AVS Announces Its Major Award Winners of 2013

NEW YORK, Nov. 5, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The AVS has selected its major award winners for 2013. The AVS established an annual awards program to encourage excellence in research and innovation in technical areas of interest to the AVS. Listed below are the major award winners:

Medard W. Welch Award— Dr. Chris G. Van de Walle, University of California, Santa Barbara, "For seminal contributions to the theory of heterojunctions and its application to semiconductor technology, and for elucidating the role of hydrogen in electronic materials."

This award recognizes and encourages outstanding research in the fields of interest to AVS. The award consists of a cash award, a  medal, a plaque, and an honorary lectureship at a regular session of the International Symposium.

John A. Thornton Memorial Award and Lecture— Dr. Ivan Petrov, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, "For seminal contributions in determining the role of low-energy ion/surface interactions for controlling microstructure evolution during low-temperature growth of transition-metal nitride layers." This award recognizes outstanding research or technological innovation in the areas of interest to AVS with emphasis on the fields of thin films, plasma processing, and related topics. The award is conferred biennially as a suitable candidate may be identified. The award consists of a cash award, a plaque, and an honorary lectureship at a regular session of the International Symposium.

Albert Nerken Award— Dr. Howard A. Padmore, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, "For sustained contributions to the design, development and application of novel synchrotron x-ray instrumentation used to study a range of scientific problems from biology to materials and solid state science." This award recognizes outstanding contributions to the solution of technological problems in areas of interest to AVS. The award consists of a cash award, a plaque, and an honorary lectureship at a regular session of the International Symposium.

Peter Mark Memorial Award— Dr. Daniel Gunlycke, Naval Research Laboratory,           "For significant contributions to the understanding of the electronic properties of low-dimensional graphene nanostructures." This award is presented to a young scientist or engineer (35 years of age or under) for outstanding theoretical or experimental work, at least some of which must have been published in an AVS journal. The award consists of a cash award, a plaque, and an honorary lectureship at a regular session of the International Symposium.

George T. Hanyo Award— Mr. Steven R. Blankenship, NIST, "For outstanding contributions to the scanning tunneling microscopy user facilities and other laboratories at the Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology at the National Institute of Standards and Technology." This award is presented to recognize outstanding performance in technical support of research or development in areas of interest to AVS. It recognizes valuable contributions made by persons outside normal professional circles. The award consists of a cash award and a plaque.

A complete list of the Fellows as well as the 2013 graduate student winners is attached. Nominations for the 2014 awards are currently being solicited. For more information, please contact Angela Klink, AVS, 212-248-0200, fax 212-248-0245, e-mail [email protected].

Additional Awards

2013 AVS Fellows
AVS Fellows are members who have made outstanding contributions in areas of interest to AVS.

Morgan R. Alexander, The University of Nottingham, "For his pioneering combined use of surface analysis and high-throughput materials array techniques, which led to the discovery of new materials to support stem-cell growth and bacterial resistant coatings"

Jane P. Chang, University of California--Los Angeles, "For sustained research leading to the synthesis and patterning of novel multifunctional materials and structures at the nanoscale"

Mark H. Engelhard, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, "For sustained creative application and novel adaptation of surface analytical tools to address a wide range of energy and environmental problems and for service to the surface analysis community"

Tony F. Heinz, Columbia University, "For the development and inspired application of spectroscopic methods for elucidating the properties and dynamics of surfaces, interfaces, and nanoscale materials"

Melissa A. Hines, Cornell University, "For the development of atomic-scale understanding of the chemical control of surface morphology, particularly with respect to technologically important silicon surfaces"

Aart W. Kleyn, FOM DIFFER, and University of Amsterdam, "For exceptional scientific and technical work in the areas of interfacial charge transfer, surface science, heterogeneous catalysis, energy storage and conversion, and plasma-surface interactions"

Ganpati Ramanath, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, "For developing creative approaches to realize novel nanomaterials via chemically-directed nanostructure synthesis and assembly, and tailoring interfaces using molecular nanolayers, for applications in electronics and energy"

Frances M. Ross, IBM, T.J. Watson Research Center, "For pioneering development of a liquid cell for in situ and real time electron microscopy measurements, which led to a deep understanding of the kinetics and growth mechanisms of nanostructures"

Jochen M. Schneider, RWTH Aachen University, "For seminal contributions to low temperature growth of crystalline alumina and nanolaminated carbides and for introducing ab-initio guided designs of hard coatings and protective films"

Roger G. Tobin, Tufts University, "For outstanding contributions to understanding the dynamics of energy transfer between adsorbates and metal substrates, and chemical reactions and electronic effects on stepped surfaces"

Klaus Wandelt, The University of Bonn, and The University of Wroclaw, "For seminal contributions to the understanding of metal, oxide, and semiconductor surfaces in gas and liquid environments, especially atomistic studies of metal surfaces in liquid electrolytes using electrochemical STM"

AVS Graduate Student Awards

2013 Top-Level Student Finalists
There are five (5) top-level named Graduate Student Awards and four (4) Graduate Research Awards, described below. The recipients of these awards are determined after a general competition with all the graduate research applicants and a presentation to the Awards Committee at the International Symposium.

Russell and Sigurd Varian Award
The Russell and Sigurd Varian Award was established in 1982 to commemorate the pioneering work of Russell and Sigurd Varian. It is presented to recognize and encourage excellence in graduate studies in the sciences and technologies of interest to AVS. The award is supported by Agilent Technologies Vacuum Products Division. It consists of a cash award, a certificate, and reimbursed travel support to attend the International Symposium.

• Jason Kawasaki, University of California, Santa Barbara

Nellie Yeoh Whetten Award
The Nellie Yeoh Whetten Award was established in 1989, in the spirit of Nellie Yeoh Whetten, to recognize and encourage excellence by women in graduate studies in the sciences and technologies of interest to AVS. A fund to support the award was established by Timothy J. Whetten, friends and family of Nellie Yeoh Whetten, and AVS. The award consists of a cash award, a certificate, and reimbursed travel support to attend the International Symposium.

• Indira Seshadri, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Dorothy M. and Earl S. Hoffman Award
The Dorothy M. and Earl S. Hoffman Award was established in 2002 to recognize and encourage excellence in graduate studies in the sciences and technologies of interest to AVS. It is funded by a bequest from Dorothy M. Hoffman, who was president of AVS in 1974 and held other positions of responsibility in the Society. The award consists of a cash award, a certificate, and reimbursed travel support to attend the International Symposium.

• Zhu Liang, University of Illinois at Chicago

Dorothy M. and Earl S. Hoffman Scholarships
The Dorothy M. and Earl S. Hoffman Scholarships were established in 2002 to recognize and encourage excellence in graduate studies in the sciences and technologies of interest to AVS. They are funded by a bequest from Dorothy M. Hoffman. The scholarships consist of a cash award, a certificate, and reimbursed travel support to attend the International Symposium.

• Tevis Jacobs, University of Pennsylvania
• Vincent Sauer, University of Alberta

2013 Graduate Research Awards
The Graduate Research Awards were established in 1984 to recognize and encourage excellence in graduate studies in the sciences and technologies of interest to AVS. Each consists of a cash award, a certificate, and reimbursed travel support to attend the International Symposium.

• Bonggeun Shong, Stanford University
• Ming Wei, Univ. of Central Florida
• Timothy Lawton, Tufts University
• Xiaofeng Feng, University of California, Berkeley

Marketing Communications Contact: Della Miller, AVS West, 110 Yellowstone Dr., Suite 120 Chico CA 95973, Phone: 530-896-0477, Fax 530-896-0487, E-mail [email protected]

SOURCE AVS