Friday, February 18, 2011

UNLV’s EMITION Center: Developing Technologies for Nevada & the US – Feb 24th

Dr. Robert Schill, Jr is the Director of UNLV's Energy Materials Interaction Technology Initiative of Nevada (EMITION) Center. He will be speaking at the NevBio Luncheon on Thursday, Feb 24th at McCormick & Schmick's. 11:30 Check-in & 12 PM lunch & talk. $30.
REGISTER HERE
The EMITION center is looking at how pulsed power -- the ability to direct a mass of energy to a specific location over one-billionth of a second -- might help with everything from reducing air pollution to killing cancer cells. The sensors developed for use in the center's pulse power machines are being patented for possible use in the electronic and medical industry

Pulsed power has a long history of successful applications in the safe simulation of nuclear weapons effects and powering directed energy weapons (DEWs) for the DOD while enabling inertial confinement fusion for the DOE. Over the past ten years, an even more exciting future has emerged for pulsed power in material science, space science, and the biomedical sciences. UNLV significantly expanded its presence in the field in May of 2001 when it established the Energy Materials Interaction Technology Initiative of Nevada (EMITION) Center in the College of Engineering. Besides developing sources of pulsed power, the EMITION Center is dedicated to the study of the interaction of pulsed power (pulsed electrical power, pulsed electromagnetic energy, and pulsed particle beams) with materials for governmental, industrial, and medical applications.

The presentation highlights past and present collaborations the Center has enjoyed with local Nevada industries (e.g., Las Vegas Valley Water District, Remote Sensing Laboratory, past EG&G North Las Vegas, etc.) and national agencies (e.g., AFOSR, AFRL, DOE, Homeland Security). Through these collaborations we will show the capabilities of EMITION's laboratory resources (people and equipment infrastructure), training, patents, and present and potential future capabilities. For example, a new $1.2M microwave anechoic chamber was just recently added.
A vision shared by the three major universities in Nevada to work with Nevada industry on joint ventures satisfying local and national needs will be conveyed. It is hoped that this talk will plant the seed for future industry-EMITION collaborations. The presentation concludes with out-reach activities that seek to share, inspire, and bridge talents and knowledge among residents of all ages in Southern Nevada. A vision and motivation to extend out-reach activities to the nation may be introduced.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

"So, When Will These Things Finally Work? State-of-the-Art Characterization of Interfaces in Energy Conversion Devices" Dr. Heske – Feb 10th NevBio

Dr. Clemens Heske and his group at UNLV team up with other universities, national labs, and companies who make devices for energy conversion - solar cells, fuel cells, photoelectrochemical cells that use sunlight to split water, nuclear fuel, light-emitting diodes, and others. He will be speaking at the NevBio luncheon on Thursday, Feb 10th: 11:30 Check-in & 12 PM lunch & Presentation. $30 at McCormick & Schmicks. 335 Hughes Center Drive.

Dr. Heske will talk on his current research, with particular emphasis on solar energy applications and focus on why it is important to study their interfaces on an atomic scale. To register Click Here

Clemens Heske received his Ph.D. (Dr. rer. nat.) in Physics from the University of Würzburg in Germany in 1998. After two years as a postdoctoral fellow at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, he became a "wissenschaftlicher Assistent" at the University of Würzburg and completed his German Habilitation in Experimental Physics in December of 2003. In 2004, he joined the UNLV Chemistry Department as an Associate Professor for Materials/Physical Chemistry and promoted to Professor in the summer of 2009.

Dr. Heske uses soft x-rays to study surfaces and interfaces in a wide variety of material systems for energy conversion. With his group, he teams up with over 30 different national and international partners in academia, national labs, and industry to improve thin film solar cells, materials for hydrogen production, hydrogen storage, fuel cells, light-emitting devices, nuclear fuel, and other systems that involve interfaces and require a deeper understanding of their properties to optimize the performance and stability of the final device.

The Research Group of Dr. Clemens Heske uses a large number of spectroscopic and structural methods to study surfaces and interfaces of devices devoted to the conversion of energy.

Thin Film Solar Cells
Hydrogen Production
Hydrogen Storage
Carbon Nanomaterials
Solid Oxide Fuel Cells
Inorganic semiconductor devices
Bio-interfaces and liquids
Nuclear Fuel