What's New...
The 16th annual MIT-Princeton Microsymposium on Polymers was held at MIT on June 10-11, 2008. Please click here to view the schedule of events.
Professor Cohen and his work on biomimetic surfaces was featured in the April 2008 issue of National Geographic. The article, "Biomimetics: Design by Nature," can be viewed on the National Geographic site.
In an article published in Science on December 7, Professor Cohen, post-doc Anish Tuteja, and their collaborators at MIT and the Air Force Research Lab describe their exciting work on the design of superoleophobic surfaces. In the article, the group describes the design parameters for obtaining an superoleophobic surface and demonstrates such a surface showing extremely high contact angles (163° adv./145° rec.) with octane. You can more about this research and see videos of these amazing surfaces in action in the related press release.
This work has already generated strong interest in the popular science press as well, including being covered by Chemistry World in "Giving Oil the Slip."
The citation for the article is
"Designing Superoleophobic Surfaces," Anish Tuteja et al., Science 318, 1618 (2007).
A number of Cohen Group members and collaborators presented their research at the recent National ACS Meeting in Boston:
- Anish Tuteja presented Designing superoleophobic surfaces and Designing superoleophobic surfaces with fluoroPOSS.
- Zekeriyya Gemici presented Hydrothermal treatment: An in situ method of strengthening nanoparticle-containing layer-by-layer coatings.
- Cohen Group alumnus Daeyeon Lee presented Structural color from layer-by-layer assembled nanoporous multilayers.
- Collaborator Eric Verploegen presented Quantitative morphological characterization of multiwall carbon nanotube films via small-angle X-ray scattering.
- Collaborator Wonjae Choi presented Re-entrant structures for superhydrophobic and superoleophobic surfaces.
Professor Cohen has been selected as the first recipient of the Capers (1976) and Marion McDonald Award for Excellence in Mentoring and Advising. Established by Capers and Marion McDonald, this award is presented to a faculty member in the School of Engineering, who--through tireless efforts to engage minds, elevate spirits, and stimulate high quality work--has advanced the professional and personal development of students and colleagues.
A recent publication from the Rubner and Cohen Groups has been generating a lot of interest in the popular press. The research, which focused on controlling the wettability of certain surfaces, was inspired by the biological design of the Namib beetle. More can be read about this research here.
The 14th Annual Princeton-MIT Microsymposium was held at MIT from 31 May - 1 June. The schedule of speakers can be viewed here.
During the Spring term of 2006, Professor Cohen was on leave at Balliol College, Oxford University. He was hosted by Dr. Paul Buckley in the Department of Engineering Science, the site of Professor Cohen's period of postdoctoral study in 1972-73. The sabbatical leave was sponsored in part by the following program:
MIT-Balliol College Exchange Program: Administered by the office of the Dean of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences at MIT, this program began in 1986 following a commitment made by William A. Coolidge to fund an exchange program for faculty at MIT and Balliol College at Oxford. The program provides for extended visits at each university. The financial administrator in the Dean's Office coordinates logistics and financial arrangements. All regular members of the MIT faculty are eligible to participate.
- Priority is given to visiting faculty with the greatest potential for professional interaction with the host's faculty.
- Host institutions should avoid imposing any standard "obligations" (e.g. lecturing) on visiting faculty to allow flexibility in arranging the activities of each visit according to the specific needs of the participants.
- The program covers all travel and housing expenses for exchange participants, including one round-trip airfare for their spouse or partner. Visitors to Balliol may participate in a meal plan at the college.
- Visitors to Balliol are provided with an apartment on campus.
The Dupont-MIT Alliance (DMA) was highlighted in C&E news. The article can be viewed here.
C&E News highlighted research being conducted jointly by the Cohen and Rubner (DMSE) research groups at MIT on anti-fog coatings. The article can be viewed here.
Professor Cohen was elected to the rank of "Fellow" in AIChE.
Professor Cohen was notified in November of election to Fellowship in the American Physical Society for "seminal contributions to the understanding of the morphology and properties of heterogeneous polymers, in particular, pioneering fundamental work on molecular structure of block copolymers, and toughening of crystalline polymers."
