng!
For additional information, visit https://www.mrs.org/careers-advancement/awards/spring-awards/mrs-fellows/list-of-mrs-fellows
March 9, 2021 | Source: UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering
Professor at the Department of Nanoengineering at UC San Diego, and the UC San Diego MRSEC IRG2 Co-Lead, Dr. Nicole Steinmetz, was honored to become a Fellow of the International Association of Advanced Materials in recognition of her contribution to "Advancement of Materials to Global Excellence". Congratulations, Professor Steinmetz!
February 9, 2021 | Source: Research Corporation for Science Advancement
Research Corporation for Science Advancement has named 25 outstanding teacher-scholars in chemistry, physics, and astronomy as recipients of its 2021 Cottrell Scholar Awards. Alex Frañó, Professor at the Department of Physics at the University of California San Diego, and a MRSEC-affiliated faculty was among this year's recipients.
Recipients are chosen through a rigorous peer-review process of applications from top research universities, degree-granting research institutes, and primarily undergraduate institutions in the United States and Canada. Their award proposals incorporate both science education and research. Each award is $100,000. Congratulations, Professor Frañó!
Read the full story here.
October 30, 2020 | Source: UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced more than $27 million in funding for 12 projects that will support the development of advanced renewable plastics and new recyclable-by-design plastics. Two of the dozen projects—collectively funded for more than $4 million—belong to UC San Diego researchers: Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and Director of the Center for Renewable Materials, Michael Burkart and Professor of Nanoengineering Jon Pokorski (pictured right), both part of the university’s Institute for Materials Discovery and Design.
Part of DOE’s Plastics Innovation Challenge, these projects will help improve existing recycling processes that break plastics into chemical building blocks, which can in turn be used to make new products. For example, Burkart, Skip Pomeroy (chemistry and biochemistry) and Stephen Mayfield (biology) have developed algae-based polyurethane foams used in commercial products like surfboards and flip-flops that are partially biodegradable. The new $2 million from the DOE toward their project will further their goal of achieving full renewability.
Read the full story here.
August 13, 2020 | Source: UC San Diego News
Women in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry are taking bold steps toward increased balance and fairness on campus. For example, Department Chair and Distinguished Professor Vicki Grassian set the pace by establishing the role of Vice Chair of Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Climate (VC-EDIC). Professor Stacey Brydges—a long-time leader in chemistry education and ardent champion of social justice and access to/retention in STEM—quickened the pace when she became the inaugural vice chair.
Grassian is a leader who works collaboratively to effect change. She previously served as executive associate dean for the Division of Physical Sciences and led the Task Force on the Status of Women in the Physical Sciences along with Associate Dean of EDI Alison Coil. Brydges, who was part of that task force—along with other scientists in the division—said that the processes and products used by the task force offer a great template from which to work.
Full article here.
JULY 16, 2020 | Source: Energy.gov
A flip flop prototype made by Algenesis in their UCSD laboratory. Photo credit: Daniel Fishman
Foams are a ubiquitous consumer product, supporting people in many different ways – think yoga mats, seat cushions, mattresses, insulation, footwear, and more. These diverse products all have one thing in common: they’re made from polyurethane. Most polyurethanes are made from petroleum, but in recent years foam makers have tried to incorporate renewable building blocks made from plants and algae. Until now, creating foams entirely from plants and algae was impractical, but researchers at Algenesis in La Jolla, California, are making exciting progress towards changing that!
When the Advanced Algal Systems team at the Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO), led by technical manager Daniel Fishman, last caught up with this group of researchers based at the University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego), including this blog’s co-author Professor Michael Burkart (IRG 2), they were making waves (literally!) with the world’s first algae-based surfboard. While that breakthrough generated interest globally, the BETO and UCSD project partners knew there was more work to be done, because the foam that went into the surfboard, and a range of other products like flip-flops, was only half algae. The other half of the foam recipe still called for a petroleum-based family of chemicals known as isocyanates.
Full article here.
JULY 9, 2020 | Source: UC San Diego News
The UC San Diego MRSEC center provides sustained research and educational opportunities for both graduate and undergraduate students, with a particular focus on transfer students. Photos by Erik Jepsen/University Communications
The National Science Foundation has awarded University of California San Diego researchers a six-year $18 million grant to fund a new Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (MRSEC).
These research centers are transformative for the schools that earn them, putting their materials science research efforts into the global spotlight. In addition to research and facilities funding, MRSEC centers provide sustained research opportunities for both graduate and undergraduate students, and resources to focus on diversifying the pool of students studying materials science.
The UC San Diego labs funded by this new MRSEC will focus on two important, emerging approaches to build new materials aimed at improving human lives. The first research theme is all about developing new ways to control the properties of materials during their synthesis by controlling how they transition, from the smallest atomic building blocks to materials that are large enough to see with the human eye. The second research theme is focused on creating hybrid materials that incorporate living substances—microbes and plant cells—in order to create materials with new properties.
The new materials developed at UC San Diego will be used to improve the speed and accuracy of medical diagnostic tests, enable more effective therapeutics for disease treatment, quickly and efficiently decontaminate chemical or biological hazards, improve batteries, and reduce the cost of key industrial processes.
Full article here.