ACS 2006 summer School

The ACS PRF Summer School on Optical, Photonic, and Electronic Materials, held at the University of Central Florida on June 4-11, 2006, brought together 31 aspiring chemists at relatively early stages of their careers for an intensive educational experience in cutting edge materials that are used in a number of emerging technologies.  The participants represented a diverse audience; including Ph.D. students from across the US and internationally, postdoctoral researchers, junior faculty from both research and predominantly undergraduate institutions, and faculty from two-year colleges.  The demographic diversity included a number of those traditionally underrepresented in the sciences; 10 women, 7 Hispanics, and one African-American.  The increasing complexity of research in advanced materials requires an interdisciplinary approach.  The summer school aimed to address this by bringing in instructors from chemistry, physics, and optical science to provide comprehensive tutorials in photonic polymers, nanophotonics, nonlinear optical materials, materials for displays and imaging, biophotonics, sensors, and materials for energy conversion and storage, with an emphasis on materials characteristics and properties.

Dr. Luis Echegoyen (Chemistry), Clemson University, opened the summer school on Sunday evening with a talk on Chemical and Electrochemical Properties of Fullerene and Endohedral Fullerene Derivatives.  This was followed on Monday morning by a tutorial and research talk by Dr. Larry R. Dalton (Chemistry), University of Washington, on Electro-optic Materials & Applications, followed by George I. Stegeman’s (Optics), University of Central Florida (UCF), tutorial on Electro-optic materials.  This was followed in the afternoon by two tutorials by Dr. Paul Lahti (Chemistry), University of Massachusetts, on Magnetic Materials and Electronic Properties of Conjugated Polymers.  Lab demonstrations and a tour of the Center for Education in Optics and Lasers (CREOL) at UCF then followed.  After dinner, Dr. Dalton, Dr. Lahti, and Dr. Florencio E. Hernandez, UCF, led a frontiers session on emerging opportunities.

Tuesday morning was opened by Dr. Michael E. Sigman (Chemistry and Forensic Science), University of Central Florida, discussing Materials Research in Forensic Science and Dr. Andres D. Campiglia (Chemistry), University of Central Florida, on Advanced Luminescence Techniques for Materials and Environmental Analysis.  Tuesday afternoon had tutorials, research talks, and demonstrations by Dr. James V. Crivello (Chemistry), Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, on Photoinitiated Cationic Polymerization & Applications and Dr. Charles E. Hoyle (Polymer Science), University of Southern Mississippi, on Free Radical Photoinitiated Polymerization.  This was followed by laboratory demonstrations on multiphoton 3D microfabrication in the laboratory of Dr. Stephen Kuebler, UCF, and on multiphoton 3D imaging in the laboratory of Dr. Kevin D. Belfield, UCF.  The evening frontiers session was facilitated by Dr. Crivello, Dr. Hoyle, and Dr. Belfield.

Wednesday was devoted to glass science and photovoltaics.  Dr. Leonid Glebov (Optics), UCF CREOL, provided an in depth tutorial on Glass Science followed by Emerging Optical Applications of Advanced Glasses.  Mr. William Moreshead (Materials Science), Lightpath Inc., then presented a tutorial on Sol-Gel Chemistry.  The group then traveled to UCF’s Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) for a tutorial by Dr. Clovis Linkous (Chemistry), UCF FSEC, on Photovoltaics and Semiconductor and a tutorial and research talk by Dr. Nazim Muradov (Materials Science), UCF FSEC, on Materials and Systems for Hydrogen Production, Storage & Utilization.  This was followed by an extensive tour of the Florida Solar Energy Center research complex.

On Thursday, Dr. Dennis Deppe (Optics & Electrical Engineering), UCF CREOL, presented a tutorial and research talk on Semiconductor Quantum Dot Lasers and Nanophotonic Light Sources, followed by a tour of CREOL’s Nanophotonic Fabrication Facility and his laboratory.  In the afternoon, Dr. Lee Chow (Physics), UCF, presented a tutorial on Carbon Nanotubes and a research talk on Recent Applications of Single Wall Carbon Nanotubes.  Dr. Chow, Dr. Kuebler, and Dr. Belfield then facilitated the evening frontiers session.

On Friday morning, Dr. David J. Hagan (Optics), UCF CREOL, presented a tutorial on Nonlinear Absorption, followed by a tutorial and research presentation by Peter M. Rentzepis (Chemistry), University of California Irvine, on 3D Optical Data Storage.  On Thursday afternoon, Dr. Kevin D. Belfield (Chemistry) presented a research talk on Two-Photon Photochromic 3D Optical Data Storage.  This was followed by tutorial and research presentations by Dr. Gregory A. Sotzing (Polymer Science), University of Connecticut, on Semiconducting Polymers.  The evening frontiers session was facilitated by Dr. Rentzepis, Dr. Sotzing, and Dr. Campiglia.

The final sessions on Saturday were led by Dr. Shin-Tson Wu (Optics), UCF CREOL, in which he presented tutorial and research presentation on Liquid Crystal Displays & Devices.  This was followed by laboratory demonstrations in which participants were able to fabricate a LCD cell in Dr. Wu’s laboratory and see how 3D multiphoton fluorescence imaging is conducted in Dr. Belfield’s laboratory.  The afternoon session focused on plasmonics with tutorial and research talks by Dr. Christopher D. Geddes (Chemistry & Photophysics), University of Maryland, on Metal-Enhanced Fluorescence in Biophotonics and a tutorial on Plasmonic Materials by Dr. Pieter Kik (Optics), UCF CREOL.

From left to right. Front row: Carolina Andrade, Xiaobo Chen, Alma R. Morales, Andrew K. Frazer, Malgorzata Bartyzel, Claudia C. Corredor, Askim Iunda Senyurt, Sanchita Biswas, Chunyan Wang, Camila Garce.  Middle row: Prof. Christopher D. Geddes, James Worden, Sheng Yao, Amit J. Palkar, Jason Hofstein, Stephen J. Andrasik, Michael R. Olechnowicz, Chenguang Li, Zhen-Li Huang, Dylan S. Belfield.  Top row: Zhan Chen, Ciceron Yanez, Andres Gesquiere, Jianzhong Yang, Brendan Liddle, Jason Pak, Manuela Ocampo, Prof. Kevin D. Belfield, Kunhao Li, Carlos Torro, Xi Lin.