ARL Researcher Wins Prestigious R&D 100 Award

10-3-97
University Park, Pa. -- The researcher who created a novel materials processing technique with a $30 blender and a laser beam will receive R&D Magazine's R&D 100 award, which recognizes the world's most technologically significant processes.

Jogender Singh, a senior research associate at the Applied Research Laboratory's (ARL) High Energy Processing Department and associate professor of materials science and engineering, is being honored by the magazine for his research in the processing of nanoparticles and nanotubes by a novel laser-liquid interaction technique.

R&D Magazine selects 100 scientists per year who have made new discoveries or invented new products. This year marks the first time a Penn State researcher has been recognized by R&D's international judging committee.

Nanoscale particles, measured in billionths of a meter, are drawing attention in both basic science research and advanced technologies. Nanotubes are 50 nanometers in diameter -- or one-fiftieth the thickness of a human hair -- and have a length of at least 4,000 angstroms. There has been growing interest in the production of nanoparticles and nanotubes for applications in the biomedical, electronic, and communication industries.

Three years ago, Singh, whose background is in materials engineering, began exploring laser-liquid interactions. He bought a $30 blender from a local department store and modified its blades by flattening them. The blender was filled with a liquid solution and a solid substrate was immersed into it. As the blades rotated at a certain speed, a laser beam penetrated the liquid surface and irradiated the substrate. The thermal energy absorbed by the substrate led to the production of nanoparticles.

Singh is exploring potential agreements with companies in the biomedical and microelectronics industries. Electronics Manufacturing Productivity Facility, a Navy Center of Excellence in electronics manufacturing technology, is interested in using this technology in its soldering applications.

"This process will open many new doors because of its simplicity and wide applicability," says Singh. In particular, he notes that, with a less than $100,000 investment in equipment, small companies could participate in this field.

In 1996 Singh became a Fellow of Institute of Materials in London and received an ALCOA Foundation Award, which is given to only ten scientists every year based on their work. On Sept. 25 he will receive a plaque at a gala awards banquet and exhibit at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry.

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Contact: Karen Trimbath (814) 863-3982 (office), e-mail: klt126@psu.edu