Faculty News

Dr. Nandika D'Souza has been featured on the Engineer Girl! website, along with other inspirational female engineers. Dr. D'Szoua tells girls, "Cultural and Gender differences enhance more than detract from a person’s potential. Don’t accept, suspect the motivations of those who ask you to limit what you want to do." (Read More)

Dr. Narendra Dahotre has received a new grant entitled, “Collaborative Research: Composite Surfacing of Amorphous Materials by Laser Interference” from the National Science Foundation at the level $208,868 for July 1. 2010 to June 30, 2013.  The project is a collaborative effort with Dr. Sandip Harimkar, Oklahoma State University who also has been separately funded at the level $188,521. The primary objective of this research proposal is to develop a new class of laser surface engineered amorphous materials characterized by enhanced ductility. The enhancement of the ductility of such amorphous materials is expected due to the formation of an array of periodic lines or spots of modified regions on the surface of amorphous material by laser interference nanopatterning. The major objectives of the proposed research are to: (1) design and test the innovative laser interference patterning process set-ups with a focus on creating nanostructured modifications on the surface of amorphous alloy; (2) identify the thermo-physical effects associated with the interaction of modulated laser intensity in laser interference pattern with amorphous surface; (3) characterize the evolution of modulated microstructure (associated with localized nanocrystallization), crystallization dynamics, and distribution of residual stresses in the composite surfaces; (4) establish the role of surface nanocrystallization and/or residual stresses on enhancing global plasticity of the amorphous materials; and (5) model the thermo-physical interactions associated with laser interference nanopatterning of amorphous material surfaces. The proposal provides an opportunity for graduate students to work on a novel processing method and advanced material.

The II-VI Foundation has awarded a gift of $100,000 to the Laboratory of Advanced Polymers & Optimized Materials (LAPOM), directed by Dr. Witold Brostow, which will go toward a project titled "Improvement of Effectiveness of Electric Power Generation." (Read More)

Dr. Narendra Dahotre, Professor and Chairman, has been elected as Fellow of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME). He will be inducted in the 2010 Class of Fellows later in the year at the SME headquarters in Detroit, Michigan along with five other electees. He has been recognized for the pioneering contributions to fundamental understanding and engineering of laser-materials interactions along with implementation of high power lasers in materials processing and surface engineering. He is internationally known for his work on fundamentals and applications of laser surface engineering of metals, ceramics, polymers and composites. His work over 25 years on laser materials-interactions has been compiled in four books, 15 U.S. Patents, 11 proceedings and over 200 papers. Earlier, has also been elected to 2009 Class of AAAS Fellows, 2008 Class of ASME Fellows, 2008 Class of IIM Fellows and 2004 Class of ASM  Follows. He has received 2006 R&D 100 Award, 2006 University of Tennessee Chancellor’s Research and Creativity Achievement Award, 2006 University of Tennessee College of Engineering Research Fellow Award. (Read More)

Dr. Jincheng Du, along with a team of researchers from the University of California at Los Angeles and the University of Colorado, has helped develop a new and more effective way to obtain 3D images called ankylography. The new process could have significant applications in physical and life sciences. The team's work was featured in the December issue of Nature. (Read More)

Future department chair, Dr. Narendra Dahotre, has been elected to the 2009 Class of AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Fellows for outstanding contributions to research and development and teaching of science and technology of laser materials processing and surface engineering. He will be presented with his certificate February 20th during the AAAS Fellows Forum in San Diego.

Dr. Narendra Dahotre, Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, is elected to the 2009 Fellow of the Indian Institute of Metals (IIM). He has been recognized for excellence and outstanding contributions to basic understanding and engineering of laser-materials interactions along with implementation of high power lasers for materials processing and surface engineering.

Such fellowships are awarded by the IIM to a foreign member when his/her accomplishments and services in the field of metallurgical and materials engineering are internationally prominent and also significantly beneficial to the Indian community. He is internationally known for his work on fundamentals and applications of laser surface engineering of metals, ceramics, polymers and composites.

His work over 25 years on laser materials-interactions has been compiled in four books, 15 U.S. Patents, 12 proceedings and over 190 papers. Earlier, he has received 2006 R&D 100 Award, 2006 UT Chancellor’s Research and Creativity Achievement Award, 2006 UT College of Engineering Research Fellow Award and has been elected to 2004 Class of ASM Fellows and 2008 Class of ASME Fellows.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded UNT Profs. Mohammad Omary, Jincheng Du, and Thomas Cundari a major grant to study novel metalloaromatic materials for potential use in molecular electronics. In this multi-investigator project, UNT professors will work with Prof. Bruce Gnade of the University of Texas at Dallas to synthesize new multinuclear Au, Ag, and Cu complexes, study their optoelectronic properties, and explore their efficacy in metal-organic field effect transistor (MOFET) devices. The grant is a three-year project with a total support of $1.3 M, awarded following submission to the prestigious Collaborative Research in Chemistry (CRC) program at NSF. This award came on the heels of seed funding of an NHARP award from the State of Texas to this team. The four investigators will collaborate on the synthesis, structural characterization, material screening, molecular and solid-state modeling, and device testing of the title complexes.  The film forming properties and solid state device behavior of these compounds will be examined, and information gained from these studies will be fed back to develop new design parameters for the materials.  It is suggested that the superior electrostatic properties of the materials and their stability towards light, heat and moisture are encouraging factors for fabrication of stable thin films and efficient devices.  The cyclotrimer complexes and coordination polymers also have the potential to perform better than purely organic field effect transistor (OFET) materials based on reliable theoretical predictions of fundamental properties that have been verified conceptually by experimental techniques.  Any or all of these improvements to the state-of-the-art would significantly impact the molecular electronics field given the fact that transistors are the most critical components of all electronic devices.  The investigators will also work with two UNT research clusters of excellence in nano-photonics (BNPC) and advanced computing (MMRC) to enhance cross-disciplinary training for graduates and undergrads from both the Chemistry and MSE departments as well as to involve local K-12 institutions in the research, following prior successes by the PIs in these aspects.

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