In March, a group of physicists from the Chicago MRSEC visited Washington DC to talk about science to Congressional Representatives, their staff, and others. The message: basic research is vital to America's economy and our childrens' futures. In the photo, current MRSEC Director, Sidney Nagel (left) demonstrates the properties of materials to CUNY Prof. Myriam Sarachik (former President of the APS) and U.S. Rep. Vernon J.

Working collaboratively, research groups at the Chicago MRSEC have developed new label-free analytical systems that utilize ultra-small sample sizes of cellular lysate, yet allow these single samples to be assayed for multiple kinase activities. The systems involve the integration of solid-phase biochip peptide arrays, mass spectrometric detection, and microfluidic networks.

Several MRL Faculty members were honored this summer and early fall for achievements in and significant contributions to their respective fields. The Millennium Prize Foundation of Finland announced that Professor Shuji Nakamura, who is involved with MRL's IRG-2 project on Oxide Based Semiconductors, is the sole winner of the 2006 Millennium Technology Prize, accompanied by one million euros (about $1.3 million in U.S. dollars).

Bohdana Discher

Paul A. Heiney and Virgil Percec

R.M. Suter /CMU MRSEC, Carnegie Mellon University, NSF DMR- 0520425

When conjugated polymer crystals nucleate off of the gate dielectric, the conjugated backbones, shown in red, are all aligned. Charge can easily hop from one grain to another. Proven strategies for nucleating crystals on the dielectric * Make the dielectric smooth * Coat the dielectric with OTS * Use high boiling point solvent or anneal the film * Use high molecular weight polymers.

Jia Sun, Brad Payne, Greg Szulczewski, and Silas Blackstock (February, 2006)

Michael M. Baksh, Esther M. Winter, Nathan G. Clack and Jay T. Groves: University of California, Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab

Center for Materials for Information Technology at University of Alabama have recently gone live with 5 computer games targeted at middle school students. The games are designed to teach them about the periodic table and one is designed to teach about rock classifications.