The annual 3-day program is held in late January to showcase the materials research capabilities of UCSB. The MROP has evolved from a polymer-focused program to a broad materials-themed event over the past 6 years, and features a combination of "latest and greatest" research presentations by UCSB senior students, post-docs, and faculty as well as featured guest speakers from Industry and National Laboratories.
For the first time, a traveling exhibit promoting the MRSEC program and the Materials Research Facilities Network was presented at the 2008 NOBCChE (National Organization of Chemists and Chemical Engineers) meeting in Philadelphia.
Researchers have figured out how a jumbo squid's hard, razor-sharp beak can slice through the soft tissue of its prey--without tearing off from the stress. The work solves a longstanding mystery over a problem akin to anchoring a knife blade in Jell-O, according to the authors of the new study. using Seed support from the MRL at UCSB, Herb Waite and Frank Zok were able to show that the beak exhibited an overall stiffness gradient that differs a hundredfold from beak tip to base.
Molecular Biomimetics is an emerging multidisciplinary research area in which genetically selected and designed inorganic-binding peptides are utilized as building blocks, i.e., molecular synthesizers, erectors, and assemblers, in forming functional nanomaterials for implementation in technology and medicine.
Direct, real-space 3-D observation of shear transformation zones in a glass. A colloidal glass is used to mimic the behavior of atomic and molecular glasses.
Semiconductor nanowires grown with metal nanocatalysts are new materials that provide a basis for transformative improvements in diverse technologies including thermoelectrics and photovoltaics. Nanowire electronic properties depend strongly on incorporated impurity atoms, which have not been previously observed.