Four West Virginia University researchers have won Faculty Early Career Development, or CAREER, awards from the National Science Foundation, its most prestigious in support of junior faculty.

This is the most CAREER awards granted to WVU in one year, totaling more than $2.3 million over a five-year award period. The 2015 awards bring WVU’s total number of NSF CAREER awards to 22.

“This recognition is a testament to the high caliber faculty we have at WVU,” said Fred King, vice president for research. “We are attracting faculty who are making meaningful contributions to their fields, and we are providing them with a solid foundation to support their research objectives and to establish fruitful careers in West Virginia.”

This year the NSF awarded approximately 500 CAREER awards to junior faculty from across the country who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education, and the integration of education and research within the context of the mission of their institutions.

In addition to a compelling research plan, the awards require a comprehensive education plan from the initial exploratory stages through implementation and assessment.

“Our faculty are bringing the excitement of discovery to a larger audience using novel methods to teach and discuss research,” said Provost Joyce McConnell. “Integrating teaching and research enriches the learning opportunities for not only WVU students, but learners from primary school through graduate school, teachers and the broader community.”

WVU’s 2015 CAREER award recipients were Cheng Cen, Edward Flagg and Jessica Hoover from the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, and Cerasela Zoica Dinu, from the Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources.

Cheng Cen, harnessing the powers of graphene
Eberly College of Arts and Sciences

Cen, assistant professor of physics and astronomy, is developing an on-demand technique to better control the properties of graphene, a material that comes from graphite – the same material used in everyday pencils.

In thin sheets, graphene has incredible conductive properties with potential applications such as faster computer processors, bendable electronics and huge reductions in energies that those devices require.

To get there, graphene must be tamed. Current semiconductor technologies do not work well with graphene, so completely new approaches must be devised. Overlapping an artificial periodic electronic structure on top of graphene has been predicted to be an effective approach for such a task.

Undergraduate students will be involved in both the research project and the development of a new class module on “physics in nanoelectronics.” The module will include demonstrations and experimental opportunities for students. In addition, the course module and related materials will be adopted by outreach programs to promote interest in physics and careers in science.

Edward Flagg, building ultrafast and ultrasecure computing
Eberly College of Arts and Sciences

Flagg, assistant professor of physics and astronomy, is working to identify, model, and establish effective strategies to mitigate the factors responsible for spectral diffusion – the phenomenon of photons that are emitted at different times to have different wavelengths – that affects quantum computation and communication.

Quantum computation and communication, an approach to computing that could solve certain difficult problems much faster than modern-day supercomputers, offers great potential benefits to processing power and communication security by exploiting the non-intuitive properties of quantum mechanics.

Photons will play an active part in future quantum information processing schemes and semiconductor nanostructures called quantum dots are likely candidates to act as photon sources. Currently, however, photons produced by quantum dots are not suitable because of spectral diffusion.

The project involves graduate and undergraduate students who are being trained in optical and spectrographic measurement techniques, quantum optics and condensed matter physics. The funding also supports the development, evaluation and dissemination of an optics-related learning module for 4-H Clubs in West Virginia.

Volunteers from graduate and undergraduate physics societies are involved in the development and testing of the learning module, whereby they will gain valuable outreach and educational experience that will help prepare them for future public education efforts.

Jessica Hoover, forming stronger bonds
Eberly College of Arts and Sciences

Hoover, assistant professor of chemistry, will develop new catalytic reactions for the formation of carbon-carbon bonds from carboxylic acids through oxidative decarboxylative coupling reactions.

The formation of C-C bonds are key steps in the construction of complex structures and the successful development of this methodology will enable the design of new, more efficient catalysts for the formation of C-C bonds by the pharmaceutical and fine chemical industries.

This technology offers improvements over classical coupling methods, including the replacement of expensive, toxic and wasteful organometallic reagents with inexpensive and readily available carboxylic acid starting materials while generating minimal waste.

This award also supports the development of a new summer program designed to bring together chemists, engineers and artists to work toward the common goal of building a public science-art installation. Undergraduates will be involved in the research laboratory, and research experiments and concepts will be incorporated into the undergraduate curriculum.

Cerasela Zoica Dinu, increasing energy and reducing impact
Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources

Dinu, an assistant professor of chemical engineering, is working to identify technologies capable of increasing the world’s energy portfolio while reducing environmental impact.

With energy demand rising and the maintenance of supply becoming increasingly problematic, there is a need to build and implement the next generation of materials that can both ensure power generation and guarantee energy sustainability.

Dinu’s project is focused on the development of the next generation of catalytic nanomaterials for energy efficient systems generation.

Nanocatalysts will be designed to have high light absorbance capabilities and emission efficiencies, as well as high corrosion-resistant properties. This will ensure enhanced power conversion, selectivity, stability and a prolonged shelf-life for applications ranging from energy conversion, to electrolyzers, fuel cells and for environmental mitigation.

Dinu plans to engage students at both the graduate and undergraduate levels in her research in an effort to motivate and train the next generation of engineers, particularly students from underrepresented groups. The project will also provide unique and transformative instructional methods for educational infrastructure development and enhancement.

-WVU-

ms/03/31/15

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