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Congratulations to the not one, but two Baylor professors, who have each earned one of the most coveted awards in the research world: the National Science Foundation CAREER award. Dr. Howard Lee, assistant professor of physics, and Dr. Caleb Martin, assistant professor of chemistry, have each been recognized for research efforts which could have huge implications for the future of our everyday electronic devices.<\/p>\n
Lee (above left) received a five-year, $500,000 CAREER Award<\/a> for developing ultra-thin, nanoscale optical films called \u201cmetasurfaces\u201d with electrically tunable properties. What does that mean, you ask? Only a few hundred atoms thick, metasurfaces are \u201cperfect absorbers,\u201d because they can absorb 100% of the light that falls on them, and would significantly decrease the size and weight of optical devices — things like cameras, binoculars, microscopes, projectors, even phones and tablets — while increasing their efficiency.<\/p>\n \u201cThis [award] is also good for my students,\u201d says Lee. \u201cBecause they have more resources and they know we are doing something great and we are competing with the top schools — MIT, Stanford and others — so they can get some confidence. We can actually show that we have projects that can really compete with [projects at] the top schools.\u201d<\/p>\n This summer at his lab, Lee will begin hosting electro-optics students from nearby Texas State Technical College (TSTC) Waco to give them experience in nanotechnology. He\u2019ll also partner with the Mayborn Museum in its Portal to the Public Network<\/a>, designed to stimulate public interest in current research and innovation, and will give an introductory lecture on non-optics at the museum\u2019s regular \u201cScience Thursdays\u201d events.<\/p>\n Martin (above right) has been awarded\u00a0a $650,000 grant<\/a> from the NSF. The funding directly supports Martin\u2019s research in synthesizing analogues of benzene containing boron, which could improve the durability and performance of organic photovoltaic (OPV) solar cells and organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs).<\/p>\n Translation? The new technology could be used in devices such as smartphones, TVs and tablets, and could help bring electric power and technology to millions of people living in remote or underdeveloped regions.<\/p>\n \u201cAlready today … if you go camping, you can unroll a flexible organic solar panel and charge your phone or charge your battery. You can\u2019t do that with inorganic solar devices because they are not flexible,\u201d Martin says. \u201cThere\u2019s a significant world population that doesn\u2019t have access to energy, and it currently is not feasible to set up a grid in many areas. If you are in a Third World country, the benefits of a durable and portable energy source are enormous.\u201d<\/p>\n The CAREER award also includes an educational component aimed at stimulating interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines among middle and high school students.\u00a0Even before receiving his award, the Martin Research Group<\/a>\u00a0had been working with \u201cThe Cove,\u201d a local nonprofit agency that serves area students who are homeless,\u00a0to help introduce and raise interest in the STEM fields.<\/p>\n The grants are the most prestigious awards made by the NSF and are given in support of researchers who, though they\u2019re early in their careers, already show potential as role models in research, in education and in carrying out their organization\u2019s mission. It\u2019s perhaps no surprise then that Drs. Lee and Martin were among the few to receive the award!<\/p>\n Sic \u2019em, Baylor professors!<\/p>\n You might also like: Congratulations to the not one, but two Baylor professors, who have each earned one of the most coveted awards in the research world: the National Science Foundation CAREER award. Dr. Howard Lee, assistant professor of physics, and Dr. Caleb Martin, assistant professor of chemistry, have each been recognized for research efforts which could have huge […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,9,12,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20770","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-academics","category-honors","category-research","category-vision"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20770","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20770"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20770\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20770"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20770"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.baylor.edu\/baylorproud\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20770"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\n<\/em>* Nation\u2019s largest award for top teaching brings UCLA chemistry prof to Baylor<\/a> (Feb. 2018)
\n*\u00a0Baylor prof receives international honor for research on psychology of religion<\/a> (July 2017)
\n*\u00a0Six Bears headed abroad thanks to prestigious Fulbright Awards<\/a> (April 2017)
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