5 MSE Professors Recognized for Sponsored Research

Materials Science and Engineering professors Robert M. Briber, Gottlieb S. Oehrlein, Ray Phaneuf, Gary Rubloff, and Manfred Wuttig were among 233 university faculty recognized for their efforts in bringing sponsored research dollars to campus.

Professor Briber (Chair, MSE) works in the area of polymer physics, with projects including nanoporous materials, nanocomposites, RNA folding and polymer hydrogels. His research is supported by the NSF, FAA and NIST.

Professors Oehrlein (IREAP and Director, Laboratory for Plasma Processing of Materials) and Phaneuf were awarded a Nanoscale Interdisciplinary Research Teams (NIRT) project from the NSF for a proposal to investigate "Nanotechnological Manufacturing: Nanostructured Polymers Designed for Plasma/Energetic Beam Templating of Materials." Professor Phaneuf is also supported by the Laboratory for Physical Sciences for work on patterning directed self assembly and nanoparticle enhancement of fluorescence and light energy harvesting; and by the NSF-MRSEC for nanometer-scale spectroscopy of organic film interfaces.

Professor Gary Rubloff (ISR and Director, Maryland NanoCenter) was one of a group of Clark School faculty that received funding from the Robert W. Deutsch Foundation to develop a nanoscale, microfluidic biochip that can serve as a tiny drug discovery laboratory. (See related story)

Professor Wuttig's research focuses on phase transformation in thin films, the mechanics of thin films and membranes, and smart materials.

Published November 28, 2006