The Corrosion Division is currently accepting nominations for the following two awards:

Corrosion Division Morris Cohen Graduate Student Award: established in 1991 to recognize and reward outstanding graduate research in the field of corrosion science and/or engineering. The award consists of a framed scroll and $1,000 prize. The award, for outstanding Masters or PhD work, is open to graduate students who have successfully completed all the requirements for their degrees as testified to by the student’s advisor, within a period of two years prior to the nomination submission deadline.

Herbert H. Uhlig Award: established in 1972 to recognize excellence in corrosion research and outstanding technical contributions to the field of corrosion science and technology. The Award consists of $1500 and a framed scroll. The recipient is eligible for travel reimbursement in order to attend the Society meeting at which the Award is presented.

About H. H. Uhlig
Professor Herbert H. Uhlig was head of the Corrosion Laboratory, teacher, and graduate advisor at MIT for over thirty years. He authored hundreds of publications on the subjects of passivity, pitting, stress corrosion cracking, corrosion fatigue, and the oxidation of metals. Through the application of basic first principles to his research on corrosion phenomena, he is widely recognized as being one of the leaders responsible for establishing the field of corrosion science on a firm fundamental basis. Uhlig was an active ECS member and served as President from 1955-1956.

Application Deadline: December 15, 2016

Researchers are shedding new light on cell biology with the development of a graphene sensor to monitor changes in the mitochondria.

The one-atom-thin layer of carbon sensor is giving researchers a new outlook into the process known as programmed cell death in mitochondria. The mitochondrion, which is found in most cells, has been known as the powerhouse of the cell due to its ability to metabolize and create energy for cells. However, the new researcher out of University of California, Irving shows that that convention wisdom on how cells create energy is only half right.

This from UC Irving:

[Peter] Burke and his colleagues tethered about 10,000 purified mitochondria, separated from their cells, to a graphene sensor via antibodies capable of recognizing a protein in their outer membranes. The graphene’s qualities allowed it to function as a dual-mode sensor; its exceptional electrical sensitivity let researchers gauge fluctuations in the acidity levels surrounding the mitochondria, while its optical transparency enabled the use of fluorescent dyes for the staining and visualization of voltage across the inner mitochondrial membranes.

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A team of researchers from the University of California, San Diego, led by ECS member Joseph Wang, recently developed new magnetic ink that can be used to make self-healing batteries, electrochemical sensors, and wearable, textile-based electrical circuits.

The ink is made up of microparticles set up in a certain configuration by a magnetic field. The particles on each respective side of the tear in a circuit are then attracted towards each other, resulting in the self-healing effect. The devices have the ability to repair tears as wide as 3 millimeters, which is a record in the field of self-healing systems.

While there are other self-healing materials in the field, they require an external trigger to start the process, which takes anywhere from a few min to days. The new work does not require any outside catalyst and works in 0.05 seconds

Deadline for Submitting Abstracts
Dec. 16, 2016
Submit today!

Topic Close-up #8

Symposium B02: Carbon Nanostructures in Medicine and Biology

Focused on the biomedical applications and biological interactions of carbon nanomaterials, including studies in toxicology, imaging, research tools, sensors, therapeutics, bioenergy, and theranostics.
FEATURING Mike McDevitt of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Ardemis Boghossian of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Rana Ghosh of Texas University, Markita Landry of Berkeley University.

Selected papers on the most promising bio-application of carbon nanostructures will be invited to talk from the submitted abstracts.

My name is Andrew Ryan. For the past eight months, I served as a Membership Services Intern at ECS under the direction of Beth Fisher. Though I worked on many different projects throughout my time at ECS, my primary contribution was writing membership related posts for the ECS website’s Redcat Blog. A great deal of the posts written over the course of the past eight months with the byline “ECS Staff” were written by me.

An English major who graduated from The College of New Jersey this past May, I was absolutely honored to have the opportunity to write for a website with such a thriving viewership. It was beyond fulfilling to be able to apply my passion for writing in a professional environment.

But ECS was more to me than a writing outlet. It was more to me than a desk job or a resume line. It was a truly, positively rewarding experience.

Let me tell you why.

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Deadline for Submitting Abstracts
Dec. 16, 2016
Submit today!

Topic Close-up #7

Symposium D03: Plasma Nanoscience and Technology

Symposium Focus is on extensive and in-depth discussions in the field of plasma nanoscience and nanotechnology as well as developing the next-generation plasma-based nanotechnologies and applications. One of the motivations to organize this Symposium is an ever-increasing and more and more widespread use of plasma-based tools and techniques for nanoscale synthesis and processing. The Symposium is planned as an expert meeting that will provide overview of some of the most important research directions in this field followed by the comments and detailed discussions of the main challenges and strategic directions for the future development in relevant areas.

Examples include topics related to nanoscale synthesis and processing using low-temperature plasmas, ion beams, lasers, etc.; physical and chemical mechanisms of growth of nanostructures using plasma-based and related processes; present and future industrial applications of plasma-based nanoscale synthesis and processing; design of plasma processes, reactors, and associated tools and instrumentation for nanoscale synthesis and processing.

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This year marks the 25th anniversary of the commercialization of the lithium-ion battery. To celebrate, we sat down with some of the inventors and pioneers of Li-ion battery technology at the PRiME 2016 meeting.

Speakers John Goodenough (University of Texas at Austin), Stanley Whittingham (Binghamton University), Michael Thackeray (Argonne National Laboratory), Zempachi Ogumi (Kyoto University), and Martin Winter (Univeristy of Muenster) discuss how the Li-ion battery got its start and the impact it has had on society.

Listen to the podcast and download this episode and others for free through the iTunes Store, SoundCloud, or our RSS Feed. You can also find us on Stitcher.

Deadline for Submitting Abstracts
Dec. 16, 2016
Submit today!

Topic Close-up #6

Symposium D01: Emerging Materials for Post CMOS Devices/Sensing and Applications 8

Symposium Focus on transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) (such as MoX2, WX2 etc.), IV/III-V based nanowires and TFET device performance, spintronics for next generation devices and sensing, as well as keeping its previous theme on graphene and CNT based device enhancement for post-CMOS applications. Integration of novel device concepts, transport and mobility enhancement related mechanisms; thermal behavior of graphene, and carbon-based devices including thermal transport, thermal conductivity, and heat transfer management in devices and nanostructures, sensing or backend interconnect applications; advanced materials for charge and non-charge based device application: resistance change materials encompassing logic, memory, or optical applications.

By: Sudeep Pasricha, Colorado State University

American mining production increased earlier this decade, as industry sought to reduce its reliance on other countries for key minerals such as coal for energy and rare-earth metals for use in consumer electronics. But mining is dangerous – working underground carries risks of explosions, fires, flooding and dangerous concentrations of poisonous gases.

Mine accidents have killed tens of thousands of mine workers worldwide in just the past decade. Most of these accidents occurred in structurally diverse underground mines with extensive labyrinths of interconnected tunnels. As mining progresses, workers move machinery around, which creates a continually changing environment. This makes search and rescue efforts even more complicated than they might otherwise be.

To address these dangers, U.S. federal regulations require mine operators to monitor levels of methane, carbon monoxide, smoke and oxygen – and to warn miners of possible danger due to air poisoning, flood, fire or explosions. In addition, mining companies must have accident-response plans that include systems with two key capabilities: enabling two-way communications between miners trapped underground and rescuers on the surface, and tracking individual miners so responders can know where they need to dig.

So far, efforts to design systems that are both reliable and resilient when disaster strikes have run into significant roadblocks. My research group’s work is aimed at enhancing commercially available smartphones and wireless network equipment with software and hardware innovations to create a system that is straightforward and relatively simple to operate.

Existing connections

The past decade has seen several efforts to develop monitoring and emergency communication systems, which generally can be classified into three types: through-the-wire, through-the-Earth and through-the-air. Each has different flaws that make them less than ideal options.

Wired systems use coaxial cables or optical fibers to connect monitoring and communications equipment throughout the mine and on the surface. But these are costly and vulnerable to damage from fires and tunnel collapses. Imagine, for example, if a wall collapse cut off a room from its connecting tunnels: Chances are the cable in those tunnels would be damaged too.

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