PhD students Joel Lefever and Danny Strickland passed their qualifying exams and have moved to candidacy. Congratulations Joel and Danny!

Kate Murphy's study showing the effect of organometallic clamp properties on the mechanical behavior of nanowires is published in Nanotechnology. See the publications page for details. Group member Lisa Chen is a co-author on this paper. Way to go, Kate!

Kate Murphy is a recipient of the GAPSA Presidential Award, which will help defray the cost of her upcoming trip to present at the MRS 2013 spring meeting in San Francisco. Congratulations Kate!

Mo-rigen He, Dan Magagnosc, Lisa Chen, and DSG attended the TMS 2013 annual meeting in San Antonio. Mo-rigen, Dan M., and Lisa presented talks on their research.

Dan Magagnosc's study showing tunable tensile ductility in metallic glass nanowires is published in Nature's new open access journal, Scientific Reports. See the publications page for details. Group member Mo-rigen He and alumnus Roman Ehrbar are co-authors on this paper. Way to go, Dan!

Our group's study showing the effect of alloying with Mo in Al thin films is published in Acta Materialia. Using microtensile testing of sputter-deposited freestanding thin films, the elastic and plastic properties of Al-Mo alloys are reported, which show three distinct microstructural regimes, including solid solutions, FCC and amorphous phase mixtures, and BCC/amorphous mixtures. The single-step co-sputtering procedure presented here results in diversity of alloy compositions and microstructures, providing the opportunity to study a large property space of mechanical behavior of thin films. Our collaborators include NCEM, University of Alberta, and JHU. See the publications page for details.

Our group's study showing the role of confinement in controlling stress-driven grain growth in nanocrystalline thin films is published in Journal of Applied Physics. Mo-rigen is a co-author and the work is the product of a collaboration with Prof. Diana Farkas at Virginia Tech. See the publications page for details.

Brian Piccione's PhD research work (advised by Prof. Ritesh Agarwal) showing all-optical photonic switching in CdS nanowires sees additional press in thePhiladelphia Inquirer. His work was recently published in Nature Nanotechnology.

Joel Lefever and Danny Strickland join the research group as PhD students, and Min Li joins as a Masters student. Please see group page for more details. Welcome, Danny, Joel, and Min!

PhD student Lisa Chen was selected as 1 of 12 finalists in the Society of Engineering Sciences graduate student competition. Lisa will be presenting at SES 2012 in Atlanta. Congratulations, Lisa!

Lisa Chen's study showing size-dependent nonlinear elastic deformation in Pd nanowhiskers owing to lattic anharmonicity is published in Physical Review Letters. See the publications page for details. Way to go, Lisa!

Brian Piccione's PhD research work (advised by Prof. Ritesh Agarwal) showing all-optical photonic switching in CdS nanowires was covered in Time Magazine. His work was recently published in Nature Nanotechnology.

Our group member Brian Piccione won the Early Career Recognition award, given by the Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics at Penn State University, his alma mater. From the award announcement: "This award is to provide recognition to ESM graduates who have achieved significant success early in their careers, identify "role models" who can inspire current ESM students, and recognize the potential of ESM graduates to broadly contribute to improving society." Congratulations, Brian!

Our PhD student Lisa Chen was awarded best poster award at the Gordon Research Conference on Thin Films and Small Scale Mechanical Behavior for her work on size-dependent elastic and plastic behavior in Pd nanowhiskers. Congratulations, Lisa!

Lisa Chen, Dan Magagnosc, and DSG attended the Gordon Research Conference on Thin Films and Small Scale Mechanical Behavior in Waterville, ME. Lisa and Dan M. presented posters and DSG gave a talk.

PhD student Dan Magagnosc passed his qualifying exam and has moved to candidacy. Congratulations Dan!

We welcome a new postdoctoral fellow, Dr. Brian Piccione, to the group. Dr. He joins us after completing his PhD work at UPenn. Please see group page for more details. Welcome Brian!

Our undergraduate research assistant Mike Citrin has been awarded a Littlejohn Research Fellowship to conduct research over the summer. Congratulations, Mike!

The Materials Research Society (MRS) has hosted a "Science as Art" competition at its Spring and Fall Meetings since 2005. This video features the winning image "Nano Spaghetti and Meatballs" submitted by DSG and Dr. Blythe Clark (Sandia).

Congressman Chaka Fattah, who represents the 2nd district of Philadelphia, offered a congratulations to the DSG group for receiving the DOE Early Career Award. Please see the press release from Congressman Fattah's office for more details.

DSG receives an Early Career Award from the Department of Energy. The Early Career Research Program provides grants to scientists early in their careers. The award is supported through DOE Basic Energy Sciences and will support research on modulating thermal transport phenomena via elastic strain at extreme limits of strength. Please see the School of Engineering Press Release for more details. We are grateful for support from DOE!

Dagny Fleischman and Pat Malone attended the SPIE Defense Security and Sensing 2012 meeting in Baltimore and presented talks on synthesis of silicon nanowires via electron-beam templating and metal-assisted catalytic etching, and effects of impurities on stress-driven microstructural evolution in nanocrystalline aluminum.

Kate Murphy and Dagny Fleischman attended the Materials Research Society spring 2012 meeting in San Francisco. Kate presented a talk entitled tuning transport phenomena in silicon nanowires via elastic strain, and Dagny presented a poster on size, shape, orientation, doping, and array control of silicon nanowires via electron-beam templating and metal-assisted etching. Congratulations to Kate for receiving a GAPSA travel award, and Dagny for receiving a University Scholars travel grant!

PhD student Dan Magagnosc is a recipient of a prestigious National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship. Congratulations Dan!

Kate Murphy is one of this year's recipients of the Geoffrey Belton Fellowship, which recognizes outstanding PhD students. Congratulations Kate!

Lisa Chen and Roman Ehrbar attended the Materials Research Society fall 2011 meeting in Boston and presented talks on temperature and strain-rate dependent incipient plasticity in fcc nanowhiskers, and in situ tensile testing of nanoimprinted Pt-based metallic glass rods. Congratulations to Lisa for receiving a GAPSA travel award!

Kate Murphy attended the Society of Engineering Sciences 2011 Annual Meeting hosted by Northwestern University and presented her work on in situ experiments on the electromechanical behavior of semiconductor nanowires. Congratulations to Kate for receiving a GAPSA travel award!

We welcome a new PhD student, Dan Magagnosc, to the group. Dan joins us after completing his B.S. at Penn State. Please see group page for more details. Welcome Dan!

We welcome a new postdoctoral fellow, Dr. Mo-rigen He, to the group. Dr. He joins us after completing his PhD work at Tsinghua University. Please see group page for more details. Welcome Mo-rigen!

Through an NSF Materials Research Science and Engineering Center, the Laboratory for Research on the Structure of Matter has been awarded a $21.7 million grant. DSG is a co-PI on one of the 4 Interdisciplinary Research Groups that investigates the mechanics of disordered materials.

Ryan McCaffrey attended the SEM 2011 Annual Meeting and presented his work on three-dimensional mechanics of microcellular solids using scanning confocal microscopy.

DSG gave a talk in a symposium organized by Pennergy (Penn Center for Energy Innovation) on Materials Under Extremes. The event was terrific and very interesting, and brought together excellent speakers.

Our research group was awarded a Materials World Network grant from the National Science Foundation to investigate the role of impurities that control stress-driven grain growth in nanocrystalline metals. The project is a collaboration with the University of Sydney in Australia and Johns Hopkins University.

DSG attended the TMS 2011 Annual Meeting in San Diego and gave an invited talk as part of a symposium on the mechanics of one-dimensional materials.

DSG was hosted by the CMU Materials Science & Engineering Department , gave a seminar, and met with students and faculty. Thanks to the department for a great visit!

DSG served as a panel member following a public screening of "Smarter," the final episode of the NOVA Making Stuff series at the WHYY studios in downtown Philadelphia. Thanks to the folks at Drexel and WHYY for organizing, Jody Roberts at the Chemical Heritage Foundation for moderating, and fellow panel members Prof. Gogotsi, Taheri, and Carpick for a great event!

Our research group, along with several MSE undergraduate and graduate students, particpated in the inaugural Philly Materials Science and Engineering Day 2011. A joint effort between Drexel University and University of Pennsylvania, Philly Materials Day introduced materials that are stronger, cleaner, smaller, and smarter to the general public. Kids and adults of all ages attended and visited a diverse set of hands-on demonstrations and lectures. Thanks to Kate, Lisa, You-Jung, Ryan, Jue, Steve, and MSE undergrads for helping set-up and run the non-Newtonian fluids, crying of tin, buckyballs, superconductors, and strain hardening demos. DSG was also a member of the panel, "Ask an Engineer."

DSG has received a faculty CAREER award from the National Science Foundation. The Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program provides grants to young faculty with innovative research and educational programs. Please see the School of Engineering Press Release for more details.

The quarterly magazine Penn Engineering featured an article, entitled "The Nano Mechanic", on our research interests and efforts. Thanks to Catherine von Elm for writing a fun and very accessible piece. Please see the Penn Engineering Magazine website to read the article in the Fall 2010 issue.

We welcome visiting graduate student Roman Ehrbar from ETH-Zurich to our group. Please see group page for more details. Welcome Roman!

DSG attended the Plasticity 2011 Conference in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. He gave an invited talk as part of a symposium honoring the lifetime contributions from Prof. William Nix from Stanford to the field of mechanical behavior of materials, particularly materials with low dimensionality.

DSG was hosted by the UMBC Mechanical Engineering Department , gave a seminar, and met with students and faculty. Thanks to the department for a great visit!

Our undergraduate research assistant Dagny Fleischman was accepted into the University Scholars Program at Penn. From the University Scholars Website - "The University Scholars program provides an unusual academic environment for intellectually dynamic students who have already demonstrated their commitment and dedication to research. Through mentoring, research funding and scholarly events the program encourages and supports students to make the most of their undergraduate years, not only with in-depth research, but also by making an early start in graduate and professional courses, ranging widely or in some cases focusing narrowly on their curricular choices." Congratulations, Dagny!

Our PhD student Lisa Chen was awarded a fellowship to attend the 2011 Winter Microscopy School at Arizona State University. Congratulations, Lisa!

DSG attended the 2010 MRS Fall Meeting in Boston, MA. He co-organized a symposium and gave an oral presentation. The symposium was co-organized with Julia Greer (Caltech), Blythe Clark (Sandia), Ting Zhu (Georgia Tech), and Alfonso Ngan (Univ. of Hong Kong), and was titled "Deformation Mechanisms, Microstructure Evolution, and Mechanical Properties of Nanoscale Materials". The symposium had many excellent talks and was well-attended. Penn MSE also hosted our yearly reception at the Fall MRS Meeting on Tuesday evening.

Our image of nanostructures representing science as art entitled "Nano Spaghetti and Meatballs" was highlighted on the NOVA website. The feature, called The Art of Nanotech, showcases intriguing images of nanotechnology and nanoscience that contain some aesthetic appeal and foreshadows the upcoming NOVA 4-part series called Making Stuff about Materials Science and Engineering in modern times. This image was constructed in collaboration with Dr. Blythe Clark at Sandia National Labs

DSG attended the PREM fall meeting in Humacao, Puerto Rico, and gave an invited talk. The conference was an event for the Partnerships for Research and Education in Materials (PREM) between the University of Puerto Rico and UPenn. Thanks to the folks at University of Puerto Rico at Humacao for being terrific hosts!

DSG was hosted by the Materials Science Department and gave a seminar as part of their Materials Research Lectures Thanks to the department for a great visit!

New members join our research group. Mariam and You-Jung are Master's students, and Robin, Sid, and Jeff are undergrads in MSE. Please see group page for more details. Welcome to all!

DSG attended the Materials Science & Technology Conference in Houston, Texas and gave an invited talk in the Mechanical Behavior of Low Dimensional Materials Symposium.

PhD students Lisa Chen and Kate Murphy pass their qualifying exams and have moved to candidacy. Congratulations Kate and Lisa!

Our undergraduate research assistant Jue Pu was awarded a Class of 1971 Robert J. Holtz Research Grant to conduct independent research over the summer. Congratulations, Jue!

DSG is a co-author on a paper that recently appeared in Science magazine. The paper reports on experimental observations of the room temperature migration of grain boundaries in nanocrystalline Al thin films as a result of applied stress. Grain boundaries have traditionally been viewed as static structures that serve as obstacles to plastic deformation (dislocation motion) and are thought to be an effective mechanism for strengthening a material. We found that these grain boundaries are not nearly as static as traditionally thought and that their motion leads to growth of the grains and dramatic and important changes in the strength and mechanical behavior of a nanocrystalline material. It has long been assumed that the mechanical behavior of nanocrystalline materials was different than for traditional microcrystalline materials; we were able to show that the behavior is not only different but dynamic as well. Tim Rupert, now a PhD student at MIT, performed most of the experiments for his Masters thesis work at JHU. Please see the publications page for more research on the mechanical behavior of nanocrystalline metals.

Dr. Gunther Ricther from the Max Planck Insitutue for Metals Research in Stuttgart and Dr. Christoph Eberl from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology visited Penn this week. Dr. Richter is head of the Thin Film Laboratory and has recently developed a technique for synthesizing defect-free single crystalline metallic nanowhiskers with diameters as small as 10 nm. Dr. Eberl is the director of a research group investigating materials reliability at the microscale. Both delievered interesting seminars about their work and had extended research discussions with the group.

DSG delivered a videoconference program to high school students in the Philadelphia region, entitled "Size matters: smaller is better". Five high schools were dialed in, and the event consisted of a short lecture followed by interactive demonstrations on Non-Newtonian fluid, ductile to brittle transition in rubbers, and strain hardening in metals. Thanks to Dagny and Steve S. for help with the demo prep, and to MAGPI and Andrew McGhie for organizing a fun event.

New members join the research group. Josh, Kate, and Lisa are PhD students, Ryan a Master's student, and Rahil and Dagny are undergrads in MSE. Please see group page for more details. Welcome!

DSG hosted a Philadelphia-style Oktoberfest in the lab in 207 LRSM to welcome the new graduate students to MSE at Penn. Highlights included local micro-brews (no, not nano-brews), a tour of the PRNTF by Dr. Lolita Rotkina, and great conversation. Thanks to all that came!

DSG will be attending the 2009 MRS Fall Meeting in Boston, MA. He will be co-presenting a tutorial on small-scale mechanical behavior on Sunday, November 29th and giving an oral presentation on Tuesday, December 1st. The tutorial will be co-taught with Wei Cai (Stanford), Michael Uchic (Air Force Research Lab), Arthur Voter (LANL), Christian Motz (Univ. of Leoben), and Chris Eberl (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology) and is titled "Experimental and Simulation Methods for the Study of Plasticity in Small Volumes". DSG's talk is entitled "Investigations of Deformation Mechanisms in Ultra High Strength Nanowhiskers", and will highlight in situ techniques for the mechanical testing of nanostructures. Penn MSE will also host our yearly reception at the Fall MRS Meeting on Tuesday evening. Keep posted for details!

Dr. Marc Legros from CEMES-CNRS in Toulouse, France was hosted by DSG for a visit to the MSE department at Penn.  Dr. Legros is an expert in in situ transmission electron microscopy, particularly as applied for the study of deformation in small volumes.  Dr. Legros gave a seminar in the LRSM reading room showing direct in situ observation of "pipe" diffusion -- or enhanced diffusion along a dislocation in a crystal -- in Al thin films with Si nanoprecipitates.  Dr. Legros and colleagues recently published this work in Science where they reported a 1000-fold increase in diffusivity along a dislocation line over that observed in the bulk crystal!

DSG's research on the mechanical testing of ultra-strong nanowhiskers -- or nanowires that are nearly defect-free -- is published in Nano Letters.  This work was in collaboration with Dr. Gunther Richter at the Max-Planck Institute for Metals Research in Stuttgart, Germany and colleagues at the Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe.  Dr. Richter discovered a novel synthesis route for growing pristine metal whiskers in an ultra-high vacuum environment.  We were able to devise a method for performing quantitative tensile tests of individual nanowhiskers inside of a dual-beam scanning electron and focused ion beam microscope.  The high strengths measured in Cu nanowhiskers (as high as 6 GPa -- nearly 1000 times stronger than bulk Cu!) reflect the high crystalline quality and defect-free nature of these nanostructures.  Please visit the publications page for details.

 Prof. Dan Gianola arrives at Penn beginning as an assistant professor in the Department of Materials Science & Engineering.  His newly renovated research labs are located in 207 and 210 LRSM and look great.