PSU Grad Student Wins Microscopy Society Presidential Award

ONAMI press release: Micah Eastman earned this year's MSA Presidential Student Award for his paper entitled, "Electron Microscopy Characterization of ZnO:Mn Nanowires." It was published in the Microscopy & Microanalysis 2009 proceedings (along with four papers from fellow research group members from Prof. Jun Jiao's group at Portland State University).

Micah Eastman is a Ph.D student working in Prof. Jun Jiao's group in the Physics Department, Portland State University. His research focuses on dopant mechanisms and effects in ZnO nanowires as well as hybrid materials for solar cell and bio-device applications. Micah received a B.S. in Physics from Oregon State University and joined Professor Jiao's group in the Fall of 2006. Over the past three years, he has participated in an NSF funded International Research in Education and Engineering program at the University of Cambridge, UK and a German student exchange program with the Technical University of Chemnitz, Germany.

Through these programs and use of the Center for Electron Microscopy and Nanofabrication (an ONAMI signature facility at PSU), he has developed into a skilled electron microscopist. He has been able to share his expertise with others by providing training through PSU's REU program and through a teaching assistantship for the department's electron microscopy courses (for which he won an Outstanding Teaching Assistant of the Year award in 2008). Micah has also been involved in local student groups as he is the current president of PSU's Physics Club & Society of Physics Students local chapter.

Welcome Jennifer Knutson, REU Program Assistant

It is my honor to introduce Jennifer Knutson as the new REU program assistant. Jennifer began interning with the REU program this summer and has quickly proven herself to be an invaluable asset to the program and Dr. Jiao’s team.

Jennifer is highly experienced, holding positions with museums, extension services, and high-tech companies. With her many years of project management and technical writing experience, Jennifer will no doubt help lead the program in new and exciting directions. Jennifer is currently completing a bachelor’s degree with an emphasis on technical writing. She will begin the master’s in writing program fall 2010.

Jennifer will officially start August 17 and can be reached at reuga@pdx.edu. Please welcome Jennifer Knutson to the REU program!

M&M Conference

Dr. Jiao and post-doctoral researcher Haiyan Li will travel to Richmond, Virginia this weekend to attend the 2009 Microscopy & Microanalysis meeting. Five members of Dr. Jiao's lab prepared posters for this year's conference. Check back for a full report on the conference.

Members of Dr. Jiao's Lab Mentor REU Participants

The Research Experience for Undergraduates program started today (June 22, 2009). Four members of Dr. Jiao's lab are mentoring REU participants and Saturday Academy's Apprenticeship in Science & Engineering interns. After meeting with their mentee, lab members will include participants in their research, potentially publishing results garnered over the course of the summer. Dr. Jiao founded the REU program at Portland State in 2001. For more information, visit the REU website.

Microscopy Society of America Announces Presidential Awards 2009

Micah Eastman earned this year's Presidential Award for his paper entitled, "Characterization of Low-Temperature Growth ZnO-Modified TiO2 Nanowires." Many members of the group also had their abstracts accepted.

Manuscript Accepted for Publication in Nano Letters

Group member Jianfeng Wu's paper entitled, "Fabrication and Field Emission Properties of Triode-Type Carbon Nanotube Emitter Arrays" was accepted by Nano Letters and will published in the near future on the Web. In the report, Wu describes an effective method for the fabrication of a large number of triode type micro-gated carbon nanotube field emitter arrays, combining dual-beam focused ion beam technology and plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. This technique avoids the tedious lithography and wet chemistry procedures conventionally used to fabricate such structures. View full citation on the Publications page.

Timothy Gutu's Image Selected for April 2009 Cover of Materials Today

More than 125 pictures competed for a spot on the Materials Today cover. Tim's SEM image shows functionalized Coscinodiscus wailesii biosilica. The biosilica were functionalized using a chemical bath deposition technique with a nanostructured thin film of cadmium sulphide. This CdS coating is expected to impart optoelectronic properties to the dielectric biosilica and increase the applications of the intricate diatom biosilica. The image will be featured on the April 2009 edition of the journal as well as included in their 2009 calendar.

Cambridge Collaboration: Part II

Micah Eastman returned from a summer long research experience in Germany just in time to start fall classes. This is the second summer Micah was funded by a supplemental grant from the National Science Foundation to conduct microscopy research.

Microscopy Society of America Announces Presidential Awards

Timothy Gutu, Ph.D. Researcher in Physics, presented his award winning paper entitled, "Electron Microscopy Analysis of CdS Coated Diatom Cell Walls," at the annual Microscopy and Microanalysis meeting in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Also winning awards at the conference for the third year in a row, Jianfeng Wu took home the first place prize for his poster entitled, "Synthesis and Field Emission Properties of Micro-Gated Carbon Nanotube Field Emitter Arrays." The conference was held at the Albuquerque Convention Center from August 3-7, 2008.

2008 Sigma Xi Awards Honor Researchers

Four members of Dr. Jiao's research team presented at the Fourth Annual Student Research Symposium hosted by Columbia-Willamette Chapter of Sigma Xi. Nicole Thomas, Jianfeng Wu,Devon McClain, and Timothy Gutu participated in the event, displaying posters related to nanotubetechnology and research. McClain won second place in the physics category while Wu took home third prize.

Right: Jianfeng Wu displays his award for his poster entitled: Direct Growth of Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes for the Characterization of Structural and Electronic Properties.

Cambridge Collaboration

From June 22 to September 21, 2007, Micah Eastman was supported by a supplemental grant under the NSF’s “International Research and Education in Engineering” and traveled with Dr. Jun Jiao to Cambridge University in the United Kingdom and conducted collaborative research for controlled fabrication of carbon nanotube field emitter arrays at the Center for Advanced Photonics and Electronics.

At Cambridge University, Micah learned how to use electron beam lithography to pattern catalyst nanoparticles for the fabrication of carbon nanotube emitter arrays. He also reported his research findings at the NSF Grantee Conference held at Purdue University from October 30 to November 1, 2007.

2007 Northwest Undergraduate Research Conference

A former REU participant and member of Dr. Jiao's group, Steven Youkey, presented his research entitled "Dielectrophoretic Alignment of DNA-Wrapped SWCNTs" at the Northwest Undergraduate Research Conference in April 2007. The conference was hosted by Oregon Health and Science University's (OHSU) School of Medicine, in Portland.

2005 PSU REU Students at the Northwest Undergraduate Science Research Conference

The Northwest Undergraduate Science Research Conference was held Saturday, April 9, 2005. This conference was sponsored by Oregon Health and Science University's (OHSU) School of Medicine, in Portland. This year, three REU students attended the conference, presenting their work in Power Point, followed by a question and answer period. Their audience included other participants and professional researchers. Vachara Chirayos, Jocelyn Bush, and Vinh Ho did a skillful job presenting their research and responding to questions from the audience.

Two Students Receive Awards from the Pacific Northwest Microscopy Society (PNMS)

Two undergraduate students who attended the PNMA Conference held in Hillsboro Oregon, September 30-October 1, 2004, have been honored with awards. Nataliya Dubina won Second Place in the Poster Session and Chiaching Pan also earned Second Place in one of the Poster Sessions.

2004 Science and Technology Society's Symposium

Four graduate students and two undergraduates from Dr. Jiao's group presented their research in the poster sessions at the PNWAVS Science and Technology Society's Symposium, held June 15-18, 2004 in Richland, WA. The afternoon session topic on the first day of the Symposium focused on Nanoscience. Dr. Jiao served as one of the session Chairs.

Lifeng Dong (Post-Doc), Joshua Green (MS Student), James A. Hedberg (MS Students), and Nataliya Dubina (Undergraduate) presented their research in the Wednesday poster session. Jeremy Petty (MS Student) and Chiaching Pan (Undergraduate) presented their posters during the Thursday session. Congratulations to all of them for their hard work this year!

2004 Northwest Undergraduate Research Conference

The Northwest Undergraduate Science Research Conference was sponsored by the Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU). This year, three REU students attended and presented their work in physics and chemistry. Joshua Green presented on the "Synthesis and Characterization of Molybdenum Sulfide Nanostructures."