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Alumni Home > Learning & Travel > Learning

It's a Small World - Speakers

November 15, 2007

		Nanotechnology News

Articles from the MIT News Office on nanoscience and nanotechnology

		Nanotechnology Lecture Series

This series highlights recent interesting developments in nanotechnology from researchers around the world. The seminars present the latest research in nanotechnology, in a way that is intended to be accessible to the general public.

		MIT World on Nanotechnology

Watch video of lectures and other MIT events on nanotechnology.

Markus J. Buehler Esther and Harold E. Edgerton Assistant Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

After obtaining his undergraduate education at the University of Stuttgart, Germany in Chemical and Process Engineering, Prof. Markus Buehler received his M.S. degree in Engineering Mechanics from Michigan Technological University, USA, in 2001. From 2001 to 2004, he worked at the Max Planck Institute for Metals Research in Stuttgart, Germany as a research assistant from where he also received his Ph.D. in Chemistry. From 2004 to 2005, Prof. Buehler held an appointment as the Director of Multiscale Modeling and Software Integration at the Materials and Process Simulation Center at the California Institute of Technology, overseeing multiscale method development and applications in modeling of small-scale materials phenomena. In 2005, he joined MIT for an appointment as a Postdoctoral Associate, and in 2006 he became a faculty member in MIT's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

Prof. Buehler founded MIT's Laboratory for Atomistic and Molecular Mechanics. His current research interest is focused on the multi-scale analysis of deformation and fracture of materials, with a particular focus on collagenous tissues, bone, spider silk, amyloids, as well as the mechanics of the cell's cytoskeleton. Overall his main interest is the elucidation of materials science paradigms for protein materials, with particular focus on fracture and deformation and the development of biomimetic materials and structures.

His work is published in a variety of journals including the Biophysical Journal, Physical Review Letters, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Nature, as well as in MIT Technology Review.

Prof. Buehler has received several awards, including the 2004 Materials Research Society Gold Graduate Student award, and the 2007 National Science Foundation CAREER award. He is a participant and speaker at the Frontiers of Engineering Symposium of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, and has given several keynote lectures at international conferences. He currently holds the Esther and Harold E. Edgerton Career Development Professorship.

Read more about Professor Buehler's research.

Karen Gleason '82, SM '82 Alexander and I. Michael Kasser Professor of Chemical Engineering and Associate Director of the Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

BS, MS, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1982) Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley (1987)

Dr. Karen K. Gleason's MIT research group focuses on the discovery of new vapor phase synthetic methods for polymeric nanocoatings. The approach is to exploit specific chemical strategies for achieving rapid deposition at room temperature in the absence of solvents, features that render this class of surface modification compatible with virtually any substrate.

After joining the faculty at MIT in 1987, she received both the NSF Presidential Young Investigator and ONR Young Investigators Program awards. She has authored more than 150 publications. From 2001 to 2004, she served as Executive Officer (Vice-Chair) of the Chemical Engineering Department at MIT and since 2005 has served as Associate Director of the Institute for Soldier Nanotechnology. In 2001, she cofounded GVD Corporation, a company based in Cambridge, MA which is commercializing the technology developed in her MIT laboratory.

Read more about Professor Gleason's research

Dr. John G. Kassakian is Professor of Electrical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Director of the MIT Laboratory for Electromagnetic and Electronic Systems.

His field of expertise is power electronics and automotive electrical systems. He received his undergraduate and graduate degrees from MIT, and prior to joining the MIT faculty, he served a two year tour of duty in the US Navy. Dr. Kassakian was the Founding President of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) Power Electronics Society, served as the US representative to the European Power Electronics Association, and is the recipient of the IEEE Centennial Medal, the IEEE William E. Newell Award, the IEEE Power Electronics Society's Distinguished Service Award, the IEEE Millennium Medal, the European Power Electronics Association Achievement Award, and the Kabakjian Science Award. In 1989, he was elected a Fellow of the IEEE and in 1993 he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering. In 1993, he was also awarded an IEEE Distinguished Lectureship through which he has lectured internationally.

He has published extensively in the areas of power electronics, power systems, education and automotive electrical systems, is a member of the Boards of Directors of ISO New England (the independent system operator of the New England electric utility system), and the Corporate Advisory Boards of Tyco Electronics and Lutron Electronics. He serves as a consultant to government and industry, and is a co-author of the textbook Principles of Power Electronics. Dr. Kassakian's interests include sailing, fishing, golf and gardening. He has two children and resides with his wife in Newton, Massachusetts.

Read more about Professor Kassakian's research.