School Notes: School of Engineering & Applied Science
November/December 2008

Applied physics professor wins prestigious award

The American Physical Society has honored Robert Schoelkopf, professor of applied physics and physics, with the 2009 Joseph F. Keithley Award for Advances in Measurement Science, an annual award conferred by the society "to recognize physicists who have been instrumental in the development of measurement techniques or equipment that have impact on the physics community by providing better measurements."

The award citation specifically acknowledges Schoelkopf's development, along with his team, of a radio-frequency single-electron transistor. Although versions of this type of transistor already existed, Schoelkopf discovered a way to make it much faster and more sensitive -- allowing physicists to understand how electrons move about tiny circuits and opening the door for a whole new class of measurements in a number of fields, including astronomy.

Schoelkopf has also employed microwave techniques in his invention of a self-calibrating thermometer by precisely measuring the electrical noise of single electrons passing through nanodevices. The results have applications in metrology, the science of measurement used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures to define scientific units.

Schoelkopf will receive his award at the annual APS meeting next spring.

New faculty will expand areas of expertise

Four recent additions to the faculty at SEAS -- three in chemical engineering and one in mechanical engineering -- add depth to the existing strengths of those departments.

Appointed as assistant professors of chemical engineering are: Jodie L. Lutkenhaus, who specializes in polymeric materials and composites for electrochemical sensing, energy storage, and harvesting; Corey J. Wilson, whose research interests include understanding the physicochemical properties that dictate protein folding, stability, assembly, and function using experimental and computational approaches; and Andre Taylor, who specializes in MEMs/microsystems, fuel cells, batteries, and organic semiconductors.

As assistant professor of mechanical engineering, Nicholas Ouellette will work on two-dimensional and rotating turbulence, with application to atmospheric flow, and on driven complex fluids.

All four professors began their appointments with the fall 2008 semester.