WV Nano will welcome two speakers to Morgantown next month – one an expert in the field of trademark prosecution and the other an authority on the merging of science and industry for national security.

Joseph L. Kent and Ron Clawson will appear at 2 p.m., Thursday, July 8 in Room 212, Clark Hall at West Virginia University as part of WVNano’s Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE).

The event is officially sponsored by WVNano, West Virginia University Honors College and the WVU Department of Biology Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) programs. It is free and open to the public.

Kent, an attorney from K&L Gates’ Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights and Related Transactions group, was a visiting assistant professor at WVU from 1995-2001 where he taught inorganic, organic and biochemistry courses. He is a graduate of Washington State University (B.S.), University of Rochester (M.S. and Ph.D.) and the University of Pittsburgh School of Law (J.D.). Kent focuses his practice in the areas of patent and trademark prosecution with an emphasis in the chemical, biochemical, biomedical and biotechnical arts.

Clawson works for Alliant Techsystems Inc., a premier aerospace and defense company. Clawson earned a B.S. in Chemistry in 2001 from California University of Pennsylvania. He then earned his Ph.D. in organic chemistry at West Virginia University under the direction of Bjorn Soderberg. Clawson will speak about the merging of science and industry in the areas of national security.

The speakers fulfill an enrichment component of WVUNano’s SURE, a program that provides select undergraduate students with a chance to work in a WVNano research lab for eight weeks during the summer under the guidance of a WVNano professor.

The enrichment component accompanies the research that all of the students conduct during the summer. It is offered because of the program’s philosophy that it is important to not only show students how to do research, it is also imperative that they learn how to apply that knowledge to industry in order to make themselves marketable once they have graduated and begin to seek employment.

WVU is the founder and technical leader of the WVNano Initiative, the State of West Virginia’s focal point for nanoscale science, engineering and education research, workforce development and economic development.

At WVU, WVNano is a cross-cutting faculty driven effort that is the catalyst for campus discovery and innovation, shared resource stewardship and culture.

-WVU-

06/21/10

CONTACT: Christie Zachary, WVNano
304-293-8281