The CAREER award is the NSF’s most prestigious honor for junior faculty who demonstrate outstanding research, excellent education and the integration of education and research within the context of the mission of their organizations.

“We are delighted that Dr. Jenkins has been chosen for a NSF Career Award,” said Charles Feigerle, department head. “Professor Jenkins has established a record of achievement in research, scholarship, and teaching that places him among the top young academics in his field.”

Jenkins’s award includes a $650,000 grant over five years, beginning May 1, to support his educational activities and research.

“My group has worked very hard over the last few years on this project and has published some great results already,” said Jenkins. “This award confirms that we are on the right track to solving this challenging synthetic chemistry problem.”

Jenkins’s research group will be designing new catalysts for forming aziridines. The aziridine functional group is critically important in biology and synthetic organic chemistry. Aziridines are found in natural products that have antitumor and antibiotic properties, and are crucial in pharmaceutical research.

In addition, Jenkins’ team will work with Central High School in several capacities, including the Pre-Collegiate Scholar Program and the development of new teaching materials for Advanced Preparation Chemistry labs that focus on sustainable synthesis.

Hazari, professor of chemistry, has used chemistry to perform “magic tricks” in his show for twenty-two years.

This year’s show will be at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, October 23, in Room 555 of Dabney-Buehler Hall. It’s hosted by the East Tennessee section of the American Chemical Society. The show is free and open to the public, and kids are encouraged to attend.

Hazari will incorporate this year’s National Chemistry Week theme “Nanotechnology: The Smallest Big Idea in Science” into his magic show.

Nanotechnology is a new field that involves working with very small materials that help scientists build new products and technology. Hazari says that nanotechnology is used in producing cars, computers, batteries, apparel, traffic lights, and medicine delivery, among other things.

“It was found that the ‘less is more’ idea is very true,” he said.

In this year’s Magic of Chemistry show, Hazari will demonstrate some of the applications of nanotechnology, along with performing such crowd-favorite tricks as creating a liquid, bubbling rainbow inside a glass cylinder, and transforming bubbles into floating balls of fire. New tricks will include checking paper money for magnetic ink, creating a cloud in a bottle, and building a ball out of carbon atoms.

Hazari spends a lot of time doing community outreach, teaching Knoxville about the value of chemistry. He won the Helen M. Free Award for Public Outreach from the American Chemistry Society in 2000 and wrote a book, Misconceptions in Chemistry, which talks about the myths surrounding chemistry.

This year is the twenty-fifth anniversary of National Chemistry Week, which is dedicated to increasing awareness about chemistry’s applications in everyday life. For more information about National Chemistry Week or the American Chemical Society, visit acs.org.

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C O N T A C T :

Amy Blakely (865-974-5034, amy.blakely@tennessee.edu)

Holly Gary (865-974-2225, hgary@utk.edu)

UT will receive $600,000 over two years from the National Science Foundation through its “Partnerships for Innovation” program to commercialize and optimize Mays’ newfound “superelastomers.” This is UT’s first NSF award focused on commercialization of research, and it is the Anderson Center’s first NSF award.

Superelastomers are polymers that can be repeatedly stretched without permanently deforming the shape of the material. They can be stretched further than ordinary elastomers (or rubbers). What makes superelastomers “super” is that they hold promise for improved strength, recyclability and more efficient processing of materials used in many different products. This revolutionary new concept would open up applications in many areas, such as toothbrushes, gloves, skin care, audio devices, and filtering technologies.

Jimmy Mays, right, shows Joy Fisher the mechanical strength of a piece of Superelastomers™ material.

“For example, the high strength and superior elastic properties of superelastomers make it possible to make thinner surgical gloves, thus enhancing the surgeon’s dexterity in the operating room,” Mays said. “Conventional rubbers, like car tires, are virtually impossible to recycle. In contrast, superelastomers may be readily recycled just by melting the scrap material and re-shaping it into a new product.”

Thus, the innovation will have the capability of reducing the worldwide carbon footprint by replacing rubbers with a material that is both recyclable and requires less energy to make.

MBA students and faculty will work with Mays’ students to assess the market for his technology and develop business plans for pursuing specific market opportunities. The typical team will consist of two students studying entrepreneurship and two technical students who will work with small businesses and experienced mentors to validate the market viability. About 24 interdisciplinary students will get hands-on experience in market assessment, business planning, and technology transfer required to launch a successful technology-based start-up.

“By pairing business with technical students, we expect that innovation capacity will be increased at the university,” said Joy Fisher, who oversees the center’s technology commercialization efforts. “This will be done through the introduction of successful new businesses based on technologies that solve a market problem. We plan to use this program as the basis to develop a new, cross-college entrepreneurship course that will help us continue building an entrepreneurial talent pool in the region.”

UT’s Partnerships for Innovation also aim to stimulate the local and national economies by creating new jobs and the transformation of knowledge created by the research and education enterprise. The program has already partnered with five companies.

“The goal of the Partnerships in Innovation program is to increase the country’s competitiveness,” Mays said. “The successful commercialization of this innovation has the potential to grow existing businesses and create new ones by innovating new products. It also will accelerate the transfer of future technologies from universities into the marketplace and contribute to the education of both existing and next generation entrepreneurs.”

The superelastomers were discovered with the help of Roland Weidisch of Fraunhofer Institute in Germany and Samuel Gido of the University of Massachussetts Amherst. UT’s Partnerships for Innovation project is in collaboration with Anderson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, UT Office of Research, the UT Research Foundation, Asius Technologies, BBB Elastomers, Ina-Mei Skin Care, Fuji Film, MAPA GmbH, Technology 20/20, and Venture Incite.

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C O N T A C T :

Whitney Heins (865-974-5460, wheins@utk.edu)

Joy Fisher (865-243-7907, joy.fisher@tennessee.edu)

The CAREER award is NSF’s most prestigious honor for junior faculty who demonstrate outstanding research, excellent education, and the integration of education and research within the context of the mission of their organizations.

Camden’s award includes a five-year $600,000 grant beginning July 15 to support his research and educational activities.

“The Department of Chemistry is very excited that Professor Camden has been chosen for this well-deserved recognition,” said Charles Feigerle, department head. “Professor Camden has already made a significant impact on the department through his nationally recognized research and his excellence and enthusiasm for teaching at all levels.”

“The CAREER recognizes the potential of our research to be transformative and to integrate our research mission with education,” said Camden. “This award will have a major impact on our efforts.”

Camden group’s will pursue detailed comparisons between experiment and theory. Funding will be used to develop surface nonlinear spectroscopy as an analytical method for probing the two-photon properties of molecules, surface adsorbate structure and ultrasensitive detection. While fundamental in nature, the work will give the team new methods for ultrasensitive detection that can be used in bio-imaging studies and energy applications.

“Our research explores how molecules adsorbed on nanoparticles scatter light, and it provides much needed experiments for the benchmarking of new theoretical methods of calculating nonlinear molecular properties.” Camden said. “It also has the potential to impact a wide range of practical applications, such as catalysis and renewable energy production.”

Camden’s group is also seeking to increase the number of high school students pursuing science, technology, engineering and mathematics majors in college. In collaboration with Debbie Sayers, a chemistry teacher at Hardin Valley Academy, Camden and his group will provide curricular enrichment to local public high schools through the creation of ASPIRE teams (Aspiring Scientists Participating in Research and Education). ASPIRE teams will deliver hands-on laboratory experiments to local high school class rooms once a month during the regular school year.

Kivanc Ekici

Three University of Tennessee, Knoxville, faculty members have received substantial support from the National Science Foundation to pursue early-career research projects.

Chemist Jon Philip Camden, aeronautic engineer Kivanc Ekici, and physicist Norman Mannella have received NSF Faculty Early Career Development awards, also known as CAREER awards.

The NSF describes the CAREER award as the foundation’s most prestigious award for junior faculty who integrate outstanding research with excellent educational outreach.

Jon Philip Camden

Camden, an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry, will study a special form of spectroscopy, a method for examining surfaces at a molecular level.

Ekici, an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering, will research new ways to detect unstable aerodynamic forces in order to improve the design of wind turbine blades.

Norman Mannella

Norman Mannella, an assistant professor in physics, will study unconventional particle interactions in high-temperature superconductors.

Camden and Mannella will involve science and math students from Hardin Valley Academy in the educational outreach components of their projects. Ekici will provide summer workshops for high school science teachers and recruit a high school senior for a research experience.

Bill Black

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Thomas Coens of the Department of History will lecture on “New Revelations: Andrew Jackson and Indian Removal” at the U.S. Department of the Interior Museum in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, November 2. Coens is a research associate professor and associate editor of The Papers of Andrew Jackson.

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Leslee A. Fisher, an associate professor in the Department of Kinesiology, Recreation, and Sport Studies, has been inducted as a fellow of the Association for Applied Sport Psychology, the international professional organization of sport and exercise psychology. She was selected for her significant contributions to academic and professional practice knowledge in sport and exercise psychology. Fisher, who is teaches sport psychology and motor behavior, specializes in moral and ethical decision-making, sociocultural aspects of sport participation, cultural sport psychology, and character development in sport.

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Kristi Gordon, associate professor in psychology, has received a three-year, $2.16 million demonstration grant from the Administration for Children and Families to implement the Marriage Check-up in community-based integrative health care facility. The Marriage Check-up is a new intervention that uses motivational interviewing principles to help couples at all levels of functioning to identify strengths and vulnerabilities in their relationships and increase their motivation to use their strengths to address the vulnerabilities and make their relationships stronger. The project will also provide groups to teach couples relationship skills and will partner with a local agency to provide groups to help them deal with major financial and employment issues.

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Jay Rubenstein, associate professor of history, has published a book which tells the story of the First Crusade (1095-1099) through the eyes of those who witnessed it, emphasizing the fundamental role that apocalyptic thought played in motivating the Crusaders. Entitled Armies of Heaven: the First Crusade and the Quest for Apocalypse, critics have called it a thrilling work of military and religious history that will revolutionize our understanding of the Crusades. The book hits store shelves in November. This is the second book Rubenstein has published this fall on the First Crusade. The Monodies and on the Relics of Saints was released in October.

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Xiaojun Wang, a graduate student in chemistry, has been selected as one of two recipients of the American Chemical Society (ACS) Graduate Travel Award to attend the 2012 ACS National Meeting in San Diego. The award is sponsored by the ACS Division of Polymer Chemistry’s Membership Committee. Each year, the committee provides funding for two polymer graduate students to travel to the ACS National Meeting and present their research results. Wang will deliver a presentation entitled “Microstructure Effects on Self-assembly of Polystyrene-b-Sulfonated Poly (cyclohexadiene)” to address an unexplored issue regarding self-assembly behavior of strong electrolyte block copolymers derived from dienes.

• Electrical, Environmental, Materials, & Mechanical Engineering
• Computer & Network Sciences and Mathematics
• Chemistry, Physics, Life Sciences, and Social/Behavioral Sciences

Part I of the workshop will be held on Friday, September 2, from 8:00 to 10:00 a.m., in the NIMBioS conference room on the fourth floor of Blount Hall and will involve presentations by three UT Knoxville faculty members who have received multiple ARO awards or have served on ARO advisory panels, followed by a question-and-answer period.

The presenters are Jimmy Mays, professor and distinguished scientist in the Department of Chemistry; Stephen Paddison, associate professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering; and Lou Gross, director of NIMBioS.

Faculty members who attend Part I will be invited to submit a one-page proposal abstract relevant to an ARO topic of interest. A limited number of these abstracts will be sent to ARO for review.

Part II of the workshop will be held on Tuesday, September 20, from 8:00 to 11:30 a.m., in the NIMBioS conference room and will involve presentations by the ARO chief scientist and two ARO program managers. Following the presentations, faculty members whose abstracts are sent to ARO will have an opportunity to meet individually with one of the ARO visitors to discuss their abstracts and receive feedback.

Registration is required to attend Part I and Part II of the workshop and is on a first-come, first-served basis. Please register for Part I at http://research.utk.edu/aro/. Registration for Part II of the workshop will be announced in early September. Attendance at Part I is not a prerequisite to attend the Part II presentations by ARO.

You can learn more about ARO research interests here.

For more information, contact Paul Montgomery at paul.montgomery@utk.edu or Jim Mazzouccolo at jmazzouc@utk.edu.