UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA Materials Research Science and Engineering Center
The University of Minnesota's Materials Research Science and Engineering Center (UMN MRSEC) is an innovative program
that fosters a creative, interdisciplinary approach to materials research, interlocking faculty and students from seven departments in a
pursuit that addresses the meticulous control of composition, structure, and properties in advanced materials.
The UMN MRSEC was launched in 1998 from the strong tradition of collaboration among the science and engineering
departments of the University's Institute of Technology.
Through a combination of National Science Foundation, University, and industrial funding, the Center supports
research in three Interdisciplinary Research Groups (IRGs), a Proto-IRG, and various Seed Groups.
The UMN MRSEC encourages partnerships with industry, including collaborative hands-on research. In addition, the Center operates an ambitious
Education and Human Resources (E & HR) effort.
Highlights
IRG-1/IRG-2 Research Highlight Ion Gel-Gated Polymer Thin Film Transistors
A major goal of organic electronics is the development of new kinds of solution processable organic dielectric materials that can serve as gate insulators in organic thin film transistors -OTFTs-. An important figure of merit for prospective gate dielectrics is the specific capacitance, which determines how much charge can be induced in the semiconductor channel of an OTFT for a given applied gate voltage Read More
Education Highlight Polymer Day - You Make It, You Break It
Four faculty -Bates, Hillmyer, Lodge, Macosko- and seven graduate students -Erin Arndt, Mike Bluemle, Will Gramlich, Carlos Lopez, Louis Pitet, Zach Thompson, Ling Zhang- from IRG-1, Microstructured Polymers, led a day-long class for 23 high school students. The students were participants in a weeklong summer camp, Exploring Careers in Science and Engineering, put on by the Institute of Technology's Center for Educational Programs Read More
Frank Bates --IRG-1-- receives 2008 Sustained Research Prize of the Neutron Scattering Society of America
Prof. Frank Bates is the recipient of the 2008 Sustained Research Prize of the Neutron Scattering Society of America with the citation:For his pioneering SANS experiments that probe the structure and thermodynamics of polymeric fluids and block copolymers. Read More
Last
modified on April 3, 2008