News
TechConnect National Innovation Award
Graphene Frontiers, a company co-founded by Prof. Charlie Johnson, received a 2013 TechConnect Innovation Award at the TechConnect National Innovation Showcase May 14-15 in Washington, DC. These awards select the top early-stage innovations from around the world through an industry-review process based on the potential positive impact the technology will have on a specific sector of industry. The company also won the Best Materials Company and People's Choice Award at the New Jersey Council Venture Conference in March 2013.
GAPSA-Provost Fellowship for Interdisciplinary Innovation Winners
Rajatesh Gudibande and Zhenqing John Qi were awarded a fellowship from GAPSA-Provost Fellowship for Interdisciplinary Innovation.
Their winning proposal was entitled
Roy and Diana Vagelos Science Challenge Awards 2013-2014
We are pleased to announce the following have been named Roy and Diana Vagelos Science Challenge awardees for 2013-2014:
Dahlia R. Klein,* '15, Biophysics, Chemistry and Physics majors, submatriculation in Chemistry
Julia Steinberg, '14, Physics major, submatriculation in Physics
A Multidimensional Mind
Prof. Vijay Balasubramanian is featured in the May 24, 2013 issue of Penn Arts & Sciences magazine. The article covers Vijay's multi-discipline interests in string theory, black holes, the limits of Occam's Razor, and how the brain works. See the article here.
Physics, Engineering and Origami
A Penn team led by Prof. Randy Kamien just won a $2 million, four-year grant from the National Science Foundation’s Division of Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation. The program draws from the Japanese art of paper cutting and folding to make new materials that self-organize into structures that could be used in applications as disparate as drug-delivery to emergency shelters. The Penn Current has a story on the grant.
Mathematics and P&A Faculty Simons Award
Two University of Pennsylvania professors have won the chance to pursue their research full-time for the next academic year. The Simons Foundation has awarded fellowships to Mirjam Cvetic of the Department of Physics and Astronomy and Ron Donagi of the Department of Mathematics, both in the School of Arts and Sciences. They will receive funded year-long sabbaticals from classroom teaching and academic administration.
Randy Kamien named Simons Investigator
Prof. Randy Kamien has been named a 2013 Simons Investigator by the Simons Foundation. This appointment is in recognition of the promise of his research. The appointment comes with significant yearly research support as well as an annual fund for the department and a fund for indirect costs to the School of Arts and Sciences. This marks the second such award for the department in the first 2 years of the existence of the Simons Investigator awards.
Penn Research Makes Advance in Nanotech Gene Sequencing Technique
The allure of personalized medicine has made new, more efficient ways of sequencing genes a top research priority. One promising technique involves reading DNA bases using changes in electrical current as they are threaded through a nanoscopic hole.
Now, a team led by University of Pennsylvania physicists has used solid-state nanopores to differentiate single-stranded DNA molecules containing sequences of a single repeating base.
AK Mann obituary
Emeritus Professor Alfred Kenneth Mann passed away at the age of 92 on January 13 of this year. His career in physics at Penn spanned more than 50 years. The May edition of Physics Today features an obituary on Prof. Mann (page 59) from Profs. Gene Beier and Brig Williams.
Mirjam Cvetic named a Simons Fellow
Prof. Mirjam Cvetic has been named a 2013 Simons Fellow. This award (with additional support from the School of Arts and Sciences) provides for a year's sabbatical to engage in "Non-Perturbative String Theory and Gravity" research. The "Science Times" section of the New York Times will feature an ad honoriing all the 2013 Simons Fellowship recipients on Tuesday, May 7. Congratulations Mirjam!