SUNMONTUEWEDTHUFRISAT
Events for April 16, 2009
-
Structure and Structure-related Chemistry of Boron Rich Carbon
Thu, Apr 16, 2009 @ 09:30 AM - 10:30 AM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Speaker: Linda E. Jones, Ph.D.,
Smith CollegeAbstract: Highly boron rich carbon nanofibers have been synthesized via
the CVD reaction of benzene and boron trichloride. The interest is to
synthesize oxidation resistant carbons that are electronically tunable
and maintain mechanical integrity. Auger and XPS analysis identified
boron concentrations of 18.4 and 14.8 atomic % B, respectively when
depositing at 800 °C for 30 minutes at a total flow rate of 65 cc/min. A
TEM investigation along with EELS was undertaken to assess the location
of the boron in the deposited structures. The nanostructure of the
deposited nanofibers and tubes is inhomogeneous yet; these deposited
materials are well ordered and graphite-like. The d-spacings range from
0.3343 to 0.3397 nm and crystallite sizes are 5 to 20 nm. EELS analysis
revealed that the boron concentrations through the tube diameter are
structure related. The details of the development of structure in these
unique boron rich carbon solids will be given in context with a
discussion of the various structures, chemistry and properties
associated with the many allotropes of carbon.Biography: Linda E. Jones is the Hewlett Professor of Engineering and
Director of the Picker Engineering Program at Smith College. Linda is
deeply committed to the advancement of women and underrepresented
individuals in science, technology and engineering. Her expertise is in
the synthesis, structure and degradation of structural carbon and
carbides used in aerospace and other severe environment applications.
The work in her laboratory on high temperature oxidation and corrosion
of structural ceramics has been extended to the study of volatile
emissions produced during the manufacturing of glass. Dr. Jones has 81
publications in these areas and has given over 100 national and
international presentations. She has been named the American Carbon
Society's Graffin Lecturer. Dr. Jones serves on the American Carbon
Society's executive board. She is actively involved in the European and
Asian Carbon Society. She a Fellow of the American Ceramic Society. She
has edited one book and received 9 Teaching Awards including the State
University of New York's Chancellors Award for Teaching Excellence.
Since 2005, Dr. Jones has been the President, Ceramic Education Council,
American Ceramic Society. In addition, Dr. Jones was also recognized by
the State of New York as a SUNY Research Scholar for her work on high
temperature materials.Host: Urbashi Mitra, ubli@usc.edu, EEB 540, x04667Location: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Gerrielyn Ramos
-
PROGRAMMING SYNTHETIC BIO MOLECULAR SYSTEMS
Thu, Apr 16, 2009 @ 11:00 PM - 12:00 PM
Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Conferences, Lectures, & Seminars
Elisa Franco
California Institute of Technology
Dept. of Controls & Dynamical SystemsABSTRACT: The functionalities of every living organism are wired in the biochemical interactions existing among proteins, nucleic acids and all the other molecules that constitute life's building blocks. Understanding how to embed any function in this "hardware of life" via "molecular programming" is an exciting and challenging task for modern bioengineers and synthetic biologists.
A simple in vitro tool kit to investigate molecular programmability can be built by using exclusively nucleic acids and a few protein species for transcription and degradation. Despite its simplicity, this setting allows us to achieve a high computational complexity, which is an attractive feature for the implementation of engineering design principles into synthetic biochemical networks.
In this talk, I will describe the design, modeling and experimental synthesis of molecular circuitry built using in vitro genetic circuits. In particular, I will focus on two alternative modules able to achieve transcription rate regulation, the first based on negative feedback (self-repression), the second based on positive feedback (cross-activation). BIO: Elisa Franco is currently a graduate student at the California Institute of Technology, department of Control and Dynamical Systems. She got her Laurea degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Trieste, where she also earned a PhD in Automatic Control. Her current research interests are in the field of synthetic and systems biology.Host: Prof. Petros Ioannou ioannou@usc.eduLocation: Hughes Aircraft Electrical Engineering Center (EEB) - 248
Audiences: Everyone Is Invited
Contact: Shane Goodoff
