Title:

Nano-engineered Surfaces

Speaker:

Dr. Min Zou

Affiliation:

University of Arkansas, Fayettevill, AR

When:

Monday, November 7, 2011 at 11:00:00 AM   Add to Calendar

Where:

MRDC Building, Room 4211

Host:

Dr. Jeffrey Streator
jeffrey.streator@me.gatech.edu
404.894.2742

Abstract

An overview of recent research at the Nano Mechanics and Tribology Laboratory will be presented first, followed by detailed discussions on the work related to nano-engineered surfaces (NESs) and their applications. NESs are surfaces engineered with nanoscale topographies and/or chemistries. NESs have great potential to be applied to many applications. For example, they can be used to improve tribological properties, including stiction/adhesion and friction reduction in micro-electro-mechanical systems, to change the wetting properties of surfaces for anti-fogging and self-cleaning applications, and to facilitate cell adhesion and growth in biomedical applications. Since this field is still in its infancy, many fundamental issues, including fabrication and understanding of the properties of the NESs, remain to be investigated before these applications can be fully realized. In this talk, Dr. Min Zou will present her efforts towards the fabrication and understanding of the properties of NESs.

Biography

Dr. Zou is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Arkansas (UA) and currently holds a 21st Century Professorship in Mechanical Engineering. She is also a faculty member of the Institute for Nanoscale Science and Engineering as well as the Microelectronic-photonic (microEP) Graduate Program at the UA. She received her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology in 1999 and has work experience at Shanghai Aircraft Research Institute (1991-1994) and Seagate Technology (1999-2003). Dr. Zou’s current research interests are in the areas of nano-surface-engineering, nanotribology, and nanomechanics. Her research has been recognized by several awards including the NSF CAREER Award (2007), the Best Paper Award from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (2007), the Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award (2005), and Walter D. Hodson Best Paper Award from the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers (2001).