Herman Group News
** On March 31, 2022, Mr. Xiang Hua defended his Ph.D. thesis "Processing and Properties of van der Waals Materials at Elevated Temperature" and thus became Dr. Xiang Hua (Xiang is wearing the tie.)
** In February, 2022, we belatedly learned that former group member Nick Fuller, now Vice President, Distributed Cloud at IBM Research, published his memoirs "Struggle and Progress" in 2017.
** On December 9, 2021, former group member, (now) Texas A&M Davidson Chair Professor of Science Sarbajit Banerjee was selected by The Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas (TAMEST) to receive one of the Lone Star State's highest scientific honors, the Edith and Peter O'Donnell Award celebrating rising stars in the Texas research community and their cutting-edge research.
** On December 11, 2020, Mr. Jiayang Hu defended his Ph.D. thesis "Two-Dimensional Self-Assembly of Nanoparticles at Liquid Interfaces" (by Zoom) and thus became Dr. Jiayang Hu.
** In November 2018, former group member, (now) Prof. Jon Spanier of Drexel University was named the Interim Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics.
** On July 11, 2018, Mr. Dennis Wang defended his Ph.D. thesis "Optical and electronic studies of air-sensitive van der Waals materials encapsulated by hexagonal boron nitride" and thus became Dr. Dennis Wang.
** Former group postdoctoral scientist and current chemistry professor at Texas A&M, Sarbajit Banerjee was elected a Fellow of the Institute of Physics in January, 2018. In August, 2017 he was named a Davidson Chair Professor of Science at Texas A&M.
** In December, 2017, former group member Dr. Nick Fuller was promoted to become Director, Cognitive Service Foundations at IBM Research.
** In January, 2017, former group postdoctoral scientist Dr. Jay Dickerson became the Chief Scientist of Consumer Reports. Jay had been Assistant Director for the Center for Functional Nanomaterials at Brookhaven National Laboratory, and before that a tenured associate professor at Vanderbilt University.
** In October, 2016, former group member Prof. Jon Spanier of Drexel University was named an APS fellow, by recommendation of the Division of Materials Physics, and on March 14, 2017 he received this award at the APS meeting in New Orleans.
** In July, 2016 Qi Shao from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, soon to be Dr. Qi Shao, ended a very enjoyable and productive six-month visit to the Herman group.
** On May 18, 2016, Mr. Datong Zhang defended his Ph.D. thesis "Hybridization of van der Waals Materials and Close-packed Nanoparticle Monolayers" and thus became Dr. Datong Zhang.
(Note the Coke bottle.)
** In the group, Materials Science senior Adam Jaffe investigated potential sealants for double- and triple-paned windows, by using graphene oxide membranes that could be made impermeable to water vapor, as well as to other gases; he was awarded the Rhodes Prize as the top materials science senior. Materials Science senior Kathleen Kennedy probed nanoparticle assembly at liquid surfaces, and will be starting doctoral studies at CalTech this fall. Applied Physics senior, Richard Creswell was part of the team that recently showed that van der Waals layers are excellent passivation layers for nanoparticles; he was awarded the Applied Physics Award as the top AP senior.
** The second edition of Herman's Physics of the Human Body was published by Springer in Jan. 2016.
** Much has happened since 2013, but little has been updated on this site. In 2014, then current group postdoc Seung-Whan Lee joined the National Fusion Research Institute in Korea. Former group postdoc Sarbajit Banerjee became Professor of Chemistry at Texas A&M in August 2014. Former group Ph.D. Mohammad Islam became Assistant Professor of Physics at State University of New York at Oswego in July 2014.
** On July 26, 2013, Mr. Theodore (Dory) Kramer defended his Ph.D. thesis "Functional Nanocomposites Formed by Two-step Back-filling Methods" and thus became Dr. Theodore (Dory) Kramer.
** After several years of stellar and inspiring work, Research Scientist Dr. Chenguang Lu is moving on. On July 10, 2013 we held a farewell lunch for him.
** On December 7, 2011, Mr. Austin Akey defended his Ph.D. thesis "Nanomaterials from Nanocomponents: Synthesis and Properties of Hybrid Nanomaterials" and thus became Dr. Austin Akey.
** In August 2010, Dr. Youjin Lee joined the group.
** On August 18, 2009, Ms. Wei Wang defended her Ph.D. thesis "The Formation and Optics of Nanomaterials: The Synthesis and Assembly of CdSe Nanorods and Catalytic Study of Au-doped Nano Ceria" and thus became Dr. Wei Wang.
** Scott Misner was a Research Experience for Teachers (RET) visitor in the group in the summers of 2007 and 2008. He worked with Austin Akey on the dielectrophoretic alignment of carbon nanotubes. John Thompson spent the summer as a MRSEC REU student, and worked with Dory Kramer on fracture control in electrophoretic nanocrystal films. Ivy Chen worked with Dr. Chenguang Lu on controlled formation of binary nanocrystal superlattices.
** On June 14, 2008, Mr. Shengguo Jia defended his Ph.D. thesis "Mechanism of the Electrophoretic Deposition of CdSe Nanocrystal Films and Their Mechanical Properties" and thus became Dr. Shengguo Jia.
** In September 2007, Dr. Sarbajit Banerjee (Postdoc, 2004-2007) joined the faculty of Buffalo University as an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry.
** In February 2007 Herman's textbook "Physics of the Human Body" textbook is published.
** In the January 11, 2007, the "Laws of Herman" are published in Nature. This is "tongue-in-cheek" advice to graduate students doing doctoral thesis work.
** Michael (Low Kuan) Low from Seragoon Junior College Singapore was a Research Experience for Teachers (RET) visitor in the group from June-July 2006. Michael worked on the dielectrophoretic alignment of carbon nanotubes. During the summmer of 2006, Ghulam Firdaus from George Washington High School spent her second summer in the group as part of the MRSEC RET program, and worked on assembling nanocrystals. Kellen Petersen spent the summer as a MRSEC REU student, and worked on the dielectrophoretic alignment of vanadium oxide nanorods. Dr. Sylvana Mercone also entered the group as a postdoctoral scientist. She later joined the University of Paris XIII.
** In December 2005, Columbia President Lee C. Bollinger used a Herman Group image by Dr. Sarbajit Banerjee of dielectrophoretically deposited carbon nanotubes for the cover of his Columbia University holiday card.
** In May 2005, Edwin (Cher Chuan) Lim from Victoria Junior College Singapore was a Research Experience for Teachers (RET) visitor in the group from May-July 2005. Edwin worked on the dielectrophoretic alignment of carbon nanotubes.
** In December 2004, Shengguo Jia presented a talk on the 'Mechanical Properties of Electrophoretically Deposited CdSe Nanocrystal Films' at the Fall 2004 Meeting of the Materials Research Society in Boston. The talk was highlighted on the MRS website and in the meeting scene email.
** In August 2004, Dr. Sarbajit Banerjee joined the Herman group as a postdoctoral scientist. He recently received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the State University of New York at Stony Brook working with Prof. Stan Wong. Dr. Banerjee will work with the Columbia Nanocenter on Molecular Transport in Molecular Nanostructures.
** In July 2004, Dr. James Dickerson (Postdoc, 2002-2004) joined the faculty of Vanderbilt University as an assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy.
** On August 25, 2003, Mr. Mohammad Islam defended his Ph.D. thesis "Electrophoretic Deposition of Multifunctional Nanocrystal Films" and thus became Dr. Mohammad Islam. He joined Prof. Theresa Mayers's group at Penn State in September, 2003 as a postdoctoral scientist to work on nano-based devices.
** Group Students and Postdocs in the Summer of 2003
** In September 2003, Dr. Jon Spanier (Ph.D. 2001) joined the faculty of Drexel University as an assistant professor in the Department of Materials Engineering, which will soon be renamed the Department of Materials Science and Engineering. Congratulations Jon! (Jon is the one wearing the tie, two pictures down.) For more details see Drexel News.
** Group Students and Postdocs in the Summer of 2002
** On July 30, 2002, Mr. Nicholas Fuller defended his Ph.D. thesis "Controlling the Relative Rates of Adlayer Formation and Removal during Etching in Inductively Coupled Plasmas" and thus became Dr. Nicholas Fuller. He joined the Plasma Processing Development group at the IBM Yorktown and Fishkill labs in September, 2002.
** On July 15, 2002, Dr. James (Jay) Dickerson joined the Herman group as a postdoctoral scientist. He recently received his Ph.D. in Physics from the State University of New York at Stony Brook working with Prof. Emilio Mendez. Dr. Dickerson will work with the Columbia Nanocenter on Molecular Transport in Molecular Nanostructures.
** Nicholas Fuller has done it once again! On November 1, 2001 he was awarded the John Coburn and Harold Winters Student Award. This award is from the Plasmas Sciences and Technology Division of the American Vacuum Society and "is presented to the student whose paper is judged to be most outstanding based on technical content and quality of presentation."
** After receiving his Ph.D. in May, 2001, Dr. Jon Spanier joined Prof. Hongkun Park's group at Harvard in July 2001 as a postdoctoral scientist to work on oxide nanorods.
** Nicholas Fuller has done it again! In June, 2001 he was a named a finalist for the John Coburn and Harold Winters Student Award. This award is from the Plasmas Sciences and Technology Division of the American Vacuum Society.
** In May, 2001 Nicholas Fuller won an American Vacuum Society Graduate Research Award. This award was established to recognize and encourage excellence in graduate studies in the sciences and technologies of interest to the AVS.