Highlights

Bohdana Discher

Paul A. Heiney and Virgil Percec

R.M. Suter /CMU MRSEC, Carnegie Mellon University, NSF DMR- 0520425

When conjugated polymer crystals nucleate off of the gate dielectric, the conjugated backbones, shown in red, are all aligned. Charge can easily hop from one grain to another. Proven strategies for nucleating crystals on the dielectric * Make the dielectric smooth * Coat the dielectric with OTS * Use high boiling point solvent or anneal the film * Use high molecular weight polymers.

Jia Sun, Brad Payne, Greg Szulczewski, and Silas Blackstock (February, 2006)

Michael M. Baksh, Esther M. Winter, Nathan G. Clack and Jay T. Groves: University of California, Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab

Center for Materials for Information Technology at University of Alabama have recently gone live with 5 computer games targeted at middle school students. The games are designed to teach them about the periodic table and one is designed to teach about rock classifications.

Demonstrates a new class of Quantum Dots that are not toxic but fluoresce throughout the visible by varying the dopant.

Researchers in the Center for the Science and Engineering of Materials (CSEM) at the California Institute of Technology are developing a new class of biomaterials for use in surgery and regenerative medicine. These new materials are produced by genetic engineering, and consist of pieces of natural proteins that have been stitched together in new ways to allow control of both their mechanical properties and their interactions with cells and tissues after surgical implantation.

"CSI is a hot topic, and that makes it fascinating to kids. But it's also applied science, and it's a powerful way to get kids involved in the scientific process: carefully documenting observations and analyzing results." Merle Hunsaker, RET and science teacher.