From the 2009 Physics Alumni Newsletter
Martin Guthold was one of two recipients of the 2009 Excellence in Research Award from Wake Forest University. His research includes investigating the properties of individual fibrin fibers, which are the key components in forming blood clots in humans. This research aims to elucidate the important role such fibers may play in stroke and other diseases. Martin is one of the few people at Wake Forest to win both the Excellence in Research Award and the Reid-Doyle Prize for Excellence in Teaching. He won the latter in 2005.
Jed Macosko was awarded the first Hobbs Award for Faculty Entrepreneurial Achievement for founding BioBotz LLC with six Wake Forest students. BioBotz has spun off two funded projects: the first is supported by a Young Innovator MacArthur grant administered by Jed and awarded to Anthony Pecorella (’04)(MA ’06) who is directing a brand new SimCity-like videogame called “CellCraft”, and the second is supported by an Educational Enhancement Grant from the North Carolina Biotechnology Center. For this second project, Jed is partnering with high school students at Atkins Academic Technology High School in Winston-Salem, NC to produce a 3-minute, animated short that features characters based on the molecular machines that perform essential functions inside living cells. The overarching goal of BioBotz is to teach young people about the amazing world of nanoscopic machinery found within every living cell.
Timo Thonhauser received the Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award in May 2009 from the Oak Ridge Associated Universities. This award program is prestigious and highly competitive. Young faculty in a wide variety of fields from over 120 member universities located across the USA are eligible to apply. Timo’s research project involves a promising new approach for conducting quantum-mechanical simulations of water—one of the most important substances on earth and crucial to life. His approach makes it possible to effectively study a difficult-to-describe interaction, which is essential in understanding the many mysterious properties of water.
Graduating senior Patrick Nelli was named to be a member of the USA Today’s 2009 All-USA College Academic First Team. The team of 20 students was selected by a panel of judges from almost 500 students nominated by colleges and universities across the United States. According to the USA Today web site the team members are “selected based on their intellectual endeavors, community service and campus leadership”.
Eric Peterson, a graduate student working with David Carroll in the Nanotechnology and Molecular Materials Center, has been awarded a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship. The award carries a $90,000 stipend, distributed over three years. In addition, the university receives $30,000 to pay for tuition.
David Carroll appeared on a program called “Eternal Life,” on the History Channel in July 2009. It was part of a series of programs called That’s Impossible.
An account of some research done by graduate student Xuangfang (Leo) Ding was posted on the American Institute of Physics web site. The site says that “Using multi-walled carbon nanotubes … Ding and his collaborators hope to make guided laser cancer removal safer and more effective.” If you are interested in reading more about his research the url is http://blogs.physicstoday.org/industry09/2009/07/carbon-nanotubes-help-cook-cancer.html.