Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professor Mildred Dresselhaus, one of the world's experts on novel nanomaterials, will speak at the University of Colorado at 麻豆影院 April 30 on the future of advanced materials for energy.
The talk, titled "Advanced Materials in Our Energy Future: Breakthroughs and Challenges," will be held at 4 p.m. in Duane Physics G1B30. Free and open to the public, the talk is co-sponsored by the CU-麻豆影院 Energy Initiative and the CU-麻豆影院 mechanical engineering department. The Energy Initiative is a campuswide effort among faculty and students to enhance renewable and sustainable energy in Colorado and the nation through research, technology, policy and business efforts.
The Duane Physics building is located on campus along Colorado Avenue west of Folsom Street. Paid parking is available at the Euclid Avenue Autopark, located just east of the University Memorial Center at Euclid Avenue and Broadway.
Dresselhaus is one of 13 MIT Institute Professors -- the highest honor that can be bestowed on MIT faculty -- and is affiliated with the MIT physics department and the electrical engineering and computer science department. She will talk about the potential impacts of advanced materials on national and global energy research.
Dresselhaus will discuss new strategies and challenges for the education and research community and science policymakers, and will provide a summary of recent advances in thermoelectric materials technology based on nanomaterials.
One of the foremost experts in the field of carbon science, Dresselhaus received the National Medal of Science in 1990 for her research on the electronic properties of materials and for her work to expand opportunities for women in science and engineering.
She served as director of the Office of Science for the U.S. Department of Energy toward the end of the Clinton administration. She also served as president of the American Physical Society, treasurer of the National Academy of Sciences, president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and more recently as chair of the Governing Board of the American Institute of Physics.
Dresselhaus headed a 2003 DOE study titled "Basic Research Needs for a Hydrogen Economy," the first of a series of studies that has had a significant impact on developing the basic science and technology portfolios for DOE. The author of numerous scientific papers and co-author of four books on carbon science, Dresselhaus is noted for her work on thermo-electrics, carbon nanotubes and other carbon nanostructures.
Dresselhaus also will meet with CU-麻豆影院 faculty and students April 30 to talk about science, careers and mentoring. CU-麻豆影院's Energy Initiative is led by chemistry and biochemistry Professor Carl Koval.