Tag: sir colin humphreys

SBPMat newsletter. English edition. Year 1, issue 9 – special: XIII SBPMat Meeting.

Posted on Thursday 25 de September de 2014

 

Brazilian Materials Research Society (SBPMat) newsletter

News update from Brazil for the Materials community

 

English edition. Year 1, issue 9. 

Greetings, .

Final arrangements for our meeting in João Pessoa!

– Read the message of the chairs of the event, which this year accepted 2,141 papers and has nearly 2,000 registrations from 28 countries so far. In the message, professors Ieda Garcia and Severino de Lima show the highlights of the program of this year’s meeting! Here.

– After lunch and before the afternoon plenary lectures, you can attend technical lectures of the meeting´s sponsors in João Pessoa: Shimadzu/Tescan will discourse about SEM with ion beam and TOF SIMS detector, and FEI will address DualBeam TEM. Learn more.

– Why is João Pessoa called “the sun door“? Learn more about the city, one of the oldest in Brazil, and its natural and cultural features. And get ready to dive into green waters at 28 °C! Read about João Pessoa.

– What to pack? Track the weather, whose temperatures should be between 20 °C and 30 °C. But pay attention, the meeting organization warns that, at the Convention Center, the air conditioner will make the room fresh … Link to weather in João Pessoa.

– Registration: here.

– Program at a glance: here.

– Detailed schedule. Search for times and locations of symposia presentations: here.

–  Some options of accommodation, car rental, transfers from the airports of the region, transportation from hotels to convention center, and tours: see on the home page of the site of the event.

– And what about the conference party? This year, it will be held on Wednesday evening at Espaço Caixa Econômica Federal in Cabo Branco. Tickets may be purchased in the information desk as of Monday 1 p.m..

  

Interviews with our plenary speakers
We interviewed Robert Chang, professor of the first department of Materials Science in the world at Northwestern University. Besides having a remarkable career as a researcher (his H index is 56), “Bob” has dedicated the past 20 years guiding the development of the Materials World Modules program, which develops educational, interactive and playful material (for example, card games) on Materials and Nanotechnology for pre-college students and their teachers. In his plenary lecture at the XIII SBPMat Meeting, Professor Chang will try to mobilize citizens of the world to solve global problems together. See our interview with the scientist. 


We also spoke with Professor Colin Humphreys, a professor at the University of Cambridge.  Among other honors, the scientist was knighted by the Queen of England for his services to science. Besides being the author of over 600 publications, the professor developed materials for the industry that currently fly in aircraft engines and created low cost LEDs based on gallium nitride, material on which he specialized. In João Pessoa, he will show, among other issues, how gallium nitride could reduce electricity consumption by 25% in the world. See our interview with Colin Humphreys.










We interviewed the German physicist Karl Leo, specialist in organic semiconductors. Beyond being the author of more than 550 papers with more than 23,000 citations and 50 families of patents, the scientist has already participated of the creation of 8 spin-off companies. In his lecture at the XIII SBPMat Meeting, Karl Leo will speak on highly efficient organic devices, as OLEDs and solar cells. See our interview with Karl Leo.








We also spoke with the Portuguese physicist Antonio Luis Ferreira Martins Dias Carlos, of the University of Aveiro, who will perform a lecture in our meeting in João Pessoa on luminescence applied to nanomedicine. In the interview, the professor shared with us his most prominent works in the field of Materials. He also told us about some challenges in the area of luminescence for medical applications, both in medical imaging and intra-cellular temperature mapping, and cited examples of applications of luminescent materials that have already been used in the diagnosis and treatment of various diseases. See our interview with Luis Dias Carlos.











We interviewed the French scientist Jean-Marie Dubois (Institut Jean-Lamour), specialist in quasicrystals (ordered, but aperiodic structures on solid materials) and pioneer in patenting applications for them. He told us a little about his main contributions to the field of Materials and gave a teaser on the theme of his plenary lecture in the XIII SBPMat Meeting: he will talk about quasicrystal structures, found in metallic alloys, polymers, oxides and artificial nanostructures, and their unprecedented properties. In the picture, Jean-Marie Dubois (on the left) and Dan Shechtman, who received a Nobel Prize in 2011 for the quasicrystals, using equal ties, both decorated with the Penrose tiling, an example of aperiodicity.  Read our interview with Jean-Marie Dubois here.








We also interviewed the Italian chemist Roberto Dovesi (Universita’ degli Studi di Torino), one of the creators of CRYSTAL, a computational tool for ab initio quantum calculations used in the study of several solid materials properties. The CRYSTAL code is currently used in over 350 laboratories around the world.  In his plenary lecture in the XIII SBPMat Meeting, Dovesi will attempt to demonstrate that today quantum simulations may be very useful tools to complement experiments. See our interview with Roberto Dovesi.











We have interviewed Professor Alberto Salleo, from Stanford University, who is going to give a plenary lecture on organic electronic devices in the XIII SBPMat Meeting. Young, yet holding a career that stands out internationally, Salleo told us about the work conducted by his group, which has been developing a deeper understanding on the role provided by the defects in charge transport in organic semiconductors. He also shared with us his main papers, published in Nature Materials. Finally, Salleo discussed the next challenges and applications on organic electronics, and anticipated what he is going to address in the plenary lecture, which promises to be very informative while mild enough for a wider audience. Read our interview with Alberto Salleo.












To suggest news, opportunities, events or reading recommendations items for inclusion in our newsletter, write to comunicacao@sbpmat.org.br.





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Interviews with plenary lecturers of the XIII SBPMat Meeting: Sir Colin Humphreys (University of Cambridge, U.K.).

				

			Posted on Friday 19 de September de 2014		

			


	

		
Professor Sir Colin Humphreys.


Sir Colin Humphreys, PhD from Cambridge and a BSc from Imperial College, is Professor of Materials Science and Director of Research in the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy at the University of Cambridge (United Kingdom). His research covers three main areas: gallium nitride  (GaN) materials and devices, advanced electron microscopy, and ultra-high temperature aerospace materials. He has published hundreds of papers on electron microscopy and given many plenary and invited lectures throughout the world. He has received national and international medals for his research in electron diffraction and microscopy and on gallium nitride.


He founded a spin-off company (CamGaN) to exploit the research on gallium nitride of his group on low-cost LEDs for home and office lighting. The company was acquired in February 2012 by Plessey, which manufactures LEDs based on this technology. He is the founder and director of the Cambridge Centre for Gallium Nitride, a center with world-class growth and characterization facilities where research is carried out from fundamental studies on GaN to applications in LEDs and lasers. He also founded and directs the Cambridge/Rolls-Royce Centre for Advanced Materials for Aerospace, which developed materials that now fly in Rolls-Royce engines.


He is a fellow of the Royal Society, the self-governing Fellowship of many of the world’s most distinguished scientists drawn from all areas of science, engineering, and medicine, and of the Royal Academy of Engineering. He is also a fellow of Selwyn College, one of the Cambridge University 31 autonomous units in which students live, eat, socialise and receive some teaching sessions. In 2010 he was Knighted (receive a special honor and the title of Sir from the Queen of England) for services to science.


Professor Humphreys has authored over 600 peer reviewed papers with over 9,400 citations and his h-index is 43.


In his limited spare time he writes books on science and religion, such as “The Mystery of the Last Supper: Reconstructing the Final Days of Jesus”, which has recently been translated into Russian, German, Portuguese, Japanese and Greek.


Read our interview with the plenary speaker.


SBPMat newsletter: – Why do you think gallium nitride is one of the most important semiconductor materials? Which are the main challenges in the field of gallium nitride for materials scientists and engineers?


Sir Colin Humphreys: – I think gallium nitride is one of the most important semiconductor materials because of the huge range of potential applications and the benefits to mankind which will result from these applications. The main challenges to realising these applications are reducing the cost of GaN devices and improving the efficiency still further.


SBPMat newsletter: – Which are the principal contributions you have done for the development of Materials Science and Engineering?


Sir Colin Humphreys: – The principal contributions I have made for the development of Materials Science and Engineering are solving some fascinating problems in basic science and also developing materials for industry. For example, I direct a Rolls-Royce Centre in Cambridge on Advanced Materials, and some of the materials we have developed are now flying in Rolls-Royce engines. In addition, I direct the Cambridge Centre for Gallium Nitride, and the low-cost GaN LEDs on silicon that we developed are now being manufactured in the UK by Plessey.


SBPMat newsletter: – Brazil is making efforts to transfer technology to the industry. You have founded a spin-off company and research centers, in both cases having good technology transfer results. Based on these experiences, what would you say to the Brazilian Materials community about making technology transfer real?


Sir Colin Humphreys: – First, scientists and engineers have to have an idea for a new or better product. In order to convince industry, it is important that the scientists and engineers make prototype devices to show to industry. If the scientists and engineers decide to set up their own company, it is usually helpful to bring in a CEO from outside to run the company because most scientists and engineers are not so good at running a company. The choice of the CEO is critical. It is also possible to set up a company for virtually nothing, set up a website for virtually nothing, etc. It is really important to get lots of good advice. I was fortunate in setting up two companies, in that I got a lot of good advice for free because there are a lot of people around Cambridge in the UK that have set up companies and can give good advice. Finally, making technology transfer real is good fun, but also hard work! You may have lots of set-backs, but keep persevering! Also, be enthusiastic about your product, if you are not enthusiastic, no-one else will be! You have really to believe in what you are doing.


GaN LEDs on a 6-inch Si substrate.


SBPMat newsletter: – If possible, tell us a little about the topic of your plenary talk at SBPMat meeting.


Sir Colin Humphreys: – In my plenary talk at João Pessoa I plan to start by showing some striking atomic-resolution electron micrographs showing single silicon impurity atoms in graphene, and showing that they can occupy two different sites. I will also show images of dancing silicon atoms in graphene (I know Brazilians are experts in dancing!). I will then move on to talk about Gallium Nitride (GaN) and how this amazing man-made material is likely to save more energy and CO2 emissions than solar, wind-power and biomass together! I will describe how advanced electron microscopy and atom probe tomography have been used to solve the fascinating problem of why GaN LEDs are so bright when the dislocation density is so high. I will also describe how growing GaN LEDs on large area silicon substrates can substantially reduce the cost of LEDs, and this cost reduction is likely to enable GaN LEDs to be the dominant form of lighting in our homes, offices, streets, etc, in the near future. In addition, I will show how GaN-based power electronic devices are 40% more efficient than silicon power electronic devices, so replacing Si power electronics by GaN would save another 10% of electricity, on top of the 10-15% electricity savings from using GaN LEDs. So GaN could potentially save 25% of the world’s electricity consumption, which is amazing.


In addition to saving energy and carbon emissions, if aluminium is added to GaN, then deep-ultra-violet (UV) light is emitted and this can kill all bacteria and viruses. So such deep-UV LEDs could be used for water purification in the world, saving millions of lives. Finally I will talk about how optimised quality LED lighting can improve the health of all of us and the exam results of school children! My talk will range from basic science through to applications.